Monday, December 20, 2021

BRIAN SHELLITO TURNS RIVER TRASH INTO TREASURE

 


Brian R. Shellito, who interned in the BJ Art Department in 1993 and returned full-time to become the last artist laid off by the chain of purchases of the BJ, is an expert in “Trash Into Treasure,” to quote the headline on the BJ article written magnificently as usual by Mark J. Price.

Brian’s BJ layoff came in 2019, shortly after he was second and third in the 2019 Cleveland Press Club awards for his political cartoons.

 Brian had been doing page design, illustrations and editorial cartoons and, free-lancing for Channel 5, courtroom artist sketches of defendants.

GateHouse Media in Austin, Texas gleefully and sardonicall swung the axe on Brian and BJ history.

Brian is a Highland Square artist this days in a section of Akron known forever for its artistry and free spirit.

Brian’s wife is Susan Shellito.

He gets his material for his artwork along and in a river that once was an Akron dump for trash where the Cuyahoga and Little Cuyahoga rivers meet.

He puts the bits of busted history into a glass on his windowsill and “it’s like having a piece of stained glass.”

Creativity can be expressed in so many ways to benefit the mind and, in my case, memories.




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