Featured Artist Erin Shaw

Erin Shaw presents her portfolio of narrative images. Enjoy, and find out more about this fascinating artist by visiting her website.

 

On the Grave of Dreams

“On the Grave of Dreams” 30″ X 40″ Acrylic on Canvas, 2009

 

I was born and raised on a farm in Southeastern Oklahoma. My connection to place and people and the stories that each contain have always been primary to my motivation as an artist.

 

The Shore of these Waters

“The Shore of these Waters”, Acrylic on Canvas with photo transfers, 3 ft Circle, 2013

 

For as long as I can remember, I have always had a profound love and respect for people and the stories they collect as their own. I owe this love and respect, in part, to my American Indian heritage (Chickasaw-Choctaw).

 

Everything Belongs

“Everything Belongs” 4′ Circle, Acrylic and Photo Transfers on Canvas, 2013

 

My work as an artist rests in this simple assertion: We are collectors of stories and the stories we collect shape the people we are. In narrative style, I create paintings engaged in story: both its function and its telling. I see my role in this process as mediator and disrupter: standing between two opposing things, separating them, placing boundaries in new and unusual places and joining them once again. I work in this manner that I might see things in a new way.

 

Be Prepared

“Be Prepared” 12″ X 12″ Acrylic on Canvas, 2010

 

My undergraduate degree was in studio art, but I had never picked up a paintbrush until my son, Samuel was born. In the early and very introspective moments of motherhood I had a moment of clarity, realizing that the best thing I could do for this young life was to give him an example of a fully alive mother.

 

Sing Like a Good Bird

“Sing Like a Good Bird” 18″ X 24″ Acrylic on Canvas, 2009

 

With that clarity, came the challenge to begin making art and painting was where I landed. I never painted before my child came along, but I haven’t stopped since.

 

Axis Mundi

“Axis Mundi”, Acrylic on Canvas with photo transfers, 2′ Circle, 2013

 

Samuel, now 6, and I regularly collaborate on pieces. You can see evidence of his hand in much of my paintings, whether it is a faint dinosaur drawing of his that has been reproduced on the canvas or actual drawings on chalkboard paint within the paintings. Samuel represents all the things I want to be as an artist, deliberate, creative, intuitive and confident.

 

Spinosaurus

“Spinosaurus” 24″ X 24″ Acrylic on Canvas, 2012

 

I have just completed my MFA in painting from the University of Oklahoma and plan to continue painting and showing my work.

 

Comments

  1. Such talent!!! Great work !

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