Shannon Woodford

Shannon Woodford is a professional artist living in Waxhaw, North Carolina. She has always been a creative and was noticed as a teenager for her exceptional decorative work and honed her skill creating trope l’oeil and other faux finishes for interior designers. Very soon, the young decorator realized her true pleasure would be found by transitioning into fine art. Even now, however, she enjoys the opportunity to create grand scale canvases, a talent developed in those early years when she had an entire wall upon which to express herself.

Shannon studied under master painter Andy Braitman, whose Charlotte school is renowned for producing successful exhibiting artists. Braitman mentored her into her signature aesthetic: a multilayered, expressionistic, dramatic snapshot of nature. Shannon works largely in florals, using the deceptively everyday nature of her subject matter to explore the hidden depths of their unexpected appeal. She likes exploring as many mediums as possible, and has worked extensively with watercolors, acrylics, and encaustics. Her current focus is in oil paint and mixed-media on canvas.

Shannon balances her appreciation of classical botanical illustration with the works of the French Impressionist Masters. She manages to combine the sensibilities of both movements in her paintings, along with a refreshing touch of modern abstraction. She accomplishes this through the usage of simplified, implied lines and large brush strokes to convey her exploration of the natural world. She loves to stretch her artistic capabilities with the use of a bold color-story, the striking natural juxtaposition of foliage hues, and lush multitextured layers. Despite having traveled North America and Europe extensively, she draws most of her inspiration from her home state of North Carolina. She actively looks for vistas of imperfect, or wabi-sabi, beauty, searching out under-sung flowers (or even weeds) to coax forth their raw, wild charm.

Shannon exhibits at galleries across the South. She hopes her work allows others to enjoy the peace of nature while exploring their connection to the land and its beauty. Shannon is married and mother to four incandescently imaginative little girls, who don’t hesitate to help her in her work when given the opportunity. They love contributing their suggestions for titles! When she isn't with husband Chris, or daughters, Laurel, Olive, Violet & Marigold, she's most likely in her home studio or immersed in her community of creatives, who she credits with her ongoing education as an artist and a person.