Shelby Prindaville paints at her work table in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Prindaville has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville paints a baby bird on a backdrop betaine and corn starch in her studio on the second floor of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. She started the process by photographing the bird while it was receiving treatment in the school's Wildlife Clinic. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville paints a baby bird on a backdrop betaine and corn starch in her studio on the second floor of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. She started the process by photographing the bird while it was receiving treatment in the school's Wildlife Clinic. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville borrowed supplies from the different labs and clinics in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine to incorporate into her paintings. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville paints a baby bird on a backdrop betaine and corn starch in her studio on the second floor of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. She started the process by photographing the bird while it was receiving treatment in the school's Wildlife Clinic. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville's collection of ceramics fronts a painting of a baby bird completed during her time as artist-in-residence at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.
Shelby Prindaville painted two mosquitoes on mosquito paper given to her by clinicians in the LSU School of Veterinary Medince. Behind the mosquitoes are paintings of a baby bird and baby goats completed during her time as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville's completed painting of a baby goat, which was receiving treatment in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Prindaville has spent the summer as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville's completed painting of a baby goat, which was receiving treatment in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Prindaville has spent the summer as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville borrowed supplies from the different labs and clinics in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine to incorporate into her paintings. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville snaps a photo of a baby goat in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's Large Animal Clinic. Prindaville has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Shelby Prindaville snaps a photo of an baby bird in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's Wildlife Clinic. Prindaville has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
The bottle of red liquid on Shelby Prindaville's work table doesn't look artsy, and she's OK with that.
Shelby Prindaville borrowed supplies from the different labs and clinics in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine to incorporate into her paintings. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
She'll be the first to admit that art supplies are all in the eye of the artist, and if Rapid Differential Stain #2 is needed to get the job done, so be it.
That's the name of the red stuff in the bottle. It stands on Prindaville's work table next to a bottle of blue stuff called Counter Stain. Both are labeled as veterinary products, the everyday supplies used in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's labs.
Shelby Prindaville has spent her summer working as the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's artist-in-residence. She is the first artist in the…
But Prindaville sees them differently. She's spent her summer working as the vet school's first ever artist-in-residence. Well, make that the first artist in the country chosen for a residency at a veterinary school.
Shelby Prindaville snaps a photo of an baby bird in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's Wildlife Clinic. Prindaville has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Which also makes her the first artist to directly incorporate the clinicians' everyday work into her own.
"As we move forward with this residency, we won't be limiting it to visual artists," said Sandra Sarr, communications manager. "We'll also be looking at musicians, writers, photographers and others."
Shelby Prindaville paints a baby bird on a backdrop betaine and corn starch in her studio on the second floor of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. She started the process by photographing the bird while it was receiving treatment in the school's Wildlife Clinic. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Still, it somehow seemed fitting to begin the program with a visual artist, given that the school has hosted juried international "Animals in Art" exhibits in the past. Funds raised from that show benefited the vet school library.
"We're bringing that show back," Sarr said.
Shelby Prindaville's collection of ceramics fronts a painting of a baby bird completed during her time as artist-in-residence at the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine.
In the meantime, the school will open an exhibit of works created during Prindaville's residency on Monday, July 25. Chances are you won't notice the Rapid Differential Stain #2 blended within her paintings of baby birds and long-eared goats — unless you're looking for it. Here's a hint: Look closely at the splash of pinks and reds on the backdrop of Prindaville's trio of goats. That's a result of the stain, which usually is used to stabilize blood samples on glass slides.
Shelby Prindaville borrowed supplies from the different labs and clinics in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine to incorporate into her paintings. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
"When we started, we had meetings with about a dozen of our clinicians and researchers to get them familiar with what Shelby is doing here, and how they might be able to help," Sarr said. "It just has been a magical experience."
All were intrigued by the fact that Prindaville wanted to immortalize something from their everyday routine through her work.
Shelby Prindaville snaps a photo of a baby goat in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine's Large Animal Clinic. Prindaville has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
"They really loved the fact that an artist is interested in what they do," Prindaville said. "One of the things I've been trying to do, which I do think is really resonating here, is that I'm trying to use actual veterinary tools, materials, chemicals, medicines in novel ways in the artwork itself. So it's not just like the sort of subject matter came from here, but also like the physicality of the piece. It's truly connected to the place, and I think that has been something that people have found really powerful."
Shelby Prindaville's completed painting of a baby goat, which was receiving treatment in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Prindaville has spent the summer as the school's artist-in-residence.
Prindaville earned her master's degree in fine art from LSU in 2013. Kelli Scott Kelley, a professor of painting at LSU, told her about the residency, and with a resume that included seven artist residencies throughout the world between 2014 and 2021, Prindaville was practically a shoo-in for the job.
"I also focus on ecological artwork, and animals form a large part of the body of what I do," she said. "But I also do a lot of mixed media work about plants and overall ecosystems and the, some really wild stuff like ocean acidification, crystal growing and things like that. It's all connected with the idea that I'm looking at the human-nature balance through the lens of nature."
Shelby Prindaville's completed painting of a baby goat, which was receiving treatment in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Prindaville has spent the summer as the school's artist-in-residence.
Prindaville will return to her regular job as the art department chair at Morningside University University in Sioux City, Iowa, when the residency ends on July 31. For now, she creates paintings on the vet school's second floor.
The residency required Prindaville to create only one piece a week, but she didn't limit herself to that, especially after visiting the school's wildlife and large animal clinics.
Shelby Prindaville paints a baby bird on a backdrop betaine and corn starch in her studio on the second floor of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. She started the process by photographing the bird while it was receiving treatment in the school's Wildlife Clinic. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Portraits of baby birds and goats from those clinics are propped against the wall at the back of her work table. Though they appear complete, all are stranded in an experimental stage.
"Some of the veterinary supplies I've used are beginning to fade," Prindaville said. "I've been using more intense quantities of the stain to hopefully fight some of that fugitive nature. So it makes these fluorescent pinks. I applied them really thickly, so I'm hoping that it retains its coloration more in the background."
Shelby Prindaville painted two mosquitoes on mosquito paper given to her by clinicians in the LSU School of Veterinary Medince. Behind the mosquitoes are paintings of a baby bird and baby goats completed during her time as the school's artist-in-residence.
But in the end, her work will be intertwined with the vet school. As part of the residency, Prindaville has agreed to donate one of her works to the school.
She could choose to donate the profile portrait of the baby bird on a backdrop of betaine mixed with cornstarch. Or the sculpture of the black vulture, similar to the bird the vet school released into the wild a few weeks earlier.
Shelby Prindaville paints a baby bird on a backdrop betaine and corn starch in her studio on the second floor of the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. She started the process by photographing the bird while it was receiving treatment in the school's Wildlife Clinic. She has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
Or it might be the two female mosquitoes who have just finished a blood meal. They're painted on paper researches use to gather mosquito eggs.
Any of her works not only would comply with the spirit of the residency but also set the precedent for the next artist.
Shelby Prindaville paints at her work table in the LSU School of Veterinary Medicine. Prindaville has spent the summer working as the school's artist-in-residence.
"I really like imagery to connect with the people here, but I especially like it when the people who work here actually figure out the media I'm using," Prindaville said. "They're just entranced, because they're seeing a tool they use daily in a very different way. It just reframes their perspective. In that way, I think has a really long-lasting legacy."
Email Robin Miller at romiller@theadvocate.com
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