We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Shanyn Boman. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Shanyn below.
Shanyn, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We’d love to hear about the things you feel your parents did right and how those things have impacted your career and life.
One thing my parents did right was make sure that I never limited myself when it came to creativity. My mom made sure that I knew that mixing media could bring extra depth to a piece while my dad was always the first person to congratulate me on my projects. When you’re growing up, school projects are one of the first places to express yourself, but they also assign you a grade. My parents didn’t let the letter grades over shadow the energy that I put into the art. There’s always a place for you and your art in the world. I’m lucky enough to have known that from an early age!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name’s Shanyn (AKA Penmanship Hippie). Etsy has been the perfect place to sell my art the last couple years, but you can catch me at in person markets too. My shop is stocked with colorful stickers, glasses, and fandom related sweatshirts for the coolest people!
Art has always been around me, however; it wasn’t until my mother passed away several years ago that I opened my shop. I’m certain that calligraphy will forever be one of my true loves in this life. OK, and espresso, you got me! I live in Utah w/ my love and two of the chillest cats ever (Zoloft and Ripley).
I am always happy to take on custom work and can be reached @penmanshiphippie on Instagram. There’s never a style of craft that I am too worried to try, so feel free to contact me!
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
The most rewarding aspect of being an artist for me is always having that talent in my back pocket. That’s something that no one will ever be able to take away from me! For instance, I’m getting married soon and one of my favorite parts of the process has been the DIYs. If I hadn’t invested in my art and more technology for my business, I wouldn’t have been able to spend my nights making these pieces I will have in my home for the rest of my life.
What can society do to ensure an environment that’s helpful to artists and creatives?
My initial thought when I read this question was be more outwardly supportive online and in person. In the last few years I have noticed that people asked about my small business once during conversation or stumbled upon it online then never acknowledged it again. It’s not something that I would personally hold against anyone, however I do think if more people took time to share small artists work it would make a big difference. A consistent share, comment, yearly purchase, or a review could be the change that business needs to reach their target audience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://penmanshiphippieshop.etsy.com/
- Instagram: @penmanshiphippie
Image Credits
Maya Dehlin Spach