Today we’d like to introduce you to Shannon Kourajian.
Hi Shannon, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Art has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember. Starting in middle school and high school, I had a great interest in film photography. With the influence of my art teachers, and my older brother who was the image of a hipster (this was 2012 okay?), I expanded my photography skills into other art forms. I pursed art education at Concordia University, St. Paul and fell in love with ceramics and printmaking. Funny enough, I completely stopped my photography production. However, with the guidance of my incredibly professors, my artistic skills excelled. After graduation, I took a job teaching high school art, and now have put a great focus on my own personal artwork. I started selling my work in May 2021, by signing up for local art fairs in the Twin Cities and have had great success so far. My production levels have risen beyond what I could have imagined. It brings me such joy to know that my artwork lives in the home of friends and strangers.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As any great story, there is never a completely smooth road. During college, I had many self doubts in my artwork. My mental health deteriorated and my artistic motivation was almost nonexistent. The combination of comparing my work to my peers and those on social media dragged me deeper into this artist block. All of this was directly prior to my senior art exhibition and because of this struggle, I almost halted production and called off my own show. Alas, one evening an idea finally came to me. I knew that all of this self doubt needed to be expressed in my artwork, and as a result I created the signature piece in my show. The work titled, “U(n)der C(o)ntrol,” was a series of 96 screen prints displayed together on one wall. The piece was about influence, not only as an artist, but as a person. How some days you control it and other days it controls you. Under control, no control. The production of this piece launched me out of my artistic rut and allowed me to host a successful solo exhibition, which thus led me to the connections I have today to sell my artwork.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I place my work into two categories: fine art and craft art.
My fine artwork mainly consists of ceramic and painted pieces. Chunky and dimorphic vases, with a signature opening in the middle, my ceramic vases are my favorite works to create. Made in all different sizes, they are often wood or saggar fired, which creates a rough, burned in texture that mimics the abstractness of the form. My paintings have a neo abstract expressionist style. Gathering influence from my travels in Mexico City, these paintings have a great focus on color. They can be incredibly messy to create and require lots of drying between layers. While I bring some of these ceramic and painted pieces to my shows, most of the sales for my fine artwork is commission based.
My craft art is the main series of work that I sell at my art shows. These items are quicker to produce, resulting in a lot lower of a price. My current line up consists of several different art prints, including a zodiac series, screenprinted t-shirts and tote bags, textured wall art, ceramic mugs, coaster sets, and trinket dishes, and recently I have added jewelry. I hope to expand my small business and grow a larger audience to begin selling online.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
My main sources for inspiration and small business success are Instagram and TikTok. Following artists that work with the same medium as I do encourages me to constantly be developing my own art. As a small artist and business, I also take inspiration and advice from others on how to market and promote my work. As an art education major in college, I never took any business or marketing classes. Many artists I know who hold a degree in fine art also chose to add a business minor to their degree. Looking back, I realize how much those classes could have benefited me now. Having to learn even basic business and marketing skills on my own has been a challenge, but with the aid of others online, I have picked up on quite a few tips.
Pricing:
- Fine art ceramics range from $50-$120
- Fine art paintings range from $75-$300
- Craft art items that I sell at my shows range from $3-$50
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: www.etsy.com/shop/ShannonKourajian
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shannonkourajian/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shannonkourajian
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@shannonkourajian
Image Credits
