If you are lucky enough to own a Shannon Whitworth painting or one of her soul-satisfying albums, you’ve experienced the Whitworth magic.
Her harmonies and images reach from deep water to high sky. Everything she creates is part of a Carolina confluence that flows through and around her just like the French Broad tributaries wrap around her farmland and family.
Shannon lives with one foot in the Low Country and the other in the Blue Ridge. Images in her mixed media landscapes and figurative works intertwine with nature, story, dream, conservation and connection.
In one painting, three water birds, two flying in opposite directions, and one below in small scale expresses a resonance of family: mother, father, and child.
Shannon speaks of that painting’s conception: “We had just discovered I was pregnant. Excited, nervous, joyful and in shock, we walked down to the river. Parenthood was really happening. And at that moment two herons flew together and split off. It was a lift-off of something meant to be, a new beginning, a new story and direction for both of us. There is power in images that keep coming together, then separate. One bird flew to the French Broad River and the other up the East Fork, to a familiar place we call ‘Rachel’s’.
“I am a heart-led person,” Shannon says. “My parents were in education. But I was drawn to the arts and a career in education wasn’t the blueprint for me. Even so, my mom gave me this classic refrain: ‘Make little decisions with your head and big decisions with your heart.’”
That’s exactly what Shannon practices. She set up a serene studio in a barn next to her farmhouse.
There, musical instruments, fly rods, canvases, and paints hang, thrumming with the rhythms of her Muse. The studio is her chrysalis into which she finds respite and a place where her higher calling pulls her.
How she builds her canvases is similar to her music – combining her poetry, lyrical prayer, sometimes amulets.
She says, “I layer pieces of collage, hand prints, meditations, heart-stories. It’s a journal of where I’ve (or my patron’s) been and where I want to go. All these components are embedded in my surfaces. And color stories. If I am working with a patron, I do the same, intermingling his/her family history and essence into his/her commission. My marks and words are a kind of map, grounding me and my visions. This practice allows me to combine that creative flow with the grounding nature of a simple blessing and hopefully share it with people in my circle. In this process, I absorb it in myself.
“Today’s current of world-consciousness is unsteady. We are so distracted, getting swept away with news and opinions. I try to utilize this practice and welcome in that peace and quiet that the creative process can reward.”
Shannon and her husband, Woody Platt (who used to play in Steep Canyon Rangers, often with Steve Martin), created a campaign called Rescue Carolina in response to the devastation of Hurricane Helene.
“These efforts have helped us put emergency funds in the hands of families, survivors, and organizations which do the real recovery,” she says.
Their assistance flowed right into the start of some exciting projects and concerts creating a confluence of sorts, pulling together folks on like-minded missions.
Shannon Whitworth
To learn more about contributions to the Carolinas, check out Shannon’s efforts through shannonwhitworth.com or Instagram.
On Instagram, read more about the stunning setting for her artwork at Red Wolf Gallery in Brevard, and Josephine’s Emporium, 40 Burns Street in Cashiers.
Don’t miss the Emporium’s open house featuring Shannon’s and Laura Moser’s exhibitions, with some special musical guests on July 31.
Meet Shannon at The Laurel’s July Cover Artist Reception at High Country Wine and Provisions in Highlands on Tuesday, July 1, 5:30 – 7:00 P.M. – and raise a glass to her. RSVP to info@thelaurelmagazine.com.
Favorites Count: 0