This weekend I will be having a crafting marathon with friend and future business partner Kelley, as we prepare an inventory for the 2013 fair and convention scene. Our goal this year is to nab booths at up to eight conventions, craft fairs, or renaissance fairs selling our leather works,… Read More »Super Craft Weeked in Preparation for 2013 Fairs
For those of you who have been following my latest style experiments, first of all thank you, and second of all, I want to let everyone know that I have prints of what I have been working on available for sale in my Etsy shop just in time for the… Read More »New Style Prints in Etsy Shop
A quick reminder that I am offering private art lessons for children K-12 at my studio in Lowell, MA. I just made a flyer to hand out at workshops, and I want you to have a copy:
I want to say thank you to everyone who came out to the open house this past weekend at the Western Avenue Studios. I had a great weekend and made a lot of new contacts. I practically ran out of business cards and promo bookmarks, and I am very grateful… Read More »A Successful Open House.
My weekend in the Adirondack Mountains was amazing! I have been sulking all week because I wish I was still out on the water and enjoying the fresh air. But its work time now and I have had a very busy week unpacking, implementing all the things I learned as… Read More »Back from Hartford and soooo busy.
Today is my last day in Hartford for the limited residency MFA program at the University of Hartford. For the past two weeks I have been working as assistant administrator for the program, doing paperwork, maintaining the facilities, directing students, and assisting in other administrative duties. During my time here… Read More »Wrapping Things Up in Hartford
Tomorrow I will be headed to Hartford for work for the next two weeks. This means that the website could be lacking updates for a while, but I am working on a whole new studio section, be assured. Renovations on my new studio location are well underway; I can’t wait… Read More »Back to Hartford
I have signed a lease on my very own studio space! Located at #527 Western Avenue Studios, 122 WesternAvenue, Lowell, MA 01851, I have 230 square feet of work and retail space all to myself! I start the move in process this week, and hope to have the place open… Read More »Introducing Shaunart Studios!
After spending Spring break 2012 in Sicily as part of a travel & art class at University of Hartford, I came back to the United States ready to make artwork about what struck me most during my time abroad. I am extremely proud of these three paintings. They can be… Read More »Series of Sicily
I made some new standard banner and half banners to match my current website theme and logo. If you have a website of your own, and would like to trade advertising, please, take a banner and send me an email with a banner of your own. Serious (creative & relevant)… Read More »New Banners
Yesterday I participated in the Mother to Mother annual community yard sale at the Memorial school in Burlington, Ma. Participation is open to the community and the purpose of the event is to draw more traffic to local treasure sellers by combining a bunch of smaller yard sales into a… Read More »Great Yard Sale Finds
Hey readers, I finally had a little bit of time to populate my Etsy shop again this evening! I am trying to clean out some old inventory, as well as get around to selling items that I have never listed before. There are many more items on the way, but… Read More »Etsy Shop is Back
Two weekends ago my classmates and I celebrated the culmination of our art education with our senior exhibition. Our show was titled Vignettes, which represented the different worlds each of our work peered into, but also how unified the work because under one consistent method of presentation. In order to… Read More »Senior Show was a Great Success!
I know it doesn’t look like much right now, but there is my senior show, all packed up in the corner of my dorm room, ready to be installed in the gallery next Thursday! The end of the semester is almost here and my senior exhibition is the culmination of… Read More »Senior Show in One Week!
Hey! You know what’s cool and exciting? I am helping to design the costumes for CONNetic Dance’s upcoming production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream! CONNetic Dance is a ballet company based in Hartford, CT and their show this June is a steampunk rendition of the Shakespearean classic. The set designer… Read More »Costume Consultant for Connetic Dance!
I have new Business Cards! Check it out. I will be handing them out at my Senior Thesis Show on May 5th.
I just got back from an Amazing ten day working vacation in Sicily. I went on this trip as part of a Travel & Art class here at the University of Hartford Art school. Students could apply for the course for a chance to learn about field sketching while traveling… Read More »Spring Break in Sicily!
Hi World, You can blame the total lack of updates over the past month on my final semester of college. Though this is a very exciting time, it is also an incredibly busy one. At least you can look can look forward to a lot of new work in May.… Read More »Quick check in.
Web design is one of those hobbies that gives me just as many headaches as it does feelings of accomplishment. Sure, I am proud of all the things that I have taught myself about building a website over the years, but there are still so many things that I have… Read More »Web design updates & Blog Posts on the Homepage
Right now I am sitting in my studio taking a short break from painting. The semester is coming to an end but because of all of the interruptions to my work and the work of my classmates, we all have a lot of of work to get done by the… Read More »Exactly two weeks until the semester ends!
Whoa! November just flew by, didn’t it!? I haven’t posted in forever, and for that I apologize; it has been such a busy month. Finally, I have a new painting ready to show. This illustration was done as a special project in our illustration department at school. Every year, the… Read More »Summer Term Cover Contest Illustration
Today I was a figure model for a freshman foundation drawing class here at the Hartford Art School. I was asked by one of my professors, who also teaches this drawing class, if I would be willing to model one of my more frilly costumes for her students to delineate… Read More »I was a figure model today
I am happy to announce that I am a newly accepted member of the EtsyBloggers team! They are a group of nice people who both sell things on Etsy, and love to blog about their craft. In celebration of my acceptant to this group, I will be writing a little… Read More »I am an EtsyBlogger
This semester I am enrolled in a stage makeup class. I think this class ties in nicely with my quest to find out how and why people alter their appearances; with stage makeup the goal is often to look like someone else through the application of heavy make-up. This week,… Read More »Stage Makeup: Middle age
By Shauna Leva Hair is a badge that distinguishes you from others. It has always been that way. You may not even realize that your hair, like so many other elements about your appearance tells the world what group of people you belong to. You might think I’m just stereo-typing,… Read More »All About Your Hair: What it means, how it got that way, and what it says about you.
I honestly forgot that I took these pictures. I moved back into school the day after the storm and there just wasn’t time to upload them at the time, and I just rediscovered them on my memory card. Fortunately there was not a lot of damage to private property on… Read More »A little late, but….Damage During Hurricane Irene.
This semester I am fortunate enough to participate in two coordinated independent studies on body adornment and modification throughout history and across cultures. As part of these independent studies, I will be writing (relatively…sort of…okay, not really) short blog-worthy articles on my findings. Posts will be located on my primary,… Read More »Two Independent Studies: How We Humans Adorn the Body
The River that runs through campus has flooded once again. And though this happens like every week, this time, flash flooding has claimed more than thirty cars. Public safety, which normally sends out an email to students to move their cars well before flooding occurs, did not do so, and… Read More »Flash Flooding at UHA
I just bought a new camera! It is a Nikon D3100, and it is absolutely wonderful. So far I have been nothing but impressed. Though DSLRs can be expensive, there is really no comparison between a camera like this, and even the best of point and shoots. I decided that… Read More »My Shiny New Nikon D3100 <3
Last week was my first time ever at “Look What I made,” the functional, dishwasher safe version of “Plaster Fun Time.” At “Look What I Made” children and their guardians (or babysitters) can walk in anytime, select a ceramic piece to paint by hand, and a week later, pick it… Read More »Look what I made! No, really.
So I know the fourth was a week ago, but here are my fireworks photos from this year. Videos to come shortly. Aren’t they beautiful?
New painting in the illustration gallery, done especially for the Renaissance Faire. This girl with the flowers in her hair was done in acrylic inks, watercolors, and colored pencils. I absolutely love celtic knotwork, and want to work more on decorative boarders and embellishing my work. This was the perfect… Read More »Girl with Flowers in Her Hair
This year was my first time attending the Silver Kingdom Renaissance Festival, held at Ye Old Commons in Charlton, MA. The faire has been in business for six years now, and has a small following of about 500 attendants on average each year. Unfortunately, due to weather and perhaps bad… Read More »Review of the Silver Kingdom Renaissance Festival 2011
To the 2011 graduating class of Burlington High School (MA), I am offering to hand-paint graduation caps for only $15 After a personal consultation with you, I will paint your name, and one accessory item that represents you on your graduation cap in water-proof, scratch-resistant acrylic paint. Are you a… Read More »BHS Graduation Special
Gah. I just had my wisdom teeth out, so I haven’t been able to do anything fun or productive for days. I’m starting to feel a little bit better, so here’s an update on my artistic life. I am all signed up to sell at a merchant booth at the Silver… Read More »Set to Sell at the Silver Kingdom Renaissance Festival, June 2011
Happy Valentine’s day. Thanks for reading. <3 First off, the poll results are in and the people want a mailing list. So I have created a mailing list. Now I want all those people to join the mailing list!!! I promise not to spam anyone. In fact, I will probably… Read More »Semester Update
Ah! I’m finally home for winter break. Five eighths of the way done with college. This semester I took four studio classes and only one academic; that means that I have made a whole lot of work this year! Some of which still isn’t up on my site but I… Read More »What I learned this semester
I’ve been keeping a sketchbook consistantly this semester to organize all of my thoughts, thumbnails, and small studies from my four studio classes in one place. Oftentimes, ideas I generate for one class work well in another and help me to focus my thoughts. In previous semesters, I kept notes… Read More »Keeping a Sketch Book
This semester, as part of my illustration major, I am taking a course in watercolors. I have dealt with watercolors in the past, but this course will go into a whole new level of technique and detail for me. It’s been a few years since I’ve touched a watercolor set,… Read More »Watercolor class.
I have added a batch of new images to the galleries. Almost all sections have received additions. At this point, I think I have added just about everything I wanted to. But of course, new work will come as I make it. If you’d like to see more pictures, you… Read More »New Pictures in Galleries and more on Flickr
Hey everyone, So typically, I do a lot of updating after getting back from a convention, and believe me, I do have a lot to update. However I am experiencing some super computer problems which are going to make it very difficult for me to update the site or the… Read More »Forgive the Lull in Updates
Late spring is a wonderful time to grab your camera, and head out exploring. Take a hike, go hunt down a few yard sales, and stumble upon a some unexpected treasures in your own backyard. This is what I’ve been doing all weekend, and the sights and sounds that I… Read More »The Spark of Spring
Now that my sophomore year is over, I decided to make a list of what I think are the ten most important things that I have learned this year. They may not be in perfect order, but I tried to somewhat number them by importance. Hopefully, knowing these things will… Read More »Top 10 Things I learned this year
This week in Illustration, the class built human skulls out of super sculpey, a “ceramic like” polymer clay that hardens after baking. Fresh out of the box the sculpey is quite rigid, but the heat from your hands start a chemical reaction that softens the clay as you work. This… Read More »Building a Super Sculpey Skull
In my science and art class we have been learning about different kinds of paint: how to make them and how to use them. I’ve only ever painted with watercolors and acrylics, so it was my first time using fresco, egg tempera, and oil paints. Egg tempera is traditionally a… Read More »First Egg Tempera
As I did last year, I will once again be bringing henna to the festivities of Spring Fling at the University. I am very excited to get started and plan to do some practice henna on myself tomorrow in I have a chance. If not, it will have to wait… Read More »Henna for Spring Fling
Really only three more weeks until this semester is over, and everyone–both students and teachers–are feeling the pressure. Those poor graphic designers! They’re reviews are coming up this Thursday and my boyfriend has been in the studio non-stop for three days. Lots of majors are preparing for their portfolio reviews… Read More »End of the Year Crunch
A lot of people have heard of the idea of using duct tape to make a dress form that perfectly matches the model’s shape. It involves wrapping the model tightly in duct tape, cutting him/her out and then stuffing this hollow shell with foam or newspaper or fiberfill. I have… Read More »Duct tape Corsets?
I was so busy with Anime Boston preparations that I never got a chance to write about my visit to the Norman Rockwell Museum! It was the Thursday before Anime Boston, April 21st I believe, that the Illustration department took a field trip to the Rockwell Museum, and then drove… Read More »Norman Rockwell Museum
I got into my major! I passed the sophomore review with a score of 98. I also received a certificate for having one of the top portfolios in my grade! My work is currently on display in the Hartford Art school hallways. 😀 Today in drawing for illustration we learned… Read More »Outstanding Portfolio Award, Bad Illustrations, and New Artwork added to site..