Starting Here: A Little About My Work and How I Got Here

This is my first blog post, so I wanted to start with an introduction. I'm Shana, a painter and ceramic sculptor working out of my studio in Potomac, Maryland.

My paintings sit at the intersection of urban and natural landscapes. I'm drawn to moments of movement, pause, and quiet transition: a figure walking along a tree-lined path, a shadow stretching across a city street, the particular stillness of a person simply waiting. I work primarily in mixed media, building up layers of gesture, texture, and color. I don't plan the outcome ahead of time. I let each piece evolve as I work.

Growing up surrounded by nature gave me an early feel for rhythm, light, and stillness, and that sensitivity still shapes how I paint today. My process changed in a more physical way a few years ago, when I began living with an inherited nerve tremor. At first this felt like something to fight against. Over time, I started letting the tremor into the work itself. The slight unpredictability of my mark-making became part of the painting. It loosened up my hand, and I stopped chasing precision as the goal. My hand shakes and the paint responds, and I've come to trust that.

Alongside painting, I work in hand-built stoneware ceramics. This side of my practice includes two series. Skin is a group of wall sculptures that explore surface and texture up close. Witness is a series of freestanding sculptural columns, each standing three to five feet tall. Every piece, painting or ceramic, is built entirely by hand and fired in my studio kiln.

I started this blog to keep a record of what happens in the studio: new work as it develops, the ideas behind different pieces, and some of the day to day of running a small art practice while managing a chronic condition. If you're new here, welcome. If you've been following my work for a while, thank you for sticking around.

More soon.

Shana