I create layered, intricate works of art that celebrate fragile and beautiful species through a mixed media practice grounded in painting. Each piece stems from a specific experience: an encounter with a barred owl at a bird sanctuary, the sight of a starling murmuration in Italy, standing amidst my backyard bees as they swarm. From there I layer references to the art history, the natural world, architectural elements, and geometry. Much of the imagery used in the work is both direct representation of the subject as well as metaphor. Flying insects and birds act as intermediaries between cultivated places and wilderness as well as between material and immaterial worlds. Patterns represent visible and invisible structures as well as the infinite possibilities that result from replication.

I’m trained as a painter and have taught painting at the college level for more than fifteen years. Find a selection of my work on the portfolio page. Those on my email list are the first to know when new work is available and I’d love for you to be one of them! The notes are beautiful and land in your inbox once or twice a month. If you’d like to hear from me more often, I invite you to sign up for my Substack emails, Inside the Studio. These are like casual studio chats.

For those interested in learning how I create many of the repeat patterns you see in my work, I teach a Skillshare course on the topic. Learn to make your own repeatable patterns.

Bio

Shan holds an M.F.A. from the University of Montana and has worked as an art professor and curator at several institutions, most recently as the director and curator of the Art Galleries at St. Norbert Galleries. Her art has been exhibited in regional and national exhibitions, including a recent solo exhibitions. She has received grants for her own art as well as on behalf of arts organizations, including a Percent for Art commission and funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities. She is deeply inspired by the Door County landscape and lives and works in Sturgeon Bay, WI.