Artist of the Month:  Shannon Holt
By Josh Garrick

The Artwork of Shannon Holt

While it may be said that all of ART comes from emotion, the work of painter (and body painter) Shannon Holt is more emotional than most.  This caring lady finds inspiration from sources as simple as a look, a comment, or a remembered moment.

Shannon received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the prestigious Temple University Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia, winning an educational scholarship to study art history and painting in Italy as part of her 5-year course work. Always destined to be an Artist, Shannon began her studies in art as a child in the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts and Chautauqua School of Art.  That firm foundation “helps me make decisions about where to place brush strokes and how subtly. At this point, I make decisions about energy and line, color, composition, form, shading, layering etc. very quickly,” she says. “Paintings do have spiritual ‘mojo.’  There is so much information in between the layers of my finished painting. Sometimes, I like to leave a little bit of the under-layers exposed, to give the viewer some idea of my creative path.”

Since moving to Florida in 2003, Shannon has painted murals, portraits and other commissioned work, and has earned experience in the field of arts entertainment as a professional FX makeup artist and body painter.  She adds, “It’s a God-given talent, I’m very grateful to have.  It is as if the art makes itself sometimes.  I am lost in time when I am in ‘painting mode.’  It feels as if I get to be someone special, who is free to illustrate and express anything I want by means of art making.  Always, there is some message that is translated back to me.”  For Shannon Holt, that profound experienc comes directly from ‘the process.’  

Here are her responses from a recent interview: 

1.  Tell us a little about yourself.  Who/what were your first MAJOR influences?

I got started in the art world when I was 15 and got a scholarship to study art at Pennsylvania Governor’s School for the Arts.  It was an amazing time for me that opened my eyes to what art could be. It was total arts immersion among young painters, sculptors, photographers, film-makers, dancers, musicians, vocalists, poets and writers and actors.  My first major influence was an art teacher who really pushed my work in drawing when I was 17 studying art for the summer at Chautaqua Institute School of Art.  Everything Sharon Louden, taught me just melted into my brain and was the spring board into a life of serious art making.  In a terrible accident Sharon had her hand caught in a printing press during her MFA graduate program at Yale.  She couldn’t use her drawing hand to make art, and the professors were empathetic about the accident, but they would not let up on her.  She had to continue creating and thinking, and she made art through the pain and became ambidextrous as a result. That story has been an incredible inspirational to me, and has always helped me continue on the path of art making. Even though an artist’s life is a struggle, good art comes from continuing on. I was also influenced by the amazing experience I had during the five years I studied at Tyler School of Art in Philadelphia/Rome.  My work was heavily influenced by my education, by my professors, by the work of my peers and by my experience traveling abroad to Italy.  Artists whose work first influenced my own are Nan Goldin, Cindy Sherman, Aubrey Beardsley, Toulousse Lautrec, Cy Twombly, Bruce Nauman, Inka Essenhigh, Alice Neel, John Currin, Klimpt and the Italian paintings of saints and martyrs.   

2. Please use your own words to describe your art...

I paint mostly on canvas, and also use skin.  The canvas and board work is oil, or mixed media, including acrylic and elements of collage.  The fine art work is female figurative, and uses symbolism of animals to create a story.  I start by drawing with graphite on the surface, and make a hard black drawing.  Then I melt and sculpt the image using an oil painting solvent.  Then I add color.  I often varnish the work with bar-top lacquer, to make it super shiny and wet.  My work is comfortable to look at, sensitive, thoughtful and is about love and about the story of a strong female character.  The body art that I create is specific to a theme, and to the look of the model.  I use hypoallergenic theatrical makeup to paint a model with image and design.  It is very temporary, and has to be photographed immediately. Sometimes, I create a sculptural, installation space for the model to be photographed in, and often the model poses or dances at the public performance in the space. A lot of work goes into a piece that only lasts for one show. 

3. What happened to first make you think of yourself as an artist? 

My mother always provided sketchbooks for me when I was a child.  I remember drawing Princess Lea’s Picasso-esque face with oil pastels, right after seeing the first STAR WARS at the drive-in movies, and thinking, “this makes me a famous artist.”  Not JUST an artist… but a FAMOUS one!

4. What inspires you NOW?

I am inspired by the way people treat each other, snapshot photography, animals and music.  I also love reading about the hot new artists in ArtForum and Juxtapose Magazine, and that always makes me say, “GOTTA PAINT! GOTTA GET THERE!”

5. Where is your favorite place to create art?  

My favorite place to create art is my in-home studio.  It is a 20’x 40’ studio, with shelves full of art books and art supplies, my picture file, my music, rolls of canvas waiting to be stretched, tubes of older drawings, clippings and photographs and business cards taped up to the sliding glass doors.  I have a giant glass palate and easel in front of my painting chair and two ottomans.  My dogs each rest on the ottomans to be near me when I am painting.  I love it, and it’s my favorite thing to do.  I really get lost in the artwork when I am painting.  I love that if I have insomnia, I can get up and be productive in the studio.  I love making a painting at night and going to bed.   Then in my waking moments, I am thinking about what I can do to it to make it a better painting.  Then seeing it for the first time in the morning is very enjoyable. Sleeping on it really refreshes me and the things I need to adjust become more obvious.

6. Describe the “perfect” YOU  painting.  Have you achieved it yet?

I guess my ultimate painting would have to be really big, on a sanded down surface and painted with Gamblin’s buttery oil paints, spray paint, and colorful acrylic.  It would be a quirky master-copy of some famous portrait of some amazing ladies in history, but with imagery of modern times, and some things that are suggestive of perversion.  I have almost created it. But no, not yet.

7. Painting takes a lot of creative energy.  How do you “re-charge” your batteries?

Painting doesn’t take a lot of energy for me.  I could paint for 16 hours a day and feel relaxed and fulfilled and happy at the end. All I need to start painting again is a nap.  What DOES take a lot of energy is worrying about what other people think of me.  I always feel like I have something to prove in the art world. It’s exhausting replaying in my head what I said in front of Ms. or Mr. Influential, and hoping that it came out right.  To re-charge, I like to go on vacation as much as humanly possible and museum hop and sketch the sights in my sketchbook.  And COFFEE.  Coffee is majorly important to my mental clarity!

8. Have you received any interesting ‘responses’ from those who have “viewed” (or bought) your Art? 

I recently had a friend collapse and start sobbing in front of a painting that I gave her for her 50th birthday.  She just could not get it together.  I also participate in a monthly critique group, to which I bring artwork that I’m not sure about to get feedback.  Responses at the group vary from “I wouldn’t change a thing” to “stop putting glitter in your work!” to “just paint the damn thing!”   It is a great environment for support among artists and we all help each other.

9. What’s your fondest hope for the future of your career?

Recently I looked online for an arts agency to help me get my arts entertainment career to a different and more professional level, with more corporate clients.  My fondest hope is that through promotion, more people with big ideas will see my work, and be excited about it.  My promoters respect and believe in my work, and I am hoping that clients will latch onto the idea of using my body art or my fine art to complete their vision for a product or corporate event. My promoters are honoring me by introducing my work to their clients. I just might start selling my work for what it is really worth!   I also know that I want to go back to art school for my MFA, and I want to continue my education while traveling and learning more about art history.  I feel I need this in order to advance to the next level of being the artist I was designed to be.  It is my ultimate desire to be a noteworthy visual artist in the New York and London arts scene. 

10. How can readers find and purchase your art?

I will have a solo show this month at Swoope Studios Gallery, 142 Swoope Avenue in Maitland, Fl  (407)-758-7830.

And I am in two group shows: 
“Artists Reflect on September 11” at Barefoot Spa, 801 Virginia Dr, Orlando from Sept 1 to October 1.  (407) 539-1491

followed by:

“PUNK the Art Show,” on display at the Lee James Gallery at CityArts Factory, 11 E Pine St, Orlando FL from Oct. 20 to Nov 10.  (407)-897-5300

The Website is:  bombshellbodyart.com, and I’m on facebook at facebook.com/bombshellbodyart

Josh Garrick is the Florida Arts Editor for Wandering Educators

All photos courtesy and copyright Shannon Holt