Joanne Shellan Works

Joanne Shellan

When your father and grandmother paint, you come by the addiction to the brush honestly. Painter Joanne Shellan says, “I always felt at home doing any kind of art, from as far back as I can remember.”  Joanne Shellan, born and raised in the Pacific Northwest, has studied and painted full-time for almost twenty years in Kirkland, WA. After graduating from WSU in Communications and Art, she worked at her family business until she began her second career as an artist. She recently studied under master painter, Liana Bennett, Kenmore, WA.   Over her career, she has explored a variety of mediums moving from watercolors (in which she received her Signature Membership from the Northwest Watercolor Society) to acrylics and oils.

Shellan’s paintings have won dozens of awards. She has been in over three dozen group shows and had almost two dozen solo shows. She was chosen to represent Washington State in a year-long solo show at the Governor’s Mansion in Olympia, WA in 2012-2013.

A consistent theme in her impressionist style paintings has been to push the boundaries of color and use strong compositions to support her bold brushstrokes. “I like to paint subjects that are a little off the beaten path, especially small groups of people in interiors, city and landscapes.” To help keep her painting style loose, she likes to turn her paintings upside down and then take off her glasses.