A lifelong artist, Shere Holleman’s creative vision was reborn when she landed in what she describes as the “sacredness” of Southwest Colorado four years ago from Boulder.

Here, history and archaeology are deeply woven in the environment, she said.

“I just felt it when I looked out at the Canyons of the Ancients Monument,” she said.

Originally from Michigan, she moved to California for college.

“I swear I was in one of those wagon trains that came out,” she said, speaking of her draw to the West.

The Dolores Public Library hosted a reception for her art Saturday, featuring food and beverages and drawing the interest of many locals eager to catch a glimpse of her exhibit “Bronze and Bones” on display in the library’s glass gallery through January.

“When I first saw this space, I thought ‘This is where I want to show this work because it’s going to work in here,’” Holleman said.

The strung creations – the product of three years of work – feature buttons from Civil War uniforms, antique animal traps and bovine bone.

Holleman views the pieces in this exhibit as a sort of reconciliation for their origins.

“All these materials have seen violence, and this is a way to bring it into a different context and maybe heal the whole situation somehow,” she said.

When she first moved to the area, a friend presented her with a tin case of buttons from the Civil War, sparking Holleman to purchase thousands since then. Much of her art has stemmed from random pieces she’s collected over the years, she said.

“I was drawn to them immediately. They have this presence because they’re so old,” she said. “They have been to war. They’ve probably been worn for years. And somebody saved them and kept them for 160 years.”

The act of weaving itself is soothing to Holleman, who has practiced meditation since she was 15.

She has a black and white personality. Sometimes, she’s very tapped into the world around her, and at others, she’s not. Same with her art – she often thoughtfully considers each step – will a dark band go here, or would it be better placed to the left? At others, she works solely on intuition.

“I’ve always in my life worked to balance the left and the right brain,” she said.

This was evident growing up, as she excelled in both art and calculus. A natural product of that was her career in architecture, and then later teaching, before she eventually veered deeper into the art realm.

She finds solace in weaving her pieces, some of which take up to 120 hours to fashion.

“It’s a very meditative process,“ she said.

She’s now focusing on painting with acrylics and oils and shedding light on local artistic talent and the cultural heritage of Cortez.

“I'm just grateful that there are places like this that appreciate and show art, and that there are people from the community that want to come see it,” she said.