The Art of Shawna Apps
This piece was a rollercoaster ride to create!
I started out with this being an 18″ x 24″ piece, and some times it went well, others…not so much. Paint was running everywhere, the paper was warping from the water, colors were blending beautifully…like I said, a rollercoaster ride with its ups and downs!
It wasn’t until I was so close to being finished and getting ready to frame it that the unthinkable happened….
“Your work is too soft.”
“You need more contrast.”
“You know what would make this piece better? Differentiating between your lights and darks more.”
Those comments and so many other variations on them came from my professors and classmates in college, whether I asked for feedback or not. Critiques, working in class….I’d hear them all the time.
Continue reading ““Too Soft””I’ve mentioned before that there are times when pieces don’t go the way I intentionally planned…and this piece is no different!
This piece came together really easily. The color gradient, the clouds, it was so smooth and seamless…but it felt like it was missing something. I hadn’t planned for anything but the clouds to be in the painting, so I was feeling a little frustrated. I had the name Lullaby in my head, but that felt like it was missing something as well. I happened to be talking to my husband about something and it inspired me to try putting a moon into the piece, and it was perfect! The alliteration for using ‘lunar’ in the title with lullaby was the sprinkles on top (because sprinkles are better than cherries!).
Continue reading “New Piece: Lunar Lullaby”We live in a beautiful part of Western New York where the views are amazing. I love driving down back roads, especially for sunrises and sunsets, and just take in the view. This painting was based on a late autumn morning, and I was taken aback at how the bright blue sky and purple and white fluffy clouds were so vibrant when paired with the bare, dark trees and chopped down cornfields. I of course had to take a picture and paint it!
Title: Autumn Farewell
Continue reading “New Piece: Autumn Farewell”If you know me, you know when I see the clouds or sky I get the feeling of just needing to paint it. Sometimes I get the urge to do it in watercolors, other times oil, but the feeling doesn’t go away until I get it out of my brain onto canvas or paper.
When I finally sit down to recreate it…it doesn’t always go the way I want it to. The colors aren’t looking right, they’re not blending the way I want…and I end up creating something completely different than intended, and most of the time, I end up loving the outcome.
This new piece definitely was one of those times!
Continue reading “New Piece: Magenta Morning”You know I’m obsessed with clouds, right?
Actually, anything sky related makes my heart sing: sunbeams poking through the clouds, the way the colors swirl and change for sunrises and sunsets, the clear, bright blue skies…it is my happy place!
One evening I was taking my oldest son to school for a practice, and as we got to the end of the road, this beautiful sunset was just beginning to fade and stars were just starting to appear. He looked at me and said “Mom, you need to paint this.” He took a picture of it quickly before we finished heading to school, and this piece was born not too long afterwards.
Why is it that clouds are at their most beautiful right before storms roll in? The contrast between the dark and the light, the shapes…it is stunning.
Title: Calm Before the Storm
Continue reading “New Piece: Calm Before the Storm”This piece was heartbreaking to create.
A few years ago, I had done basically this exact painting and it was by far my favorite painting I’d ever done. Every time I took it to festivals, I hoped it wouldn’t sell because I loved it so much. Whenever anyone would favorite it on Etsy, I apprehensively awaited that glorious cash register noise, telling me it had sold and would be leaving me forever.
Why I didn’t just keep the piece for myself, I don’t know.
Well, unfortunately the piece was damaged beyond repair in our move a few years ago. I’d kept it just because I couldn’t bear to part with it. I tried fixing it just to keep it for myself, but it didn’t work out. I finally convinced myself to let it go, but I had to recreate it first…and that’s how this piece came to be!
Continue reading “New Piece: Be Still”Just as a warning, there might be a theme for some of these newer pieces. When I started relaunching my business, we happened to have our annual Apps family vacation fall smack dab right in the middle of it. And when we stayed on a beautiful river and as an artist I am obsessed with clouds, sunrises/sunsets, and all things landscape and of nature, we can just say that there were a lot of photos taken as inspiration for future pieces (including Serenity Bay!).
While we were on vacation, I was asking some of our family members what kinds of things they’d like to see me do. The #1 response? Another blue heron…
Title: Harry
Continue reading “New Piece Alert: Harry”This summer we took our annual Apps family vacation to Virginia and stayed on a river. This was a big change for us as we typically go to the ocean or maybe a lake, but a river? Definitely new.
It was such an amazing vacation, though. We watched herons, we kayaked and swam, and even saw dolphins on our last full day there.
The weather was absolutely beautiful, but we did have one day of rain. The way the clouds rolled over the river were absolutely stunning, and inspired this piece:
Continue reading “New Piece Alert: Serenity Bay”
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