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| "Hide and Seek" watercolor by Arena Shawn |
Hi Everyone, this week's feature is fellow blogging buddy Arena Shawn. Her work is magnificent. She has a fabulous play between abstraction and realism. Her wet on wet backgrounds add a dreamy romance to her pieces. They blend so seamlessly with the bright focused areas a beautiful dance.
To see more of her work visit her blog
How did you get your start? What’s your artist journey so far?
I was a graduate student studying physics in Purdue University, West
Lafayette, Indiana, and the policy of the university is that graduate student
working as teaching assistants (which I am) can take any classes the university
has to offer except business classes. So, I went ahead and took some computer
art classes – painting in photoshop, vector images for advertisement, etc. I
found out (to my surprise! :-P) that if you cannot paint or draw using physical
media, going digital is not going to make you a better artist! Frustrated and
deciding to get my foundations right, I started to take studio art classes, and
one of the teacher referred me to a nice local watercolor artist, Rena Brower,
who teaches in the community art center. Oh boy was that eye-opening! She
paints these huge, semi-abstract florals and landscapes wet-in-wet, and after
three classes I was hooked! She also introduced me to books of her mentor, the
late Zoltan Szabo, who paints these beautiful moody landscapes also wet-in-wet,
and is a master of the watercolor medium. That was the beginning of my love
affair with watercolor…
After graduation I got a job in California, as an after-sales engineer in
a scientific instrument company. The work involves a lot of travel and made it
difficult to paint, but I still managed to squeeze at least 2-3 hours a day to
practice. I had a suitcase which I always had a few quarter-sheets watercolor
paper, a couple of gator-boards and my palette and brushes packed in, and I
took it around the country painting in hotels and on location. I started to
enter juried shows in 2010, and was lucky to get in a few national shows, even
winning some awards. In the mean time, my works exhibited with local art groups
started to get sold in Art Walks. With the encouragement of my boyfriend, I
took the leap after some serious thought, to leave my job and try to paint full
time. I’ve started my Daily Paintworks page at the beginning of this year, and
found a very supportive online community of fellow artists, from whom I’ve got
lots of encouragements and great tips of both art and marketing. I’ve also
started entering local art fairs and outdoor arts-and-crafts markets this year.
Hopefully that would spread the name across locally and generate more sales.
With more time dedicated to painting, I’ve also been able to produce more work
to submit to juried shows. This year I have been accepted to the Richeson Small
Works Show, the Watercolor Art Society – Houston National Show, and the Illinois
Watercolor Society National Show. Hopefully, there would be more to come…
(Greedy…)
Recently I’ve started to go back to the foundations, and joined a
full-time classical drawing and painting atelier program. The full-time program
would ideally last 3-4 years, and each student would start from copy master
drawings, then progress to drawing plaster casts of classical sculptures and
live models, painting casts in limited palette, and finally to full-palette
painting of still life and figures. The teacher I am training under, Andrew Ameral, studied and
later taught in the Florence Academy of Art for years, which inherited the
19th century French Academy lineage. So far, I am absolutely in love with the
training, and I'm counting my blessings everyday for being given
this opportunity...
Where were you born?
Shanghai, China.
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"Island Beauty White" watercolor by Arena Shawn
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If you could live anywhere where would you live?
I would be torn between cities rich with classical art and architecture
wonders, such as Rome or Florence, and remote and barren places devoid of human
trace, but haunted by nature beauties, such as Iceland or Alaska. Maybe half
and half in time?... Yes, I admit I’m greedy…
What’s your favorite thing to paint and why?
I love flowers (what, you already know that? How? :-P) but I really want
to be a landscape painter too. I am so captivated by remote, barren places
whose beauty was rarely seen by human eye. My last trip to the central
highlands of Iceland just made me realize again that the ability to transfer
the experiences of being in these places and moods of these places on paper
would be a true blessing. I am working toward it – being a landscape painter
requires a lot more editorial, designing and abstraction skills and so far I
have been a related literal painter. Lots to learn there…
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"Dancing Tulip" watercolor by Arena Shawn
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Could you talk about your painting techniques?
I paint mainly wet-in-wet, starting with a faint under painting with
light and more bright colors than the finished painting would normally look,
indicating both value and color temperature relationship in this underpainting.
Then I would wet the painting section by section, and go with more saturated colors,
and heavier pigment density, trying to finish each section in one go, before
the paper totally dries. For the center of focus in my painting, which is
normally painted more sharply than the surrounding elements, I would often wet
it multiple times and glaze wet-in-wet to achieve the in-focus look, but still
try to maintain a soft color transition within each shape.
How did you arrive at your current style?
My first teacher in watercolor, Rena Brower, started my love with
wet-in-wet techniques. I read a ton of books by the later master Zoltan Szabo
and did lots of exercises in them to practice. After I moved to California, I
studied with another master painter, Karen Frey, and she taught me my current
approach of faint underpainting + controlled wet-in-wet. I have been fortunate
to be able to take lots of workshops with many great watercolor artists, from
each of them, I have always learned a great deal, and added to my arsenal of
techniques, which I’m sure have influences my current style as well. For
example, lately after taking a class with the wonderful artist Jeannie Vodden,
I have started to experiment with multi-colored underpaintings, and much more
glazing in the underpainting stage. Every teacher leaves their marks…
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"Edge of Summer" watercolor by Arena Shawn
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Do you have a favorite artist? Who has been your biggest inspiration?
If only one can be picked, I will definitely say Dean Mitchell. His
watercolors just blow me away – each one with a solid drawing as foundation,
and all sorts of different subjects – from still life to portraits to street
scenes to rural landscapes, and techniques carefully chosen for the best
rendering effects of that subject. I’ve looked at his miniatures (4x5 or
smaller) in person and been absolutely amazed that there is no sloppiness in
even such small work, and the underlying abstract design and value patterns
makes his painting stand out even when you are viewing it across the room.
What are some of your favorite things or things that are
essential to your well being/success as an artist?
I love hiking in the wilderness. I used to hike five miles everyday in
the open spaces and regional parks all across the San Francisco Bay Area, and
marvel at the beauty untamed nature has to offer. I am also really taken by
good food, and love to seek out local restaurants with a personal touch! Last
but not least, I am a gallery and museum junkie. When I was working as an
Engineer and travelling across the country, for each city I go to, I would plan
my trip after a day’s work, not matter how tired I am, to see their art
galleries and museums. Seeing works of other artists and past masters online is
great, but sometimes, seeing a beautiful work in person just blows your mind
away!
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"Dancing Tulip" watercolor by Arena Shawn
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Do you have go-to paints/colors, what are your favorites?
Cobalt Blue and Quinacridone Burnt Orange. I will go through a nervous
breakdown if I found that either of these two colors are down to the last tube
and the new supply has not arrived in mail…
What are five things you would like to happen in your
life in the next five years? Dream big here:)
- Being juried into the American
Watercolor Society International Show and win an award;
- Being juried into the Shanghai Zhu Jia
Jiao Watercolor Biannual International Show;
- Get Signature Status in National
Watercolor Society;
- Get a gallery representation in
Scottsdale;
- Being able to support myself painting
and selling my paintings!
What is your advice for other artists who are just
getting started in their career?
Ask yourself about the goals you are trying to achieve, and try to be as
clear and honest about them as possible. What would success mean to you?
It may be different from everyone else’s definition. If you wish to make a
living as a full-time artist, then a lot of time spent marketing yourself may
be necessary and yes, it would take away from your studio time. Is that a
sacrifice you are willing to make? If you want to be the best painter you can,
then you may have to spend a lot of solitude time in the studio, and not get
recognition any time soon. You may have to go back to relearn drawing skills,
or the basics of painting without being able to produce finished work for a
while. Is that a sacrifice you are willing to make? Life is all about making
choices for yourself, and stick to it. I am still suffering to make mine, but I
believe if one give a clear and honest evaluation about what to give for the
gain he or she desires, a lot of unnecessary agony can be avoided later.
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"High Summer" watercolor by Arena Shawn
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What is the best advice that you have received as an
artist?
Don’t be a workshop
junkie (which I am). Being an artist is largely about being able to stay in
your studio alone and paint lots and lots of paintings in solitude! (by Keiko
Tanabe)
SPEED ROUND!
Chocolate or vanilla?
Vanilla, my
boyfriend and I both like it, while Chocolate is only my love ;-)
Sunny beach or rustic mountain retreat?
If sunny beach is packed with people, then rustic mountain retreat, as
long as I can occasional go down and get online… :-P
Book or movie?
Book – although I guess e-books soon could include a few movie clips in
them…
Favorite author?
He is non-fictional and I am a nerd, John McPhee. He is a great nature
writer. I love his large volume, “Annals of the Former World”.
Favorite movie?
Currently is “In the Mood of Love” – self-restrained love stories are my
favorite. I’m twisted, I know…
… (Blush) Romance… I am such a girl…
Favorite ice cream flavor?
Vanilla, plain and
simple.
Night owl or morning person?
Night owl by personality, although after joining the atelier program I
was forced to get up at six every morning a paint a little before attending
class, because after standing and drawing for 8 hours a day I rarely had any
energy to paint at night on weekdays any more… Carrie, how do you do it? I
admire you and Crystal…
Cake or Cupcakes?
Cake, and to be specific – large Cheesecakes! ;-)
See you Monday! The movers called yesterday and asked if they could come early, as in today, that would be a Negative. We compromised and may have packers showing up on Monday, earlier than scheduled. Wish us luck that we can get it all together:)
Carrie
