ShanaMcCormick.comWhen I look back at the art I've created I see my life staring back at me from the past. The story of my life, whether I like it or not, is told with each piece of art work I create. Within every piece resides emotions, questions, answers, confusion, hopes, and dreams that I experienced during that time. I could line every painting and drawing up on a wall and remember my life as well as what I was going through when I created each piece. It's not the style of art that I create that's important to me, it's the emotion I put into it and the meanings inside it. My art will forever be apart of me in that way. I paint and draw because it frees me, because I enjoy it, and because sometimes you enjoy it too. Sometimes you find a piece that speaks to you as much as it speaks to me, and sometimes a single piece of art can say everything you want to say without having to say anything at all.
I became fascinated with drawing after my parents bought me a 'How to Draw Planes' book when I was in the fourth grade. I copied exactly what I saw to the best of my ability and continued to draw on my own from that point forward. Painting was introduced to me soon after that by my Grandmother in the back of a small town art studio. We went once a week during that summer to art classes where she and I both worked on Oil Painting together. My Grandmother worked in the 60's part-time coloring black and white photography and her brother was an art teacher who created large stained glass artworks as well. I enjoyed color blending and shading most of all and so each week I would choose a Sea Scape to paint.
During High School I focused mainly in pencil drawing and I eventually was able to reproduce a Photo realistically, almost like a photo copy. I went on to receive my professional degree from The Art Institute of Dallas which focused predominantly in Graphic Design. For me, being an Artist is a journey; and I continually grow and evolve along my path. After several years in the Commercial Art industry I desired to get back to my roots with art. By using the same design principles I had used in Graphic Design I began to create abstract works of art with acrylic paint on canvas. It is a great asset to be able to use art in so many ways because one medium feeds the other in color, shape, and innovation.
