Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Shannon M Welsh. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Shannon M, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

This is a tough question. I think we spend so much of our time comparing ourselves to our peers that we ignore our own definitions of “successful”. Especially as an artist, we can easily get lost in the idea of monetization of our time and efforts that we lose focus on happiness or the work that goes into one’s art practice. It is easy to compare ourselves to someone else’s CV or ability to make the sale. I have to constantly remind myself that when I am painting, I am happiest, and that when I am painting, I am putting the work in to make myself a better artist. At any age, we are always “practicing”.

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 a graduate of Kent State University with a BFA in painting and minor in art history. I primarily work in oils, striving to explore the natural world where our understanding of human intertwines with our understanding of animal and plant. I paint the ambiguity of our combined existences, the moment where the webs of our stories entangle, and we can no longer declare ourselves gods in the face of other lives and other deaths, through use of color and layering of paint, altering the state of both color and form underneath. My paintings are derived from an obsession with storytelling from a young age and use of pattern to tell those stories. I incorporate a love of folklore, complex storytelling, and folk art into my work, which is known for my use of color and brushwork to imply a moodiness and atmosphere that is recognizable by those that are familiar with my work.
Something important to my work is the tension between mortality and nature, the fact that there is a place resting in a space that is in-between two states of being. The varying use of loose brushwork and stains as well as heavy-handed brushstrokes conveys a sense of fluctuation as if an impression of time has been left. There are often both abstract and implied shapes, almost or completely recognizable, that create a space where abstract meets still-life.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Failure and success. I think I learned from a young age that these are arbitrary terms that only we can define for ourselves. But I also think I was (sort of) lucky to be able to learn this from a young age. I was diagnosed with two chronic illnesses that affected my ability to complete high school in a traditional setting and with the peers I had grown up with. I spent most of high school isolated and alone. My last two years were completed online (this was pre-Covid), and I was determined to spend most of that time focusing on creative endeavors. This meant, instead of doing school work some days, I spent most of my time reading, writing, and painting. I had a strong determination and read a lot about how to be a better writer and painter. “The only way out is through” is what I told myself consistently as this teenager that would go weeks only seeing my family members and spend hours in these creative outlets. This is what I repeated to myself as I made work, both writings and paintings. This is how I convinced myself that those hours spent practicing would be worth it, because the only way to put the work in was to actually sit down and put the work in. I read once how it takes 10,000 hours to master a single skill, so I kept telling myself that the only way to be successful wasn’t to consider these paintings and writings failures or successes, but to consider them just another hour in my journey to hitting those 10,000 hours. That I had to get through these hours of practicing to get to the other side where I would be a better writer and painter and to get to the person I wanted to become. I was succeeding by putting in the work and failing (practicing) over and over again.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

I have found that word of mouth is still the most effective strategy to growing clientele. While I am not able to sustain myself on my paintings alone, I have consistent clients through my network and peers. I have found that my peers and I are able to help each find shows and clients for our work through word of mouth and constantly informing each other of upcoming opportunities. My friends are also able to put me in touch with people that are interested in commissioned pieces. This is the only way to grow one’s practice. And despite the slow process, this is the most successful way to grow one’s portfolio or clientele or CV. By keeping in contact with creative peers and helping one out. Without my community, I would only be making paintings for myself, and while there is nothing wrong with that, I want to push my art outside of myself and my own home. Next, I would like to use my community and network to be able to put on our own shows and build our own opportunities for artists in the Cleveland and northeastern Ohio area.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://shannonmwelsh.weebly.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonmwelsh/