"Stripping Away The Layers"

This is one of my latest collages. I've been drawn to the simplicity of working in black and white lately. It's been fun, but I love color too much to stray for very long.

Lines become Life

Hey everyone!

I need you're help in voting for a design I created. Everyone PLEASE take a moment and score my design for a t-shirt on threadless.com. It will be up for 7 days, and in that time, I need as much support as possible, in order for it to go to print! If you don't like it - no worries, you don't have to vote. BUT If you really do like it, feel free to give it a great score! If it goes to print i get $2,000, and much needed exposure!

You can score the design by following the link below, or by clicking HERE. (I'm pretty sure noaccount is necessary to score the design). Thank you in advance!

Score This Design!

Moby Dick, Bees Wearing Crowns, A Violion, and Coffee

What do these things have in common? They are the subject matter featured in my art prints of course! These high quality prints can be produced on paper, canvas, and even laptop/phone cases. Different available sizes makes them affordable for all. You can purchase yours HERE.




Moby Dick (The White Whale)

Griselda

Coffee man

Crown of Bees

Architectual Ceramics

I thought I would mix it up a bit and focus on ceramics today or more particularly, the work of Cameron Crawford. During my undergrad studies at CSU Chico, Cameron was a teacher in the ceramics department. Recently while cleaning out my closet, I came across a post card promoting one of his past gallery shows. On the front was a picture of one of his pieces - I had forgotten how beautiful they were.

While he has a large body of work, many which are brightly colored, I am particularly drawn to the pieces that have soft neutral tones. To me, these are the most reminiscent of old buildings in a state of decay. They evoke the same reaction in me that I once had in an old abandoned theater. It was both hauntingly beautiful and strangely sad to look at. The theater was filled with gorgeous, ornate details in the architecture and furnishings. Unfortunately, years of neglect had taken their toll. Drapes were torn and disintegrating, plaster was crumbling and the balcony was falling apart. Despite such advanced decay, it was not hard to picture what it must have looked like at the peak of its time. In some ways, it's faded beauty was even more striking now, made prominent in the rubble. What was left had stood the test of time. It was quite moving. Needless to say, Cameron's pieces always remind me of that theatre and I wanted to share them today.

Living Exteriors

I have recently started getting back into assemblage and I have to say, it has been incredibly rewarding. Day after day I wake up inspired and ready to work. It's as if the pieces just come pouring out of me. And collecting the materials is just as fun. Whether it be beach combing for driftwood, creek walking for stones, or yard-saling it up for discarded "junk," I always seem to end up with something special. I work with found objects, which personally makes it more interesting and engaging for me. I'm particularly fascinated by old scrap wood and hardware. It leaves me wondering where each object has been. Was it once shiny, new and loved? Was it part of someones home? If so, who lived there? It's interesting to speculate on its past and on the trajectory that brought it to it's current state of decay.

The last few days have ended in excellent treasures. Yesterday I was able to nab some ornate table legs, broken statue feet and various other interesting tidbits, after responding to an ad for free scrap wood on Craigslist. Today I explored an old abandoned shack in the middle of the woods, and was able to find all sorts of old rusty hardware and interesting pieces of wood laying buried amongst the ruble. I now have enough supplies to keep creating for several weeks. Just thinking about it makes me happy. Above is a piece I finished this afternoon. I'd like to think i've used these discarded parts to create an intimate little piece of architecture all in its own. I'd be very interested to hear other peoples thoughts or reactions to the above piece.

Time To Spread My Wings

This year has brought about many changes in my life, which has inspired me to bring about even more change. Particularly, I have been focusing on what I can do to create more happiness and meaning in my life. As a first step, I have decided to start taking more risks (in a good way) and not letting myself be held back by fears and "what-ifs". In the spirit of this new and exciting time of branching out and exploring the world in new ways, I created this collage. It's a friendly reminder that taking chances in life doesn't have to be a scary thing. Infact, many times it can be quite a fun adventure. ...And away we go!

Science Meets Whimsy

Talk about the find of the day. I stumbled across these illustrations by biologist, philosopher and artist Ernst Haeckel, and immediately fell in love with his work. While I have the utmost respect for scientific drawings, I have always found them to be a bit stark, detatched and lacking in personal expression. Which is, of course, the purpose of them: to portray something as a biological record, not a personal interpretation. It has always struck me as a bit of a paradox really. Yet there is something different about the illustrations of Ernst Haeckel. They seem to have an emotional quality to them, while still remaining faithful to true scientific form. It's as if Scientific illustration merged with Art Nouveau into some glorious new fusion.

To view more information on Ernst Haeckel, who was quite an interesting man, click here.
You may also purchase a book of his illustrations on Amazon, titled Art Forms in Nature: The Prints of Ernst Haeckel

Lin Olofsdotter Illustrations

These beautifully vibrant pieces are created by artist Lin Olofsdotter. They are full of rich vibrant colors and heavy shapes which she has managed to combined with delicate line weight in each illustration. The result is pure whimsical goodness. For more on this artist, visit her official site here.

Words Create Worlds

These beautiful images are from a brilliant ad campaign for Anagram Bookshop in Prague, Czech republic. I could look at these all day. They are absolutely fantastic.

Assemblage Using Found Objects

Today I pulled out all sorts of objects and art supplies I've been collecting and spread them all over my living room floor. Going through these objects, I'm so inspired! I've decided to start a new series of assemblage pieces. Some will be short projects, that I will complete in a day. Some will take weeks. What's important is that it will be an ongoing process, and I will constantly be creating. Below is the first of my series, made entirely from found objects.

Plight of the Sheep

My Artist Facebook Fan Page

Join me on facebook and get updates on new art, works in progress and more! You can become a fan by following this link here. While you're there, feel free to leave a comment in the guest book (found under discussions) and say hi!

Internet Crazy!

I'm back! I took a long break from this blog while I finished up my graduate school program, but I can now officially say I have my master's degree in illustration!! It's going to take some getting used to, but I'm actually going to have free time on my hands to focus on building my career as an artist, and creating work that I love!

As a first step, I've been working on my official artist website, which is now up and running. Check it out when you get a chance, I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on my work!

http://www.Rachaelshankman.com

Wonderfull Illustrations of Simone Jessup

I stumbled across these illustrations by Simone Jessup today. I think they are absolutely gorgeous - especially the bird one. Each one of her illustrations are different, and I highly recommend visiting her website.

My Newest Collage

"Poems by a Little Girl"


This is the project I've been working on for the last two weeks. After being unhappy with my initial version, I was reluctant to start over after so much hard work. But I'm glad I did, because this version was much more successful in my opinion. If you'd like to inquire about prints, you can in the comment section of this post, or by contacting me in my etsy shop at http://www.trublue.etsy.com/ Generally, prints in my shop are priced as follows:
4x6 .................$8
5x7................$10
8x10..............$15
I can also do special orders prints on canvas or watercolor paper. Pricing for this extra service depends on each individual order.

I'm featured today on L.M. GLAM's Blog

You really must check out her blog. You can see her amazing work there, as well as the work of other featured sellers. You can even have a chance to win some of it! Check it out at http://www.lmglam.blogspot.com/