ART WITH HEART
A multidisciplinary artist, Shelly Gray's creative practice blends environmental awareness with joyful experimentation.
Known for transforming found and discarded materials into textured, whimsical works, Shelly’s art is rooted in the idea that beauty and meaning can be uncovered in the most unexpected places. Her process is intuitive, and material led.
Shelly works with everything from scrap metal, broken ceramics, and textiles to packaging, plastics, and everyday waste. “Often the materials tell me what to do,” she says. “There’s a kind of conversation that happens when you work with objects that already have a story.”
In December 2024, she launched Waste Not Want Art!, a free monthly workshop series held at the Less Waste Educational Hub in Warkworth. Funded by Creative New Zealand and run in collaboration with artist Desiree Alexandre, Mahurangi Waste Busters, and Less Waste Warkworth, the workshops aim to promote sustainable art practices and encourage community connection through creativity and upcycling.
To date, seven workshops have been delivered, each with its own playful focus. From building mini robots and crafting fantasy 3D mosaics to blinging old canvases and making feathered creatures, the sessions invite participants of all ages to reimagine everyday materials. Highlights include Rockin’ Records (March), where vinyls were turned into wall art, and the popular Upcycling Christmas Workshop (December), where festive wreaths were made from salvaged treasures.
Now based in the Mahurangi region, Shelly draws inspiration from the coastal landscape and the local zero-waste movement. “Living here has made me more conscious of what we consume – and what we can create instead of discard,” she reflects.
Through both her personal work and community projects, Shelly champions art as a way to reconnect – with one's imagination, with the environment, and with each other. With two more sessions planned this year – Up-cycle Paint It and Up-cycle Creative Sculpture – now’s the time to get involved.