Permission to matter - about the artist
In January of 2024, while engaging much of the material presented in Permission to Matter, Shannon felt prompted to pick up a paintbrush. Slowly and unintentionally, her former black and white inked journal pages were filled with sketches of flowers, color palette ideas, and drawings instead of words to depict the events of her day. Weeks later, she bought herself some acrylics, then collage paper, charcoal, oil pastels and even needle and thread. She was waking up to an artist inside of her. Shannon’s “make-shift art studio” in the corner of her kitchen had evolved over months; the kitchen counters were covered with abstracts and floral pieces. She was coming alive to a part of herself she had yet to claim. She found herself living inside out, effortlessly sharing and expressing her story through each blank canvas she took into her hands.
While creations were flowing out of her, she continued to pull back layers of identity, make space for non-judgemental discovery, and listen to God’s kind voice. Through deep internal work, Shannon came to understand that she had not given space to a very present part of her identity in God. There was an inner artist in Shannon that had a vibrant heartbeat and an insatiable desire to wake up, and breathe out into the world. During this season of becoming, she recalls being in Bekah’s living room and hearing in her spirit, “She (the artist) is important.” It was as if God was saying “Yes, this is my intimate fingerprint on your soul and you need to bring this piece to life, Shannon.” Shannon began to give permission to her artist self and to let her take up more space in her actual life as a wife and mother.
In an effort to put her art and story out into the world, Shannon Allyne Art was born in 2024, and the joy of making art and building her business have just begun.
Shannon Allyne Art aims to be a place to experience unbridled human emotion through a deep connection to God and Self wrapped up in complete safety and through the means of storytelling. Rich community with others and Shannon’s love for people are at the center of everything at Shannon Allyne Art. There is nothing solo about her craft. Shannon listens to those around her, soaks in others' pain points, intentionally works at accepting her own life as it comes, and keeps her eyes peeled for tender, honest, and raw moments. Then, she paints as a response. She is actively involved in the life of other artists, and takes creativity seriously. She puts herself in rooms where she functions as a “creativity midwife” - helping other women birth their own creative dreams. Creativity has been a powerful vehicle to knowing God more fully, and she longs for other women to have this same joy-ride.
