Date: October 3, 2009 - January 4, 2010
Time: 10:00 am - 4:30 pm
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Location: Museum of Botany and the Arts


Contact: Marilynn Shelley
Phone: 941 366-5731, ext. 239
Email: mshelley@selby.org

In 1993, Bonnie Gold Bell and David Sun Todd took a leap of faith, left their previous work, and moved to rural Mendocino County, California. They found themselves on a mission to create art inspired by the beauty of Mother Earth and began working with close-up photographs of Nature, first via hand-done collage and later with computer software. Their work reflects thousands of images captured all over the world. Now Florida residents, Bell & Todd recognized the special beauty of Selby Gardens on their first visit.

The Visions of Selby exhibit focuses on hundreds of pictures they have taken at Selby Gardens over the course of a year. Not a traditional photographic exhibition, it is what Bell & Todd do with their photographs that makes their work so unique. Everything you see in their images is real. After photographing natural objects, such as the foliage and statuary at Selby, they layer and collage the photographic materials into a variety of forms. Some images emerge as kaleidoscopic geometric patterns that they call mandalas. Mandala is a word from India for a centered image that holds a sacred space. Another style of Bell & Todd’s images feature single photographs with symmetrical borders, while others are dreamy scenic collages featuring statuary, including the ones at Selby. These images are beautiful and complex. By capturing and re-mixing pictures of Nature, the artists have tapped into whole reservoirs of vibrant information that the viewer can enjoy on many levels.

Bell & Todd’s photo-collages yield endlessly fascinating combinations of human-made and Earth-made patterns. They feel that seeing Nature’s patterns and colors reborn in new forms touches something deep in our bodies and being. As artists, they have been greatly healed and awakened by creating/encoding this art. They find this creative process a thrilling experience as they “never know until the pieces come together what marvels they will see.” They are creating many new images for the Visions of Selby exhibit, which promises to be a feast for the eyes and spirit.

For a decade, Bell & Todd’s work has been published in the form of books, calendars and notecards. The artist, Laurel Burch, has said of their work, "Bonnie Bell and David Todd have ways of bringing the entire universe, with all its majesty and complexity, into a very tangible and specific experience that is personal and soul touching … I am in awe of the extraordinary gifts they have for truly celebrating the richness and depth of soul and spirit. These works will become an important part of history going forward, as they capture things far beyond the physical world and make them accessible to so many, in such a beautiful form. Come see their incredible images on display and for sale in Selby’s Museum of Botany & the Arts from October 3 to November 29, 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Visit their website at www.bellandtodd.com.

Please join Bonnie Bell and David Todd at their Opening Reception on Sunday, October 4, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. in Selby Gardens Museum of Botany & the Arts.