We recently connected with Shannon Celia and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Shannon , thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.
When I was 8 years old growing up in New England, I asked my mother for a used Stella guitar for $25. I was attached to that thing for years. In 7th grade I began singing with a local band and played school dances and parties. I’d always written poetry, kept a doodling journal and wrote my own songs which led to applying UCSB in California. When I got accepted with a full scholarship to sing, I thought my life as an artist was about to begin. But life took some nutty twists and I discovered oil painting at Pepperdine University. It was an epiphany where I painted my heart out in a studio overlooking the Santa Monica Mountains. Art was a much better fit for my introverted nature and led to painting professionally, my life’s work.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I began painting still life in oils and painted contemporary pears for two years. I still appreciate their feminine shapes, colors and grow them in my garden now. Then, I took commissions for home portraits in watercolor when my daughter was young and wrote a book entitled ABC’s of the Sea. Painting for four amazing years in Hanover, New Hampshire led to many exhibits, a series of cupolas and steeples and colorful chickens.
After we moved back to Southern California, I went on to paint ocean and small town themes, 16 solo exhibits including 3 museum exhibits, being hired for 4 public art projects and won multiple awards. Selling work is affirming and creating collections where I mine my ideas and dive in deeply into themes is where I thrive. I paint “gritty with the pretty,” exploring local landmarks, small town life and places in nature where humans and nature collide.
While living at the beach, I painted ocean themes and now living in a beautiful Southern California valley and often traveling to Idaho, Texas and Wyoming, I compose abstracted landscapes in watercolor and mixed media. I’m happiest in the studio when my brush is dancing along paper, wood or canvas but painting outside is invaluable to capture the energy, bouncing light, shapes and color I discover.
I engage with collectors who need specific walls filled and accept commissions too. It’s rewarding working with people who know and trust my process because it’s collaborative. My love of home design gives me an advantage because I am fearlessly moving artwork around and hanging pieces that work together in interesting vignettes. I change up pieces on my walls frequently and mix photos and decorative elements with artwork to create eclectic, interesting spaces perfect for sparking conversation and quiet contemplation.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Documenting life’s experiences via paint to process life’s ups and downs in my own way and time. As a super sensitive person, I’m grateful to celebrate or grieve using a paintbrush. It’s a freedom and joy I don’t take for granted.
Spending lots of time outside in nature is essential to fuel my daily paint habit and I’m an avid reader, cook and gardener. I paint most days with my 7lb. tiny terrier at my feet, looking out my studio window at kooky chickens and gardens. 2-3 afternoons a week are spent on the business side which includes loading new artwork onto my website, filling orders, framing and organizing.
I’m deeply grateful when people share my work with others. My focus is original art that makes unique family heirlooms and thoughtful gifts but I also do limited edition prints. The website is updated regularly with new work, my studio and gallery is open by appointment to collectors and their referrals and I have open studio days as time permits. I know it’s important not to take ourselves too seriously so I can still surprise myself and discover new ways of doing things. I do my best work when I’m not attached to the outcome of whatever I’m creating and paint intuitively. I’ve always been curious so I think that’s why I’ve never been bored a day in my life.
Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
I wish I had known to find trustworthy mentors as a young artist. I truly didn’t even know how or when to ask for help or what a mentor was but it’s wonderful when young people have advocates to encourage them and point them in the right direction. Now I encourage young people to learn, read and reach out and it’s much easier to learn online now than it was years ago.
I was on my own by 17 and endured a lot of criticism and trauma in my youth which created some fear. So while I was always joyfully seeking new adventures and encouraged others, I forgot to encourage myself. I developed a deep faith while at Pepperdine and trusting in the master Creator gave me more confidence. I finally learned to let negative, critical people walk on by and trust my unique path. The creative process can be vulnerable and the tender part of ourselves is where the magic happens so we have to protect, nurture and honor it. I believe we’re better together and that the best is yet to come!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.shannonceliafineart.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannoncelia/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonceliafineart
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannonceliafineart/
- Other: www.shannoncelia.com
Image Credits
SUFFUSE WILD BLOOMS LIVESTOCK SOUTHWEST SPRING GLACIAL All (c)2023 Shannon Celia Fine Art and photographed by Shannon Celia