Shana Grugan

Pawleys Island, SC

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Artist Statement:

Currently, my work is centered around landscapes.  I find the vastness of the horizon between sky and water inspiring.  Living on the east coast, there are limited vistas of open horizon. Instead, the daily view is contained to trees in the peripheral.  There is something that makes my heart skip a beat when I walk over the dunes and see the horizon. It stretches as far as I can see and that is the feeling I am working toward conveying in these works.

Exploring this subject matter is leading me into playing with abstraction with color and form.  Sometimes, a large brushstroke is all that indicates the water or clouds while other times linear details make the waves or sky more representational.  I like pursuing this push and pull between the two approaches and I am eager to see how the two work together and evolve. Regardless of the series, I feel that my color palette unifies my work.  

Artist Biography:

Shana Grugan is known for paintings that focus on color and continuity of movement.  Her most recent work blends traditional brushwork with flattened shapes in an exploration of landscapes.  Working in acrylics, she explores the theme of spirituality on both canvas and paper. This theme has been present in her work since college, though changing in style.  Born in Greenville, SC, Shana spent most of her childhood in Morrow, GA. She received a BFA in Drawing and Painting from the University of Georgia. Graduate school took her back to her home state where she received an MAT in Art Education from the University of South Carolina.  She spent several years teaching art in grades K-12, in both North and South Carolina public schools, as well as instructing students through a private studio. Her career in Art Education meant taking a break from painting, while creatively engaging in teaching studio art and concepts to mainly low-income students in schools in the Carolinas.  Currently, Shana paints in a studio full time and is grateful for the opportunity to get back to her passion of creating daily. She lives with her husband, daughter, and son in Pawleys Island, SC.