Shannon Fennell's Blog

My life, art, travel, make-up, cooking and the occasional rant!

Art is my life

I am an artist in many media. Make-up Artistry was my profession for over two decades, and I create in a variety of other ways.

Since I can remember I have been an artist. I still have some drawings that I did when I was around 5 years old as my mother kept them stored.  My paternal grandmother was very accomplished artist, mainly in pastels that I remember.  She always gave me art supplies for birthday presents.

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Done in Grade 5 – I was 10

I greatly enjoyed art in high school, but in those days to get a job and earn a living you didn’t study art.  So I pursued other options.  I never stopped creating; I just did it informally.  I took workshops in different areas constantly – oil painting, pottery, fused glass, sculpting, water colours, etc. I never stopped learning and I never stopped enjoying the process.

Designing and constructing costumes and props for theatre and wearable art shows has been a great way to incorporate a lot of my skills and stretch myself to figure out how to make things work the way I want them to.

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Crown built for the Lady of the Lake in Spamalot, 2017

Over the last several years I’ve been diligently doing art – practicing daily. And I’ve notice a lot of improvement in my techniques and abilities. Taking part in online challenges is a great motivator and an opportunity to try things I’ve never done before.

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Brian, done only using words – all the lines are actually words, 2018

I was very fortunate to be in a position to be able to return to school to study art full-time. More things to learn and create!  I find with my life experiences that I have a better grasp of the work process and how to manage my time to optimize my output.

I received a Diploma in Fine Arts – Advanced, with Honours (College Honour Roll, President’s Honour Roll) from Durham College of Applied Arts and Technology in Oshawa, Ontario in 2021, and received unconditional offers for both a BA (Hons) Fine Art and an MA Fine Art. I started my MA Fine Art at the University of Plymouth in England in September 2022.

I created a blog for my Fine Art Diploma thesis project called Anthropocene of the Crime. As we only could present it virtually (due to the Covid Pandemic) I felt I needed to showcase it this way – it was meant to be closely viewed and read, so I hope this will enable viewers to understand what I was presenting.

I am currently working full-time with fused glass at Serendipity Glass Design with my friend. Anne Freeman. I am fully committed to this media having invested in my own kiln! I loved the process of creating something out of small bits of scrap glass to create mosaics.

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Serpopard – polymer clay sculpture done in 3D Studio class, April 2018.

I blog about my art often – those posts are listed below:

Life does have its twists and turns

What I’ve been up to for school

Christmas… it’s coming!

Getting started

Back to School, again!

And that’s July done.

June’s projects

Heading into Jubilee Celebrations

April has been busy

Sunflowers and more

Our second fundraiser for Ukraine

Support for Ukraine

An Artist’s Quandary

Double vaxed at last

Day 447 (of the Pandemic)

Day 416 (of the Pandemic)

21 Days and One Year (of the Pandemic)

Year One (of the Pandemic)

Day 355 (of the Pandemic)

Day 331 (of the Pandemic)

It’s New Year’s Eve; Day 298 (of the Pandemic)

Day 287 (of the Pandemic)

Day 255 (of the Pandemic)

Day 225 (of the Pandemic)

Day 133

Day 107

Day 61

Hey world, are we done yet?

A Little Self Isolation

Leapin’ Lizards… It is Leap Year!

And just like that, January is over.

New year, new semester, new challenges

Birds, and feathers

Gallery Show and a prize

Animal & Pet Portraits

May Day

I’m not always a stubborn Luddite

Final Project for Contemporary Drawing

Last week of this semester!

Latest work – “Under Threat”

Progression

Paintings

My first project for Contemporary Drawing class

Year One – Done!

Art – projects on the go

Works in Progress

Hey, it is Inktober

Making a Serpopard

End of term is looming

Midterm Marks are in… Mom would have been proud.

I’m officially a starving art student… well, not really starving but…

I’m going back to school!

Halloween Fun with the kids

30 Paintings in 30 Days

I’ve discovered Copic Markers

A new venture – Name Art

My life in art

Cretaceous Park – Grande Prairie 66 million years B.C.

My other art

I have a a website that features all of my creative services at ShannonFennell.com, and social media presence on Facebook at Shannon Fennell Artist, YouTube at Shannon Fennell Artist and on Instagram at @shannonfennellartist. Check them out and Like and Follow! I’ve also got links in the sidebar as well.