Here's today's piece for the NYT letters page. It's about the concept of the mind playing a roll in illness. I really enjoyed this one and I love how it turned out. Thanks to Alexandra Zsigmond on this one.



The final combined the ideas from two sketches, and I think it worked out much better.

I was inspired by this image I found on the web...I'm not sure where it is from originally though (Metropolis?), if anyone knows please drop me a line.

© shannon freshwater

My previous post consisted of sculptures, however I also have some collages in the Subtext show which act as supplemental pieces to the sculptures, examining the same issues.

"Through the Open Doors #1"


"Through the Open Doors #2"


"From Graves Forgotten Stretch Their Dusty Hands"

"As Silent As the Pictures On the Wall"

© shannon freshwater

Last night was my opening at Subtext gallery in San Diego. I couldn't find time to blog about it earlier because I was sleeplessly working on the pieces until the last minute. It was curated by Mr Brody Albert and also featured the work of three other fabulous artists and friends: Katherine Guillen, Sara Escamilla, and Kaeleen Wescoat-O'Neill. You still have time to check it out, as it will be up till Feb 20th. (Excuse some of the snapshots, I'm going to have to get these professionally shot.)

For a long while now I've been using haunted houses in my work, and this seriese is no exeption. I have always thought of houses as thier own character, a part of the family, and so I am exploring the idea of the house as a person which becomes activated by the haunting. I have also been interested in the tactile, fleshy, and sometimes groteque qualies of skin and the human body, and here I have been able to combine the two, somehow making the haunting more corporeal.

"With Feet That Make No Sound Upon the Floors"

"Impalpable Impressions On the Air"




"Houses Wherein Men Have Lived and Died"

The titles are taken from a Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem.

© shannon freshwater

I've been so busy that I didn't have time to post this when it came out in the NYT last Sunday. I am really proud of how it turned out, and it was a great experience working with the talented Jennifer Daniel. For this one I was inspired by Escher and this surreal quality of having things seemingly falling apart, especially as the article is about the Arizona shooting and how disasters sometimes give us clarity.

© shannon freshwater

If you are in LA tomorrow night, I have six pieces in this show at the downtown artwalk. It's a launch event for Bluecanvas magazine which will be highlighting Art Center alums. It looks like it'll be a huge event, so hope to see you out there!

I have a piece in today's NYT letters section. It's about the FDA pulling a popular breast cancer drug. The pill capsules are scanned and altered plier handles which worked out quite nicely. I also broke open an actual cold pill capsule on the scanner bed to add some texture. Thanks once again to Aviva for the assignment.

© shannon freshwater

Happy Holiday! Here's my most recent book cover done for Knopf. The book is about the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann. The direction was to include photos from the trial and the main players. During the trial Eichmann sat encased in a bulletproof glass box and we decided to use that idea and that geometry to conceptually link the characters. I love how it came out and working with the fantastic Barbara DeWilde was a pleasure.

© shannon freshwater

It's time again for another Post-It show at Giant Robot! I painted a total of 23 post-its, and here are a few of my favorites.

Thanks again to Mark Todd and Esther Watson who continue to include me in this ever expanding show. I can't wait to see what Matt Greoning, Nicholas Blechman, Chris Buzelli, Lou Beach, Ryan Heshka, and all my friends have contributed. At only $20 each I might have to take home a few pieces.

© shannon freshwater

I have a piece in today's New York Times Op-Ed letters page about the troops in Iraq and the lack of patriotism on the mainland. This was super last minute and a nice challenge to see how fast I can produce a quality image. Also thanks to Eric Davison for the use of his freakishly large hand.

© shannon freshwater

Thanks to everyone who came out for the packed Mini Show! Both my pieces sold and went to a great cause! I forgot to take pictures, so instead here's some promo pieces I'm working on.

© shannon freshwater

This Sat night I have two pieces in an awesome benefit show for Art Center's Mini Lai scholarship fund for illustration. It's a one night only show with art mostly under $300! There will be lots of great art from alums like Calef Brown, Rob & Chris Clayton, Tavis Coburn, Alex Gross, Andrew Hem, Jason Holley, Tara McPherson, Martha Rich, Mark Ryden, Aaron Smith, Mark Todd, Ed Ushiro, Jaime Zollars and many more. Hope to see you there!

I have an illustration in this weekend's New York Times Book Review. Thanks a bunch to one of my favorite ADs Nicholas Blechman for the assignment.

© shannon freshwater

I have an illustration in the New York Times Op-Ed today. It's for an article about re-visiting Haiti after the earthquake. A really moving and interesting first person account. Thanks always to awesome AD Aviva Michaelov. If you are interested in the Op-Ed section there's a great online feature about the Op-Ed turning 40 that was released last weekend. Aviva had a hand in including some great illustration, and watching the video makes me proud to be an illustrator for such a legendary newspaper.

© shannon freshwater

Super excited to be in the most recent Hospital Brut (special Asiatroma Japan issue) by Le Dernier Cri. I've been a longtime fan of this awesome french publisher/collective, so it's an honor to be included in one of their books, especially with the likes of Stu Mead, Gary Panter, and Jonathon Rosen. You can buy this limited edition, serigraphed book here. warning: book and website are NSFW.

pics via Pakito Bolino & Le Dernier Cri

About 6 months ago I worked on a couple of book covers for Little, Brown & Co. They were just released, so I can finally show them off. Here are the two final covers which look great with the clean sans serif type treatment, thanks to AD and designer Keith Hayes.

The Collector cover was a winner immediately, but Daniel Martin went through a few changes before we hit on the winning design. I like them all, but in the end the publisher decided to go with a much cleaner and innocuous image, which I think still turned out fantastic. Here are a few of the ones that didn't make it.

© shannon freshwater