Caution:Artist at Play-Artwork by Shana Rowe Jackson

Here are some tricks I that have helped me over the years!           1.        Use a thermos, travel mug or water bottle for your beverage while painting. This way you do not have to worry about dipping your brush into your drink, and it lessens the risk of your drink being spilled all over your project.    2.        If you do not like using harsh chemicals such as turpentine to clean your brushes there is a product called “The Masters” Brush cleaner that works great for Oil, Acrylic and Watercolor. They also have hand soap and a marvelous stain stick. If you are short on cash Dawn dish soap works well for brushes, even oil brushes. Dish soap is made to cut grease so works well for oil paint, it may take a bit longer than traditional brush cleaners but you are likely to have it on hand, it’s cheap and more importantly safe. Some shampoos may also work for the same reason.    3.        If you have been drawing intensively for a long period of time and have an

Hello everybody and Happy 2017!! I have had a lot of questions lately about how long I have been an artist, and how I decided to get into art. I started saving my artwork and scrapbooking it by the time I was 8 or 9 years old, and since it is a new year, I thought it would be fun to share some of that artwork with all of you. I decided to choose one piece for each year that I have been creating. Even though I have created everything from landscapes, to portraits to animals, I decided to keep the theme to people to keep it more cohesive. There were some years that I did not have a lot of artwork depicting people to choose from, so I decided to share whatever I had, even if it was not my best . Here is my newest YouTube video, I hope you enjoy!!  For more on my artwork or for prints feel free to visit my website!

"The Big Countdown" First Painting of 2014!! "Free as a New Years Resolution"  Well, another year has passed! 2013 was an interesting year for me with a lot of ups and downs personally and financially but overall I had a lot to be grateful for, especially with my art. I participated in my first gallery show in 2013, and was a part of three in all. I have my work displayed at the Maine State Capital building in their Senate Republican office and at a local restaurant, also firsts for me. I believe I reached new heights as far as technique goes, I was able to explore more in oils, which has been a wonderful experience, and have grown in realism technique. I started two new series', My "Summer Flight" series and my "Revival" project. I added multiple paintings to my "Life in the 'Dale" series making it my largest ever series, and my Freedom Fairies Collection, making it a close second. Recently I have been getting b

      “The artist is a receptacle for the emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, fro m the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web.” -Pablo Picasso    Funny question I know. Surely it means different things to different people. Many say you are an artist if you are able to create, be it architecture, cooking, crocheting, singing etc. Then there are those who say anybody can be an artist. Others say you are only an artist if you are good at what you create. That's where things get so confusing. Who decides what is good and what isn't? Art is so subjective. What is Art? That question is one that may never have an answer that will satisfy everybody. "My Life as a Painter" Oil © Shana L Rowe Jackson 2013    An easier way to answer is to narrow it down. Art is very personal, so forget what others think makes you an artist, why do you think you are an artist? I asked myself today, what does being an arti