“Each Is A Living Flute”
shāna, Nude #1, ©2012
shāna, Nude #2, ©2012
I work hard, long. Then I’m halted. I focus sharply, losing track of all else, excepting what’s before me. Then I fold. I start, I stop. The detachment is far worse than all else no matter the cause, be it physical, mental or emotional. I “know” movement will resume…eventually. If only this made the collapse any less brutal.
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts & ideas in the comments below. While you’re at it, feel free to share the post by using the social media links below!
cheers from
A Mystical Tree
© Weeping Beech #1, shāna, 2012
A little over a year ago I moved into a new place. The adjacent lot had been vacant for 3 plus years, since the owner passed away. There sits a small cottage on a large lush property. As fate would have it, the woman was an artist who lived in NYC and summered here. While I never met her, I was lucky enough to see the interior and feel her presence. It’s charming, worn, enchanting and littered with an artist’s touch – just as one might expect. It has soul.
The property has yet to sell, which is lucky for me as it provides an extended playground. Truthfully, I fantasize about owning it & since I’m currently unable to do so, the lack of turnover suits me just fine! There’s something magical about it, most especially that weeping beech tree. I go there often to sit, meditate, walk around, decompress; connect to source. Inspiration invariably emerges.
© Weeping Beech #2, shāna, 2012
© Weeping Beech #3, shāna, 2012
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Fermentation & portraiture…
Until a series is complete I see it as a process, an exploration of something I need to examine. Something from deep inside that I can access in no other way. Mostly this is driven by a compulsion; something that my thinking mind has not necessarily defined. Somehow, a series comes to it’s own natural conclusion. It tells me when it’s complete. And in a short time I have learned to trust this.
© shāna, “Maya #6“
What’s puzzling to me is this fervent push in the on-line world for artists to post new work. To share it immediately. Maybe it’s me but I prefer allowing time for things to ferment; space so the work can tell me where it needs to go. Perhaps working in analog lends itself to this viewpoint. Or maybe it’s just my nature. I’m not sure? It’s an interesting place straddling both worlds.
© shāna, “Bubble Gum“
I’ve been kicking around the idea of posting works in progress in video format. The transitory nature of this medium may just be the perfect conduit. It feels more free, organic much like my working style. Any thoughts? Please let me know below in the comments.
© shāna, “Apple Girl“, 2003
Would love to hear your thoughts & ideas in the comments below. While you’re at it, feel free to share the post by using the social media links below.
cheers from
Artsy Shark…
© shāna, Talia & Ashlee #2, 2006
I want to share some exciting news with you. A photo essay of mine was published on Artsy Shark; a site for emerging artists curated by Carolyn Edlund. Carolyn is an art consultant passionate about helping artists get their important work out in the world. We met on twitter (yes!) and she generously offered to feature me on the featured artists section.
So go have a look & then be sure to come back here and let me know your thoughts/questions/ideas in the comments below. While you’re at it, feel free to share the post by using the social media links below.
cheers from
A move, a concussion & the last days of summer…
© shāna, Floating, 2006
It’s been an interesting couple of months. Shortly after moving to my new digs at the start of summer I suffered a concussion. This required rest, rest & more rest. Minimal stimulation is key to a lasting recovery I’m told. For the most part, amongst other things, that meant no computer, excepting for some peaks here & there. I’m slowly getting back to myself. September always seem to help move things along for me.
As usual, a camera helped get me through. I brought a borrowed digital point & shoot (yes, still don’t have one!) to the E.R. so in between the pain, fear & fainting came this self-portrait. Lovely, ay?! Art is about process, not product, as Julia Cameron so aptly states in The Artist Way. To that I add, as is life.
“The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless.” Jean-Jacques Rousseau
On July 4th, fine art photographer and blogger Aline Smithson, showcased an on-line exhibition with “Summer” as it’s theme. Since I wasn’t able to share it with you then, I thought I’d bookend the summer by including it here. The image above, Floating, is included in the The Lenscratch Summer Exhibition. Please have a look and relish summer’s last days. However, I’d love to hear from you in the comments below before you go!
Here are some of the images I made this summer:
© shāna, Girls At The Pool, 2011
© shāna, Untitled, 2011
© shāna, Baby Grand, 2011
I would love to hear from you in the comments below. While you’re at it, feel free to share the post by using the social media links below.
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Lenscratch Self-Portrait Exhibition 2011
shāna, Self-Portrait Series Untitled #2, ©2009
© Aline Smithson
The gifted, generous and prolific fine art photographer, Aline Smithson has curated an on-line exhibit on her blog, Lenscratch, entitled, Self-Portrait Exhibition 2011. I am honored to be included amongst this incredible collection of images. Below are just a few I feel drawn to though there are so many more – hard to choose! The last entry here is my contribution.
Although I believe that in the end, all portraits are self-portraits, an actual portrait of self is that much more revealing thus leaving the viewer with perhaps a more direct access to the artist’s inner world. However still, that access is always suffused with the viewers’ psyche thus adding layers to the experience.
“I don’t care about my looks but I wish people will see my soul and it appears more clearly in these photographs than in others.” August Strindberg
© Garry Loughlin
© Kalliope Amorphous
© Jenny Nordquist
© Noelle Swan Gilbert
© Rebecca Martinez
As always, I would love to hear your thoughts & ideas in the comments below. While you’re at it, feel free to share the post by using the social media links below!
cheers from
Give me more…
© shāna, Zogby 1, 2010
© shāna, Zogby 2, 2010
© shāna, Zogby 3, 2010
Many of you have impatiently, albeit kindly, asked me to post more images from the family portrait session that took place during the December blizzard. I hope you enjoy them as much as I (we) did making them! I’m reminded of what Brenda Ueland writes in her book, If You Want To Write. She states:
“Only when you are playing in a thing do people listen and hear you and are moved. It is because you are moved, because a queer and wonderful experience has taken place and the music – Mozart or Bach or whatever it is – suddenly is yourself, your voice and your eloquence.”
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with gratitude from