#shannoncelia | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cagonline · 4 years ago

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Waterscape Highlights of this week!

More amazing art to share with you!!!

Leticia Maranhao - Colorful Rafts

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/colorful-rafts

Brynn Marion - Happy Birthday

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/happy-birthday

Colleen Stevens - Serene Chill

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/serene-chill

Colleen Stevens - Indigo Spring

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/indigo-spring

Yue Zeng - Creek Rocks

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/creek-rocks

Yue Zeng - Sunset at Sea

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/sunset-at-sea

Shannon Celia - Casino

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/casino

John Feiser - Sandpiper Trio

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/sandpiper-trio

John Feiser - Under the Pier

https://contemporaryartgalleryonline.artstorefronts.com/artist-category-1/art_print_products/under-the-pier

Available for purchase at: https://www.contemporaryartgalleryonline.com/

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myfairolinda · 7 years ago

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Guest Post: Finding Your Creative Process

Finding your creative process can be a unique experience for each of us. When we are drawn to create there are so many sources for inspiration. My friend Shannon is an amazing artist. Not only is she an award winning fine artist who specialize in oil paintings but she’s fantastically creative. She specializes in Contemporary Coastal Vignettes and is currently working on a series of beautiful abstracts. I asked Shannon to share her thoughts on creativity, what inspires her and how she finds her creative process.

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My friend Naomi asked me recently how I get my creative juices flowing and it was a joy to think about this and share my process.

A perfectly inspired creative day for me begins with being outside in the morning! There has never been anything that inspires me more creatively than being outside experiencing God’s awesome canvas. Especially here in California where I have lived for most of my life. Now that I live a block from the ocean, either a beach walk, bike ride or a Yoga by the Sea class are my favorites. In a pinch, a simple walk around the block with my puppy works well too. Not much inspires me more than crashing waves or hanging out at a local harbor watching commercial fishing boats come and go while giant sea lions bark and play in the water. I also love watching giant herons and dolphins. Another of my favorite things to do is go whale watching, it feels so primal and calming to see them move through the water. When I’m in the Conejo Valley in Southern California where I’ve lived the longest, a hike through a local canyon or an oak tree forest hoping for a deer sighting is another favorite way to inspiration. All those interesting shadows and plays of light through the craggy trees get my mind racing on what the next best way I can capture that feeling will be so I can share it with someone else.

There has never been anything that inspires me more creatively than being outside experiencing… Click To Tweet

Finding your creative process:

Why do you love creativity?

I don’t remember ever NOT being creative so for me, it’s just a part of who I am. Even as a little girl I was always making something. I remember if I ever asked for a gift of any kind, it was always something I could use to create something new. I remember by eight years old begging my mother for a guitar and as soon as I got it and taught myself to play it. I began writing my own songs rather than play ones I heard on the radio. I also remember asking for and receiving a sewing machine at age 7 and a leather tool making kit soon after. I didn’t seem to have a knack for sewing but I loved writing poetry and making music. Finally in college I found oil painting to be my favorite way to express myself.

What inspires you?

I am most inspired by water of any kind. I love the ocean, lakes, waterfalls and even vernal pools. I love seeing the reflections and hearing the sounds of water and thinking about ways to create something that can translate that feeling of hope I feel around water. Growing up I always wanted to visit my grandmother near the beach. As soon as we got there I’d beg anyone to take me down to the water. There are long rock walls surrounding that area in New York and I loved walking up on them all the way to the sea. There used to be fireworks every summer weekend. Watching the reflections of all those colors made me feel like all I wanted to do was shout with joy and create something! I promised myself as soon as I graduated high school I would live near the ocean and that’s exactly what I did.

What are your sources of inspiration?

I am truly never, ever NOT inspired! I think this is because I’m fascinated by many things. I wonder how things grow: from tree bark to vegetables to grapes and I love gardening in my yard. Tending to the garden is also a wonderful stress reliever and serving things I’ve grown makes me smile. I’m always wondering what’s underneath all water sources, how things work, how other creative people make what they do, and what their life stories are. I even wonder what animals might be thinking when they look at you. I even wonder about the creatures who lived in empty shells I’ve found over the years. I am astonished by the variety in nature I am compelled to create things that celebrate this. Honestly I get cranky if I’m traveling and forget my sketchbook or camera or something to write ideas down on. I love my iphone because it’s a great way to record things I see and experience.

How do you come up with ideas?

I love listening to classical music or Italian opera alone in my car when I’m going to art functions, this relaxes and inspires me so much especially since traffic in Southern California is a consistent nuisance but driving along a country road during a New England fall is pretty close to perfect inspiration! Most ideas I’ve had over the years feel divinely inspired and I thank my creator daily. Thank you Lord above! I create best when I am alone in a quiet environment. I’ve also had a lot of inspiration from traveling in my youth and encourage other young people to travel too! These days a simple day trip to wine country or a boat trip to a local islands is enough to inspire me for months at a time. But I often get my best ideas while I’m cooking a nice meal or late at night as I’m falling asleep. Also, in the middle of the night if I wake up in that sort of twilight state, I seem to think clearly about brand new ideas. I have always kept paper or a writing pad on my nightstand and often scribble words down so I don’t forget them. I used to write songs for years like this and if I didn’t write down lyrics that came to me easily at night, or sing a melody into a little tape machine I used to have, they’d evaporate in my brain by morning. Now that I’ve been expressing myself as a fine artist for many years, I seem to think in terms of a series of work I want to focus on for a few months or even a year or two at a time. I have always created in batches where I’ll need to paint wildly for months and be prolific, and then I’ll have to have a month of quiet rest to tend to my home and family. This is what inspires me the most, as I am definitely a homebody.

I think creativity can take so many forms and one thing can inspire another. I’ve always done silly little things like name my car over the years. I also think everyone should have a theme song or a fight song to lift them up when they’re low. Mine is brown-eyed girl and it reminds me of when I was young and dreaming big which carries over to present day and always being open to new experiences. I believe in doing hard things outside one’s comfort box and I think when you do, it makes you braver to try other new things. I’ve played several instruments over the years and yet when I think about learning to play the cello one day I get goose bumps. I love the Italian language and took 2 years of it in college but now that I don’t remember as much, I look forward to immersing myself in that again too. I really also want to learn to captain a boat and it’s this kind of thing that informs my art process and keeps me excited to wake up and paint every day possible!

Creativity can take so many forms and one thing can inspire another. Click To Tweet

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Shannon is an award winning fine artist Living in Southern California. She paints “Contemporary Coastal Vignettes,” seascapes, landscapes & still life in oil using palette knives & brushes & sometimes watercolor.

She’s been painting away on her new series ODYSSEY THROUGH OXNARD which explores the paradox of old and new alongside Oxnard’s unique history and complex culture. She’s completed more than 10 paintings in this series already. Her series was on display in October at the Channel Islands Maritime Museum where she was their first Artist in Residence! Find out more about Shannon and see her beautiful artwork at http://ift.tt/1R6o81g and on Instagram: @shannoncelia.

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