Joanne Shellan knows that great art
doesn’t just happen. It takes talent, hard work, and a
type of obsession.
Shellan’s obsession is for watercolor—loose, exuberant,
and passionate color to create works that are both
emotional and lively. She works “large and wet,”
starting with two-inch brushes, thoroughly soaked
300-pound paper, and ample quantities of paint. One of
her favorite techniques is to paint without wearing her
glasses.
“This helps me keep the big shapes in mind,” she
explains.“A good painting is more than the sum of its
parts. My aim is to move the spark of humanity from the
brush to the paper as directly and authentically as
possible, and I will do whatever it takes.”
Though she has been painting only since 1999, Shellan
has won numerous awards. During this past year alone:
• her painting “Night Lights” was juried into the
Northwest Watercolor Society Waterworks Exhibition,
where it won the Strathmore Award
• She received the coveted Signature Membership from the NWWS
• her painting “Determination” was chosen as the Poster
for the Shoreline Arts in Bloom Festival
• her painting “Marymoor Morning” is permanently
displayed as part of Evergreen Hospital’s Wall of
Watercolor
In addition, Shellan is now represented in two more
galleries in Western Washington; Scott Milo Gallery in
Anacortes and Williams Gallery in Port Townsend.
Shellan’s work ranges from landscape to still life to
portrait. Her landscape triptychs, some measuring nine
feet wide, reside in private collections throughout the
Pacific Northwest. In fact, multi-piece installations
are a bit of a specialty for Shellan, especially her
popular box paintings.
“I adhere my painting to a two-inch-deep box, paint
the sides with acrylic to match the painting, and then
varnish the whole piece,” she explains. “This
produces a full wrap-around look. Your view of the
painting is direct, not filtered by glass or influenced
by the presence of a matt.” Many of the box
paintings (floral, still life, and landscape) are
composed in groups up to nine boxes, with images
“leaping the space” from box to box to create a coherent
whole.
“If you feel excited about life, your paintings come
out that way,” Shellan adds. “I feel grateful
every day to have discovered watercolor!”
