We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shannon Evans. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shannon below.

Shannon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?

The first time that I knew I wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally was when I was 12 years old. I’ve been creating for as long as I can remember but when I was 12 was when I decided that I wanted to be a full time artist. It’s the only thing I’ve ever wanted to be. In college, I almost quit art. I was struggling and anxious about my choice to pursue painting instead of a digital art field. But almost quitting only made my dedication to painting that much stronger. Because I knew that I wasn’t doing it just because I was too scared to ask myself the question if it was still what I wanted. I think it’s important to have those conversations with yourself.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I am an abstract landscape oil painter. As I mentioned earlier, I’ve been painting for as long as I can remember. I want to bring beauty into people’s lives. Painting to me has always been a form of escapism from the brutal reality of the world and I want to pass that on. I want people to look at my paintings and have them bring them joy and comfort. My style of painting is unique. I paint intuitively, meaning I don’t have a plan of what the painting is going to look like while I’m painting it. I draw inspiration from my own thoughts and feelings and that gets translated onto the canvas. Color and paint are used expressively to create a multitude of hues that overlap and build to create spatial relationships. These colors are an intuitive combination of chromic neutrals and highly saturated hues. The ardent character of both the brushwork and color gives the viewer a glimpse into my emotional state at the time of the painting’s creation. It’s a release; it’s a true catharsis.
The thing that I’m most proud of is that I have taken the leap and am a full-time artist currently. In August of 2021, I quit my office job and I’ve been a full-time artist ever since. It’s been hard but so worth it. Go after your dreams. No matter what.

What do you find most rewarding about being creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist is creating work that I’m really really proud of. A bonus is when someone else really likes my paintings. But never make work based solely on the client. You have to make work that speaks to your soul and keeps that fire going inside of you. Because, no matter how good you are, you have moments of radio silence, of disappointment, of doubt. It’s very important to not rely too much on external validation. Not everyone will like your work and that’s okay.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have bad anxiety; I’ve had it basically all my life. Doing this, going after my dream, it’s really bringing my anxiety up to the surface. There’s a lot of unknowns and a lot of risk involved going after something like this. So it’s been a great challenge to keep my anxiety in check through this. Some days are fine and other days I have the worst panic attack I’ve ever had. It’s important to be gentle with yourself and give yourself grace.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.shannonevansart.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannon.evans.art/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shannonevansart