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We had the chance to catch up and talk about art with instructor, Shannon Marie Timura. We asked her about her journey in creating art and what she’s up to currently.
Shannon took us back to when her kids were little and she loved to explore vintage and used book stores. On her book hunts she found two books that transformed her life. First she found the book, The Artist’s Way and it reenergized how she thinks about art and creating art. Even today she goes back to read sections now and then. We guess that many of you may be familiar with that bestseller by Julia Cameron, published in 1992 with over 4 million copies sold! The Artist's Way encourages readers to write three pages every day. Shannon took this recommendation and faithfully writes at least three pages every day and feels that this practice helps clear her mind and unblocks creativity.
The other book is perhaps less known, but still a NY Times bestseller by author Clarissa Pinkola Estes titled “Women Who Run with the Wolves”. This book explores myths, fairytales, symbolism and womanhood. This book really piqued Shannon’s interest in personification, symbolism and nature, which influences the art she creates.
Early on, she started teaching art classes for both kids and adults and noted that regardless of the age differences, they are both a little hesitant at first. Shannon likes to pull people out of their normal mundane day to just play and experiment. She also likes to bring plenty of supplies so students can create something, learn from it and then make their piece. She said that it’s “ridiculous to expect that your first attempt will always be perfect, so take time to learn, try again and just have fun creating.”
For inspiration, Shannon follows the Jealous Curator hosted by Danielle Krysa, enjoying listening to her podcasts while she does her art. Danielle did interviews with hundreds of artists, sharing their stories and Shannon loved learning about others’ art journey.
To continue learning, Shannon applied to join the Artist Launchpad with Summit Artspace and thoroughly enjoyed this program. They brought in other professional artists and many different genres to study. She found the program to be very introspective and felt it was a magical time to learn more about herself and meet many other artists – poets, performers, painters, fine artists and mixed media.
Shannon was also recently accepted into the Ohio Arts Council as a teaching artist where she will be teaching in schools and parks.
When Shannon’s not teaching, she is busy doing art as she sells her many creations through over 20 retail boutiques and galleries in northeast Ohio and across the country. You can see her work locally at Made Cleveland in Coventry, Bay Arts in Bay Village, Akron Soul Train in Akron, River Light in Penninsula to name a few.
Shannon has Art Dock classes coming up at Vermilion Valley Vineyards in Wakeman. Book today for her April classes at artdock.org!
See Shannon's work by visiting her website: https://www.shannonmakes.com/