Magic Dusk :: Post-Impressionist Painting :: Connecticut Artist

“Magic Dusk” is a 9x12” acrylic painting on mixed media paper, and was painted on January 27, 2022.

“Magic Dusk” painting by Shannon Sorensen

My friend recently shared a photograph she took at the shoreline in her hometown, and the dusk hour made the sand, shells and rocks glow this warm, magical pink color. I knew I wanted to paint it!

I have challenged myself not to get boxed in to any one style - expressionism, abstract, or post-Impressionist - and to continue being playful and curious with color and mark-making.

A theme of my art is including metallic gold in all my pieces. I love the flicker of shine you get at various angles, and on a more personal level, it’s my nod to the art of kintsugi.

Kitsugi (translates to “golden joinery”) is “the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery by mending the areas of breakage with lacquer dusted or mixed with powdered gold, silver, or platinum…As a philosophy, it treats breakage and repair as part of the history of an object, rather than something to disguise.” (Wikipedia)

When I learned about this art form, it was shortly after experiencing my pregnancy loss, and I felt connected to the idea immediately. Though I’m not mending pottery myself, the use of gold paint in my art signifies healing, repair, embracing imperfections, and shedding light on my “broken pieces” that are part of what makes me a whole person.

I love how this piece turned out, and it makes me want to find time this summer to go paint at the beach. The shoreline and ocean are endlessly inspiring.

Are there any beaches or coastal areas that you’d love to see painted?

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoy seeing my art, learning about my process, and feel inspired to explore your own creativity!

Subscribe to my weekly emails for regular updates, fun freebies, and creative inspiration!

Looking for a way to show support for what I do? Buy me a coffee for $3 on Ko-fi, either one-time or monthly!

January Recap :: New Art and Paint With Me on YouTube

Why does January always feel like it stretches out forever? I know it’s not everyone’s favorite month, but I do always look forward to this time of year. I enjoy settling into a more quiet rhythm of life. It feels like a non-stop marathon of THINGS TO DO between the start of school in early September through the flurry of the holidays. Time stretches out a bit wider and further in front of us through January. It might make you feel a bit restless. I invite you to settle into it.

Find Your Sacred Flow

I love that this is the card I pulled today. Finding your sacred flow can mean a lot of things . For me, it means finding my pace of creating art, my pace of living, and honoring it. My sacred flow is slower than it used to be. It’s more flexible and lighthearted. It’s more playful. It’s allowing the creativity to flow through me, through art, through my words, and trusting that I don’t have to know where I’m going at all times.

This means…

Trusting my intuition.

Growing more comfortable with saying no.

Committing to my art and making time to play, explore and evolve.

Enjoying being myself, as I am in any moment, be it serious, silly, thoughtful, sad, curious, introverted, extroverted, energetic, sleepy…

I’m done with fighting against the current of my soul. I am moving with it, embodying my whole self, and enjoying the ride.

January Recap

For a slower month, January was full of good things. It started with prepping and hanging 12 pieces of art at Balance Massage and Wellness Center here in Newington, CT. My art will be on display there through the end of March 2022.

Click through to see the virtual gallery:

I made four new pieces of art that I am in love with for many different reasons. I painted my first big painting, which is 24”x36”. I made a new digital artwork for the first time since last June. Then I painted two smaller pieces, two days in a row. Each piece woke up something new and exciting in me. I am finding my style and voice as an artist, which is an incredible feeling.

Click on each image to pop out and see bigger:

I hit record last week on my 4th painting, and got a new process video up on YouTube! I was hoping to do this with my big painting, but I wasn’t well prepared for how long the painting would take and how to capture that scale of a project. So I’m taking baby steps back into the painting video world, instead of biting off more than I can chew at this point. I hope you give it a watch, subscribe, and hit the thumbs up! I plan to do these at least every other week going forward.

In addition to all of that, I am planning on a shop update later this week, as I have about 16 new pairs of painted earrings almost ready to go! So keep an eye out for the date and time, which I’ll share across my social feeds, and get ready to shop some wildly funky new pieces!

Thanks for catching up with me here! Wherever you are, I hope you have a beautiful week!

Shannon Sorensen is a self-taught contemporary abstract expressionist painter based in Newington, Connecticut, specializing in vibrant artwork that evokes feelings of places you have seen in person or in dreams, inspired by music, poetry, memories and meditations. Fine art prints of select works are available through her art store, and shop other printed home goods and accessories at Pixels.com.

Follow more of Shannon’s day to day creative living on Instagram.

Check out painting and creative living videos on Youtube.

Creativity and Mental Health

If living through a pandemic has done anything for me, it has helped me to be more aware of my mental health and wellbeing, and recognize the things that truly help bring me comfort, relaxation, and coping, when life feels otherwise a bit topsy turvy.

The first time I connected the dots between my creativity and healing was three years ago, following my pregnancy loss. I picked up a crochet project and spent four months crocheting a blanket for my daughter. With time, the repetitive nature of maneuvering stitch after stitch, row after row, brought me peace and calm. It kept my hands busy and allowed me to work through my thoughts and waves of grief.

I decided that it’s important for me to keep this conversation going as I share my work, because it really is the source of why I am on this particular path, and especially this past year and a half, I have witnessed so many friends and strangers turn to art and creative activities for comfort and healing.

So today, I’m sharing the things that I turn to regularly for comfort, meditation, to scratch a creative itch, or simply for relaxing and enjoyment.

Five Activities I Enjoy for My Creativity and Mental Health

Crocheting

I learned to crochet when I was about 8 or 9, sitting across from my mom as she taught me the basic stitches. I loved watching her work on creating blankets and other crafts, and remember sitting for hours after school working on granny squares and scarves.

In the weeks immediately after my miscarriage, I decided to make Lily a blanket. I had never finished an entire blanket and knew I needed something to focus on at night when the house was quiet.

I researched new stitches and picked out soft, colorful skeins from Joann’s. I started working on it, row by row, and found that I felt calmer and calmer with the meditative repetition of stitches. It wasn’t a complicated project. I could kind of tune out and focus on letting my hands do the work, and with each completed row, I felt happier, proud, looking forward to finishing something so special. And bonus, as it got bigger, it physically comforted me to have a soft, warm, and somewhat weighted blanket lying across my lap as I worked.

The other bonus to crocheting is that it’s a portable project. It’s easy to keep a current project in a tote bag to take with you in the car, anywhere you go. I recently started packing an “activity bag” to keep in the car, so I can crochet while I’m waiting to pick up Lily at school, or while she’s at dance class or Girl Scouts.

Painting

Obviously, this has been a monumental piece of my journey over the last 3 years. I enjoyed painting throughout my entire life, but recently, exploring the kind of painting I loved, made all the difference.

I have seen friends take up watercolor, drawing, doing paint nights, and finding real peace and joy with a brush in their hand. When you allow time and space to express yourself, removing the pressure and expectations of what you “should” be making, and do it merely for the physical and mental practice of playfulness, you may be surprised by how healing it really is.

With all things in life, it’s important to try all different kinds of things to find what you really connect with and enjoy. I know people who do not enjoy knitting or crochet and find it very frustrating. I know people who will not pick up a paintbrush. Perhaps it’s too daunting, or there’s no feeling of desire to paint.

Whatever you choose to do, or not to do, is a personal choice. There’s no right or wrong way to create or to craft.

Coloring

In 2021, I collaborated with my local Chamber of Commerce to host three Coloring and Cocktails networking events for local women in business. At each event, women from all walks of life, personalities and levels of artistry gathered and simply enjoyed coloring.

The wonderful thing about coloring, is it’s 100% enjoyment. The art/design is already there. You can freely choose your coloring tools, and tap into your inner child to playfully create.

Coloring has many mental and physical benefits, including relaxation, fine motor skills, creatively stimulating, increased focus, and giving your eyes and brain a break from screens (which I think we can all agree is necessary).

I have spent the entirety of the Covid pandemic drawing coloring pages. It started as an idea to make a page for my kids, back when we thought they’d only be home for a week or two. The more I drew these coloring pages, the more I enjoyed that process, too.

Here’s a link to purchase my very favorite coloring pages, which you can download, print, and color anytime!

Creative Movement

This is something new that I have been dipping my toes in, and I am loving it.

Creative movement is whatever I feel like doing with my body to re-center, move, and spend some time with my thoughts or listening to music. I try to do 20-30 minutes a day of something different that simply feels good. Some days it’s walking, some days it’s sitting and doing a guided meditation and deep breathing. Some days I put on my favorite Wicked Autumn playlist and dance freely (no choreographed dance workout videos over here), and some days I sit on our stationary bike and pedal for a half hour while listening to a podcast or, if I’m being honest, watching Instagram reels.

Engaging with my body each day keeps me in tune and grounded, not getting too lost in my thoughts and my to-do lists. It’s also a reminder to honor this vessel I’m living in, because I very easily could sit on my couch all day, or at my desk, and I know that when I take some time to move, I feel better. Physically dusting off the cobwebs and moving my body in new, different ways each days helps clear my head and invite in inspiration.

Crafting with My Kids

Before the pandemic, I can say with complete honesty that I didn’t enjoy crafting with my kids. Maybe it was their ages. It’s most likely that I was a lot more of a creative control freak. Whatever the reason, I’ve lightened up and have found that low-maintenance arts and crafts are a fun way for us to spend time together.

I love letting them do their thing and watching where ideas spark and take off. I love seeing them work together, or on their own. I try not to help too much so they can really experience it for themselves and grow their own skills.

My best advice is to get simple, inexpensive craft kits at Michael’s or Joann’s, if you’re like me and don’t like having to do prep work. I put a lot of my own creative energy into my painting, so when it comes to crafting with the kids, I like for someone else to do all the work, so we can simply enjoy it!

Some favorites include:

  • Canvas and paint kits

  • Coloring or painting simple wooden ornaments

  • Making jewelry with beads or rainbow loom elastics

  • Making our own picture books using blank paper or blank books/small journals from Michael’s

  • Origami is a recent favorite!

Oh, and no projects with glitter! It’s just not allowed in our house. We learned that lesson the hard way when Lily was little.

Bonus - Reading!

Is reading a creative activity? I say yes! Every new book you read is new to your brain, and will introduce you to new thoughts, ideas, stories, and perspectives. Like music and podcasts may spark inspiration in you, so does reading! And reading may create peace and relaxation in your day.

I have a to-be-read stack about a mile high, but I have been intentionally making time to read each day, either in the car waiting for my kiddos, or in the evening to wind down and relax my eyes and brain from all the screen time.

I know a lot of people love reading books on a device, but I just never got into that, and truly enjoy holding a physical book in my hands (and smelling the pages)! But my husband reads a ton on his Kindle app, so it really is a matter of figuring out what you like!

What activities do you prioritize? Is there something you’ve been wanting to try? Remember, any time you do something new, or a new way, you’re using your creativity. It doesn’t matter if it’s the way you apply paint to a surface, or the way you make yourself a cup of coffee. You might try a new crochet stitch or pattern, or you might rearrange your closet. You can dance in your living room, or choose a different route or path for your walk.

I’d love to hear what is sparking inspiration in your life lately. Leave a comment or connect with me over on Instagram.com/shannonsorensenart!







Touching Heaven :: Coastal Sunrise Painting :: Connecticut Artist

“Touching Heaven” is a 9x12” acrylic painting on repurposed canvas, and was painted on December 29, 2021.

“Touching Heaven” painting by Connecticut artist Shannon Sorensen

This painting is one of the last pieces of repurposed canvas I received from another local artist to use for my work. I was inspired by the smooth, warm color of the sun on low tide, when the sand is wet and has a thin layer of water that seems to stretch on and on to the horizon.

The textures you see emerging from top to bottom near the middle of the piece is from the layers of paint this canvas was previous used for.

Thanks for visiting! I hope you enjoy seeing my art, learning about my process, and feel inspired to explore your own creativity!

Subscribe to my weekly emails for regular updates, fun freebies, and creative inspiration!

Want to show your support for what I do? You can gift me a coffee on Venmo - @shannonsart - I appreciate it!