We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shanna Kunz a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shanna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I have always been drawn to creating of some sort. I started drawing at a young age, drawing from life and drawings womens fashion. That led me to sewing and creating my own patterns which helped me learn to visualize something before starting. It wasn’t until my children were born that I found painting. I took my first watercolor class and fell absolutely head over heels with painting. I put away my sewing tools andI went back to art school in my 30’s and tried just about every form of marketing and selling my work i.e. art festivals, galleries, local shows, home shows as I honed my craft. When I could no longer afford to work other jobs because my career was taking off, I did some teaching and kept six galleries stocked with work continually. It’s has taken a huge leap of faith to continue my career being the solo bread winner. I have had to learn so many business practices, accounting, website design, writing, marketing and all the things it takes to run a business.

Shanna, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a full time profession artist/teacher working in Northern Utah for the last 25 years. I started working in watercolor where I developed a more tonalist style, eventually adding oil painting to my repertoire. I now work almost exclusively in oil on mounted linen panels painting familiar and beloved landscapes . I was raised with a very strong connection to the land and a deep sense of place. My upbringing in the Wasatch Mountains of Northern Utah, as well as many experiences exploring the mountain ranges and deserts of the West, have heavily influenced my work. Art, music, and family have been constant sources of inspiration and have helped shape my unique voice as a painter. I seek to capture intimate imagery that resonates emotionally with viewers, rather than depicting specific locations. My paintings are characterized by their complexity, moodiness, and honesty, and are often described as transcendental by those who view them.

I passionately believe that the world, in its current state of turbulence, desperately needs beauty in the form of art, love in the form of relationships, and spiritual up life through personal connections. I hope my simple and quiet landscapes serve this need for both me and my collectors.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

I have made a living from painting, whether it be through my valued galleries, museum shows, plein air shows and social media. When Covid hit and all of my avenues of in person sales closed, I had to figure out alternative avenues of income. It was right at that time that I and a very good friend, Elizabeth Robbins, started an online teaching course called Inspired To Paint. We have three cameras, one for the subject matter, one for the palette and one for the painting. We have learned how to film, edit, market, create and maintain a separate subscription website as well as develop a master plan of ways to repurpose content for posting across all of our media pages and creating new customer bases. We have turned a true hardship into a thriving business aside from our paintings with a regular monthly income to sustain us.

How did you build your audience on social media?

I have organically built an online presence through Instagram, Facebook and Pinterest. We all start out with a first step of making the accounts and linking them all together for convenience. It is very important to link to your website and always find ways for your viewers to get there, and reasons why they might want to. I try to post daily on my sites, sometimes with progress shots, sometimes finished pieces. I strive to include the audience into my adventures from being in the outdoors with my camera, plein air studies in my favorite places and many shots from my studio showing process and creative ideas. I keep my social media posts to 95% business and just enough personal life to make my story relatable to others with the success and failures. Over the last few years, I have grown my audience to about 27K followers and interact with them frequently. I have met many of my followers in my travels through the country and made many clients as well as good friends.

Contact Info:

• Website: Shannakunz.com
• Instagram: Shannakunz.com
• Facebook: Personal: Shanna Allen Kunz Hernandez. Professional: The Art of Shanna Kunz. Business Inspired To Paint
• Youtube: Shanna Kunz

Image Credits
Mine