Ava Young - the Artist

When I was in the midst of an extended illness, I’d watch all types of do-it-yourself shows – construction, crafts, decorating, infomercials, whatever – for hours at a time. At first I’d simply marvel at the fact people had that kind of energy to expend. Eventually, though, I was well enough not only to notice the finished product but to begin to itch to create something. Anything. After a time, but while still itching, I saw a show featuring artist Dawn Ackerman creating one of her gorgeous collages from strips of paper. "Paper," I found myself thinking. "Paper couldn’t be that hard. And those collages are so beautiful . . ."

And so it began, one stumbling step at a time. At first my goal was nothing more than to create something pretty, something uniquely my own, for myself. I soon found out that this meant learning more than I ever wanted to about various papers and how they responded to different adhesives, about the differences between various types of paints and how they dried on the various papers. "Jeeze," I’d whine to myself, "all I wanted to do was make something pretty . . ."

Well, after much experimentation, the final results are my Really Cool Lightboxes. These Really Cool LightBoxes appear one way when lit and another without the lighting. Without the lighting, you notice first the color and overall design of the piece, much like any painting. Once it’s "turned on", however, the design shifts and embellishments come to the fore, while at the same time the single, overall effect of the piece is enhanced. Sometimes, even the colors appear to have changed!

Although the Really Cool LightBoxes are fairly new, various other works of mine have been seen in galleries from Oregon to Florida over roughly the past ten years. (The list is available on request, but trust me, it makes for very dry reading.)

The idea for the Really Cool Night Light!™ kits came from the feedback I received while doing shows for the Original Really Cool Lightboxes. After a number of requests from Custom Order customers, I got to thinking "How can I let these people have a hand in the creation of their own lightboxes without allowing them into my obnoxiously messy studio?"

The rest, as they say, is history.