We were lucky to catch up with Shannon Darsow recently and have shared our conversation below.
Shannon, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.
Creating and the Arts always have always been an intrinsic part of my life, and somehow woven in just about everything I do. Since I can remember I have been drawing, painting, writing, hanging with my Dad in his garage when he was wood working, with my Mom in the kitchen when she was cooking, studying the art books Sister Emily from my grade school would set aside special for me from our library, entering and placing in yearly contests in the local paper and Minnesota State Fair, running home to watch the amazing Bob Ross after school on PBS, filling books and books of blank pages with my pictures and poetry, watching my Grandma Isabelle and uncle Jean make any idea they had to create something come to life…beautifully…their creativity was limitless, listening to all kinds of music all day long, and hours of tying pearl necklaces, fishing jigs, and ice fishing flies with my Dad.
While growing up; creating, fishing, roaming the woods, and listening to music were what I couldn’t ever get enough of…and still can’t get enough of. Luckily I am blessed to have a wonderful endlessly supportive husband who loves these things also.
I worked a couple jobs the summer of my senior year of High School to pay for university. One was at Tartan Park Golf Course as a course beverage attendant. It was one of my favorite jobs ever. All day in the summer sun, hanging with the rangers in the tall grass on slow days, and major tips when tournaments came through…perfect summer job!
At the end of the season, on the very last day, one of the servers who worked in the clubhouse sat me down and made a simple phone call that became a pivotal point in my life. Her daughter was a model and had been discovered by two gentlemen, Teqen Sjoberg Zea-Aida and Nathan Yungerberg, who were both Model Scouts and later would start the groundbreaking modeling agency; internationally recognized Vision Management Group Inc. When she hung up the phone, she had written an address, date, and time on a napkin and said she had set up an appointment with them for me, and that I should go meet with them because I should model. Quite literally I was flabbergasted since I knew I had height, but all that was on my mind was my grades, playing Volleyball seriously, and my friends. I never thought of myself in any other capacity. I decided to take this pivotal risk anyway.
Dutifully I went, showing up early and waiting in the car until it was time for our appointment, not having a clue what to expect. Nathan and Teqen,( who are now lifelong friends and I have so much love and gratitude in my heart forever for ), took some pictures of me, and believed in me enough to stand behind me and get me signed by an agency. I ended up signing with Andrea, Alycya, and Julie at Moore Creative Talent in Minneapolis, because of their word and efforts.
I was lucky and ended up getting pretty good jobs right away. These jobs introduced me to people who are still dear friends to this day. People like Stylist Lori Evert and Photographers Bob Pearl, Tom Strand, and Lee Stanford and so many more are among the best of the best, yet here we are by each other’s sides while raising our children and through all kinds or twists and turns life brings. One of the special qualities about the Advertising Arts community here in Minnesota is the high concentration of incredibly talented, intelligent, strategic, self-motivated, and yet still humble, kindhearted, and family/community oriented people. Getting to work alongside and be a part of this community is truly one of the greatest gifts in my life.
After that summer of being discovered I left for Winona State studying history and biology and getting accepted into the University of Florida Atlantic Marine Biology program. In the middle of this time I studied abroad in New Zealand and Australia and …then came the next big pivotal risk…ended up living and modeling in Australia for an additional 6 months in places like Bondi Beach, Paddington, Surry Hills, and Manly Beach, and making friends who I would later very happily run into modeling in other countries. I found myself working with people like Linda Evangelista doing a couple shows in Australia Fashion week, dancing on a huge Sony stage with Julio Iglesias, and in spreads for magazines like Marie Claire. I came home fully intending to leave again and finish school in FL where they were kind enough to hold my place while I took advantage of this opportunity living and working abroad.
One thing led to another (once again getting recruited for modeling randomly…this time at the Mall of America by NEXT Agency), and I found myself in NYC…Risk number 3. This time with a twist. When I showed up at the Agency to get situated, they pretended not to know me! Yep! I had only purchased a one-way ticket, so I didn’t let myself dwell on things too long and got to work trying to get another agency as long as I was out there.
I found myself, after a lot of pavement pounding and 39 no’s, in the right place as a Model with Wilhelmina Agency in NYC. I was pounding the NY pavement going from casting to casting, still writing and drawing….creative inspiration everywhere, meeting all kinds of people who eventually became friends and smiles to look forward to, top notch presentation and design everywhere, and a powerful contagious energy that could not be beat. The most fabulous taste and beauty were everywhere on every level…. influence and inspiration to me to this day. I loved every bit of it. I was given the golden ticket into the most fabulous places…. dining at the Rainbow Room and spending my evenings at Bowery Bar and Cheetah Club with everyone you can just imagine…all the while I was making my own way in NY on my own dime, and barely affording a bag of rice in China Town …this place gave me so much.
For a few more years, each move a big risk for me all on my own literally in the world, I would go back and forth between NY and Milan, Hamburg, and Amsterdam. Milan filled my senses and taught me the value of craftsmanship and dedication to the arts. It was everywhere I looked. It was in the shop windows, with the clients I got to work with…Miu Miu, Romeo Gigli, Ghost. It was in the everyday with the people on the street in their cobbled shoes, fitted coats, coiffed hair, and attention to every detail in their presentation. It was in the hospitality, and the opening up of people’s homes whom I had just met for Sunday dinner and the grace of being treated as family before I even arrived. It was in the food! Oh my gosh the food!…the most basic piece of dough with a tomato and a little salt for a dollar was so delicious and flavorful I still think of it today. It was in the buildings like the Duomo with incredible architecture, murals, sculptures, and stained glass. A feast for your eyes at every turn…you felt like it was a dream or your imagination when you went to Church there.
Germany filled me with a little sense of home, if you can believe it. There was just such a similarity in the Midwest values I grew up with and the German way of doing business and cleanliness that felt familiar and appreciated in an unfamiliar place. I know Germany has a reputation for being a cold and stoic place, but I found it to be a warm place where people really invested in their relationships with you. Hamburg grew my appreciation for precision, resourcefulness, execution, and sticking to what you are working on until you get it right…in every way. This is how our jobs went here. I loved it here too.
The people of Amsterdam were the first thing I truly connected with when I arrived there to work. I must have looked lost when I was dropped off on a corner in the city, because right away a nice person asked if they could help me. When I just wondered if they might be able to please point me in the direction of the street I was going too, they took the time to actually walk me there! It was a good distance of a walk! The buildings in Amsterdam are a rainbow of beautiful colors, and the cobble streets the canals are so pretty with textures and reflections of life happening all around, but the way the people I encountered treated me, with over and above kindness, when they certainly didn’t have to has stuck with me always.
In between living and working back and forth in all these places I would come home for a couple months at a time, as work would allow, and do internships to keep my formal resume going while I recharged the part of my soul that missed my family, friends, and the familiarity of home. It was at an event in Stillwater, MN for one of these internships that I met my husband. The red lights were flashing in our hearts immediately. Enter, my most significant risk. I had a fast-rising modeling career, an exciting and good life going. I had put so much time and effort into making my own way in all these places, and was really proud of what I had accomplished in this time, but my heart has never looked back. The good Lord’s plans for us took over, and I gave up moving permanently to NY in 2 weeks from when we met. I feel like I have gotten to have the best of both these 2 very different worlds…what a truly incredible gift. All of these experiences collectively have such a big influence on what I am doing now.
I did struggle quite a bit with slowing down from the adventure and pace of life I was living. It took a long time of adjusting. I am a roamer and explorer by nature and staying in one place is generally hard for me, much less after living the exciting and somewhat niche life I had been. I remember always being so grateful when I would get to run into friends on modeling jobs in Minnesota like Amy Woodford or Shawn Powers who had also had their own journeys modeling internationally and could share stories, or just even knowing they understood because they lived it too. Thank God also for my writing, drawing and having a creative outlet, it was creating that helped me get a grip, and put my abundant energy to good.
Since my then fiancé/now husband had gotten a job with a large corporation here in Minneapolis and I didn’t want a long distance relationship while finishing a Marine Biology degree, I decided to put my now accumulated experiencein Advertising to good use and finished school with a Marketing and Advertising focused BA. I was still doing modeling jobs here in the Twin Cities at the time and the legendary Photographer, Bob McNamara, suggested my name to be an intern while I was finishing school. Another pivotal risk moment in my creative career. The internship was with incredibly talented Make-up Artist Terra Heinrichs and Art Savy Business Partner Lynn Osgood as they started Terra Productions, an Agency representing Artists working in Advertising.
Lynn became a dear friend and business mentor, and Terra became a dear friend and mentor for Hair and Make-up Artistry. It was about 2 weeks into my production internship in the office when I realized I could be an Artist, use all the years I had spent pounding the pavement, use my degree AND make a living! …and so, it was risk time again, and I begged. I begged her for 2 weeks straight all day long until she gave me a shot and knew I was serious. Not a day goes by I am on the job I don’t have gratitude for these 3 people in my heart. Bob, Terra, and Lynn each gave me a shot, invested their time and name with me, and they each took the time to teach me the important elements I did not know yet to do my job in the best way. They had the highest expectations for conduct, detail, and quality which shapes how I work and conduct my business every day.
Fast Forward and I am a Mom of 3 teenage kids who completely fill my heart, living in the south suburbs, combining a life filled with all that encompasses the blessing of getting to be a wife and parent with a 24 year long career as a Professional Hair and Makeup Artist for Advertising, Producer, Senior Marketing Consultant, Educator, Life Coach and guest Beauty Writer and Blogger for a couple different local publications. There wasn’t much time for painting, drawing, or free flow writing when our kids were young or in Middle School, and having the creative outlet in the form of my Art Department career was invaluable to me.
Space and windows of time did eventually present themselves as our kids got older, and I started picking up their old school pencils and unused paper and seeing what my hand would do. Risk time again. I found myself a little nervus at first…what if I lost it?! What if the way I knew I could create an image wasn’t any good anymore? I had to remind myself it was still inside me somewhere, and I couldn’t just let those perfectly good school pencils sit there unused because I was truly missing my art for the pure joy of it so much. It took a few times for the wheels to get greased and my confidence to come back, but that feeling and flow and special energy that I can only get from creating was there instantly. It was enough to motivate me to make time specifically to draw and paint.
A few people in the industry saw some of my pieces and started hiring me to create commissioned pieces for their print and film productions. One of my favorites was actually one of the first ones. It was for a publicly held NY networking group for executive women in the Cosmetic Retail space to be used in their corporate report. I was given full creative license with the only requirement to be it had to be fully created with cosmetics. A butterfly emerged as the appropriate subject matter and it was such a fun marriage of my career in Makeup Artistry and my love of painting. Commissions specifically for projects continued, and then I started getting a request every now and then for a personal commissioned painting. I hadn’t really marketed myself as a Canvas Artist yet at this point outside of the Advertising Industry. It was all just word of mouth…you sort of had to just know.
I got a phone call from the creators of WildBirdsFlying, Visionary Photographer Paul Nelson and his wife and business partner former Stylist Stacy Fortier, not too long ago to share their studio space with themselves, Framer and Seamstress Rya Priede, and Herbalist and Food Stylist Betsy Nelson for a building wide Winter Bizarre. This was the push I needed, took the risk, and immediately jumped at without even a tiny bit of hesitation.
Something had been speaking in my heart strongly for quite a while to create on canvas and paper and put it out there in the world. This was a door that opened among such wonderful company, that the only answer was yes. I had no idea if anyone would even look at my work, much less purchase anything. Paul was so kind and gave us each our own mailing list to collect emails, and to my happy surprise a whole row filled with email addresses! Two of my biggest pieces sold off the flyer that went out before the show! There was even a steady stream of people that came by and took the time to talk more and really look at my work! What a thrill! I did sell another piece at the event and connected with other artists and photographers on their own next steps in their creative lives. Family and friends who made the trip to come and support me filled my heart, a designer is interested in licensing images with her company, and once again here I am feeling flabbergasted! grateful, and on the right path.
I realize this day was special, and oh my gosh so much work for everyone involved, but sort of like when the lights were flashing in my heart for my husband, or I was compelled to study abroad in Australia, or beg Terra for a chance…here I am again with no rational reason other than Creating Art is calling me and God gives us each our own gifts so it is important to use and share what I was given.
Shannon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
My skill set compromises a multidisciplinary studio using my camera and traditional materials: ink, watercolor, acrylic, oils, pastels, pencil, and sometimes mixed media on canvas, paper, and prints with the goal to bring joy to you.
What I use is dictated by how the subject matter wants to be expressed, and my relation to it. This gives me the freedom to push myself to dig deeper, to find more powerful ways to capture movement and life or essence of the moment. Informed by dreams, memories, emotions, and by honoring the subject itself and how it wants to be expressed the story of each piece begins.
Regardless of the medium I am moved to use, I will often use contrasts of lights and darks. The contrast of light and dark is one of the most powerful differences you can use to harness emotion, to show off the depth and richness of the subject.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
This is a difficult question to answer in a number of ways, as each day it evolves and grows and something new is learned. So I guess, if I am to discern a particular goal or mission, maybe that is the answer…to be open. To be open to growth, a new perspective informed by the subject matter and to let it be expressed as such.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: shannondarsowart
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shannon-darsow-92775112/?msgControlName=view_message_button&msgConversationId=2-NjQzZDQ3M2UtZGZjMy00NWE2LWE4YjAtNmZiZmIzY2EyY2MxXzAxMA%3D%3D&msgOverlay=true
- My artwork can also be found at Frameworks Gallery in Saint Paul, MN
Image Credits
Portrait: Amy Woodford Paintings and drawings: Shannon Darsow