Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Darsow.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
Hi! My name is Shannon Darsow, and I am the Artist behind Sundry City Fine Art Gallery. A lifelong self-taught passionate creator of visual artistry, Silver Telly award-winning and Emmy nominated Hair and Make-up Artist for advertising, International Model, published Author and Educator, and frequent traveler and Yoga Instructor, I have been honing my skills creating images of all forms since I first felt the dance of my pencil meeting paper. My skill set compromises a multidisciplinary studio using my camera and traditional materials: ink, watercolor, acrylic, oils, pastels, pencil, and sometimes mixed media.
What I use is dictated by how the subject matter wants to be expressed, and my relation to it. This gives me the freedom to push myself to dig deeper, to find more powerful ways to capture movement and life or essence of the moment. Informed by dreams, memories, emotions, and by honoring the subject itself and how it wants to be expressed the story of each piece begins.
Regardless of the medium I am moved to use, I will often use contrasts of lights and darks. The contrast of light and dark is one of the most powerful differences you can use to harness emotion, to show off the depth and richness of the subject.
My sanctuary when not traveling is with my family and British Labrador in our home in the south metro. My studio in the beautiful MN Spring and Summer weather is outside in the warm filtered light of our front porch, and when it is cold it is our sunlit and airy kitchen full of life with my family and friends gathered intermittently throughout the day providing the kind of fresh energy that feeds my heart and energizes my hand.
My life and professional background in the arts, which perhaps follows naturally for a person who has held a lifelong passion for creating and gravitates to roaming and travel, embodies the ideals of heartfelt connection, furthering creative strides, and of giving back.
I have lived all over this incredible world, and come from a great number of innately talented, willful, and heartfelt people. My education in creating began as a young child influenced greatly by my family, and a Nun named Sister Emily at the elementary school I attended who would specially set aside art books throughout the school year she thought I might enjoy.
What has come to be Sundry City Fine Art Gallery is a natural outgrowth of my breath of talent and experience along with my imaginative personality which manifests itself as an easy passion for creating; always ready to get my ideas and visions on paper or canvas, or jump on a plane or hit the road for our next adventure.
Sundry City is a play on the word diversity. Sundry’s meaning, “several people or things that are all different from each other”, is a reflection both of the breath of my creations and experience in the arts, my deep love and reverence for the diverse amazing world we live in, and the causes my art and sales supports at different times of the year. Like so many Artists it is the act of creating that keeps me going. This is the heart of my art.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
The road has not been easy or smooth. Is it ever though? There have been family and personal health bumps, navigating many unique or unexpected turns being self-employed for 28 years, and even down to every painting or project on a micro level, there is almost always a bit of a stage where you wonder how you are ever going to make this happen the way you imagine.
If you have been painting for a while you know the process of creating a painting almost always starts with a vision.Then you go through a sort of awkward stage where things just don’t look quite right. It is sometimes easy to feel stuck or not sure of the next steps to take when you are in this stage, but for me, this has been where the most growth has happened. It is perhaps where my images get their soul. It is this in-between where I have learned to trust vs control, and where I have learned the most problem-solving and perseverance. It is this gap between my vision and my desired end result where I have learned to do the right things to keep my vision going.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
My Business Marketing Degree classes were always pushing to focus on one thing and getting really good at it, and even then it was something I pushed back on. I have always embraced many loves, inspirations, and growth opportunities. Keeping my heart open in this way and really listening and witnessing has brought many incredible adventures in my life, and even brought me to my now husband and co-dream maker of almost 20 years and 3 beautiful children. Connecting with people all over the world from all walks of life, immersing myself in the middle of breathtaking creation both God made and human made, and studying wildlife and marine life while I was pursuing my original studies of Marine biology, the heartfelt gifts and heart hurting moments just living life and being human ….all of this shows up in my works. It is not something I can necessarily control…it just is. This experience and views from my heart is what shines through and gives each piece its uniqueness.
One example of the “just is” of my hand shows up in my 23 years working as a Hair and Make-up Artist for productions. The common perception is makeup is used to cover up flaws. This has never sat with me. Mostly because my eyes have never seen a physical “flaw” in a person yet. The first things I always notice are the unique and beautiful qualities, and without even thinking, my work has highlighted and accentuated these things, and that is where one’s eyes end up going immediately. It just always has been this way for me, and I cannot explain why, but it did take quite a while for that “a-ha” moment to hit me to have the words to embrace and explain it, and just to understand it just is how I have been wired.
Are there any apps, books, podcasts, blogs, or other resources you think our readers should check out?
During the Pandemic, I became a certified Yoga instructor and Master Life and Health Coach, but sometimes I just want to let someone else take the wheel when traveling or during long production days. I found the FitOn app is a great fit during these times.
It has been a great mobile resource that checks all my fitness needs for mediations, yoga, and strength training with lovely positive instructors wherever I am. When working on production sets my job can be pretty physically demanding so keeping myself mentally and physically prepared is so important. Also, using exercise, yoga, and meditation before creating an art piece is a great tool for me to help focus my energy and intention, and create space to be present.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @sundrycityfineart
Image Credits
Jacob Darsow Photo, Todd Darsow, Shannon Darsow, and Mathias Orfield
