by Kirby Lindsay, posted 5 September 2012
For September 7th, from 6p – 9p, the Fremont First Friday Art Walk offers plenty of creative and colorful art (and artists) – including the return of the popular and always vivid Shano to Fremont Jewelry Design.
A Return To First Friday
This will be the second time Shano will display her striking and sexy paintings in Fremont’s fine jewelry boutique. It is her third show for the Fremont First Friday Art Walk, having previously displayed at the NoteBleu Gallery in the SPACE Building.
“I really like Fremont,” Shano said about her return, “and it’s good for my work.” Her paintings are easily accessible to Art Walkers, with the bright colored, highly stylized female forms. The works also include sly details and exude attitude that gives serious viewers something much more – and have proven to sell during First Fridays, and over the month long display at the venue.
This show will bring Shano back to Fremont and will, hopefully, spell the end of a two-year hiatus from her canvasses. With the coming of autumn, Shano’s favorite season, she plans to send her kids back to school and put an end to the period of grieving she’s gone through following a divorce. “No more wallowing around,” she said of her return – to First Friday Art Walk and painting.
“I want to do more of the masculine meets the feminine,” Shano explained, “like ‘Bang Bang’.” In what she called her favorite piece – “right now” – Shano described the pink clad, girly-girl pointing a pistol as, “an oxymoron of a painting.” Another Shano piece, ‘Feel The Heat,’ depicts an entirely confident, sexy woman striding forward while gripping an ax and dressed in full firefighting gear. The self-possessed woman in a traditionally masculine role is something the artist intends to explore further.
“I have a background in fashion illustration,” she explained. “I’ve tried to do men,” she said of painting, “but they are very mysterious to me.” She didn’t set out to paint almost entirely women, “I used to do more scenery things,” she said, “a long time ago.”
Her recent works also contain horses, and fantasy imagery that started in an earlier work she said that she almost regrets having sold. Called, ‘Self-portrait Of Dreams,’ the painting depicts the artist, in a dream state, with her house, dog, and cat. “In dreams you can be most anything,” she explained, including the woman that she captures on her canvas.
“When I paint,” Shano explained, “I like to portray how I see myself, my ideal.” Her works portray frankly sexy women as powerful and in control. Shano said she wants to share, “that ‘je ne sais quoi’ that all women have; that sexy side of women that is unobtainable. Their inner goddess.” As she admitted, “a side of me I would like to possess.”
The works also draw in viewers with the use of bright, bold and compelling pigments. “I just love vivid colors,” Shano said, and the ones she chooses, she explained, “they reflect my mood.”
For the promotion of this show, the postcards produced by Fremont Jewelry Design feature a painting called ‘Autumn II.’ This piece makes use of Shano’s signature red but in darker, autumnal accents. “The colors were rich and inviting,” Shano explained of her choice, and her love of fall. “It is a time of rebirth,” she said of the season, “the leaves changing color, buying school supplies, going back to school and seeing old friends.” This Fall signals a return for Shano to Fremont and, hopefully, a rebirth of her art.
September’s Other Special Features
This September First Friday Art Walk also features other special artists as well, including some in a one-time only show at 3420 Fremont Ave N (beside Yak’s, in the former Naos/Cool Whirled space.) This event will feature live art, art displays, and Dj music.
Also this month, Raise Haiti will return with a ‘Faces Of Haiti’ photography exhibit by Alex Garland at West of Lenin. The exhibit is intended to raise money for the restoration of the impoverished and storm riddled country of Haiti. For those who want an entirely singular experience, go to 43rd Ave NW & 6th Ave NW to visit Seattle Glass Monuments and see the custom and stock monuments and memorials. As explained in the Art Walk materials, “Our goal is to add some artistic sensibilities to the final statements of our lives.”
Also, be sure to stop in and see:
- Paintings by Angela Bern Castagnolo at Christy Carner Salon & Spa
- Impressionistic works by Sophie Thomas at 509 Wines Tasting Room
- Block prints by Liz Neuman at Frame-Up Studios
- Illustrations by Andrew McIntosh at Pel’Meni Dumpling Tzar
- The acrylic & mixed media canvasses of SKY at Art F/X Gallery
- Painting and photography of Patrick Joy at High Dive
- Encaustic works by Emily Alice Peck at Hub And Bespoke
- Live art and music at Red Triangle, with Autumn Tranquilino, Aaron Barr, Brenden Shea, and Alex Rasmussen
The Fremont First Friday Art Walk always has plenty to recommend it (check the website for the latest listings of venues,) in addition to this opportunity to see more of Shano. Of course, for those unable to come out for a stroll this Friday, September 7th, from 6p – 9p, Fremont Jewelry Design will have Shano’s stunning paintings on display for the entire month – for viewing…and purchasing.
Come out and see the confident women of Shano, and the Art of the Walk, this month in Fremont. See you here!
Related Articles
- The Art, And A Gallery, Of The Walk
- by Kirby Lindsay, March 29, 2010
- When ‘Fremont Good’ Prevails
- by Kirby Lindsay, January 25, 2010
©2012 Kirby Lindsay. This column is protected by intellectual property laws, including U.S. copyright laws. Reproduction, adaptation or distribution without permission is prohibited.