ARTIST PROFILE: Virginia Spencer

MEDIA: Drawings with mixed media

BEST KNOWN FOR: Nostalgic collage-like drawings filled with anything from flowers to chairs to birds. Many of the items are from Spencer's grandmother's house or things she remembers from childhood. Sometimes they're based on Texas or Spencer's family history.

“They are rooted in my own memories,” Spencer said.

Spencer's drawings recall the whimsy of a child. They're also tangled up and slightly fictionalized narratives of her life. One drawing is titled “Dear Tooth Fairy, Please leave $200. Thank you, Ginny.”

“My mom told me recently that I wrote the tooth fairy when I was younger,” Spencer said.

Some include colorful paper masks from Spencer's childhood, in which the characters' eyes stare at the viewer. One includes a drawing of the sink from her grandmother's bathroom.

Other drawings seem to come out of fantasies and daydreams strewn with cats, ice cream and vintage-like items. They often include pastel or richly colored guasch paint for details and have intricate patterned backgrounds.

“There's that imagination thing that is central to my life,” Spencer said.

The images often look comforting, like collages of grandmother's houses or antiques stores or digging through a family attic. But while the images are intricate and beautiful, they can be eerie, sort of like walking through an old, abandoned house in which the tea kettles, trinkets and photos are left untouched.