PROFILE
Shana James is an established West Australian artist who has exhibited consistently over the past 20 years, working in painting and printmaking.
Her artwork is in the collections of Kerry Stokes, The Ministry of Culture and the Arts, Artbank and the Water Corporation. She has won highly commended in The Contemporary Print Media exhibition 2 years running and last year also had a highly commended in the Melville art Award. Her artwork is narrative in style and she uses printmaking and painting to explore an imaginary world of stories and ideas.
Since graduating form Fine Art at Curtin University in 1990 Shana has exhibited widely including seven solo exhibitions and numerous group shows in Perth and in Melbourne. She works from a home studio, around 10 minutes drive from Fremantle.
Click here to read catalogue essay by Ted Snell
Click here to read catalogue essay by Joanne Whalley
Buy/View Artwork
Unless it is already sold all of the art on this site is for sale and you can buy it directly on paypal by clicking the links. If you would prefer to lay-by artwork please email me regarding the piece you are interested in.
You can also buy my inexpensive handmade prints from
an online shop called Etsy.
Shana Talks About her Work
My artwork communicates stories and ideas in pictures. My pictures are about ways of thinking, perception and the motivation of individuals to make particular choices. We all make small choices everyday which build on each other and it is the culmination of these decisions that create our life, unique but with common threads of connection. My artwork captures and holds these small fragments of everyday decisions, evocative of emotion or memory.
The Process
Often when I start a picture I'm not sure how it will look when its finished. Like a novelist who starts to write not knowing how the story will end. I love this process of making and the evolution of the artwork
In my current work, the process usually starts with a sketch from my visual diary. From this sketch I may set up a photograph with a model (usually my sister or a tripod and use myself as the model.) These photographs are a reference point, they help me with angles and proportion and once I have this, I move from the photo and let the artwork develop.
Painting
In my current paintings there is an implied feeling of space like a landscape of the mind, a thinking space. The energy of the brush-stokes around the figure, soft and blended or high energy, are integral to the figure and reveal more of the meaning. The paintings are built up in many layers often with over-layed transparent colour (glazes) giving the work its brightness and intensity. The result is a rich textural and visual experience.
Printmaking
The starting point for my linocuts is very similar, the main difference is they way the process dictates the outcome, instead of thinking about colour and brushstroke it is very much about the mark-making with the cutting tool and the relationship of the different textures to one another.
Click here to see my prints on Etsy
If you live locally ie in the Perth Area (Western Australia) and would like to view the artwork in reality contact me via email about a no obligation studio visit. I am also available to discuss commissioning an artwork to suit a particular space in your home or office see the commissions page on this website.
Classes
In addition to my studio practice I am also a tutor at the Fremantle Arts Centre where I teach classes and workshops in drawing, painting, colour mixing, lino-cut, drypoint and etching. If you would like more information on my classes please go to www.fac.org.au and click on learning. The Fremantle Arts Centre is a great place to join an art class, whether you are a complete beginner or someone with a background in art wanting update skills or explore new mediums. It is also enjoyable to take time out and connect with like minded people.
My classes are relaxed and friendly and there are beginners classes for people have never done any art before, so if you've always wanted to try, my learn to draw class is a great place to start.
From time to time I take other workshops for arts organisations or schools. If you would like to employ me for a specific workshop, including my PD art workshops teaching primary teachers, please email me.
Please enjoy my pictures but do not copy them. All artwork on this website is copyright ©