Yesterday I had a piece in the NY Times about the recent election in Nigeria and the resulting unrest. Thanks again to Aviva and Alexandra over at the Op-Ed!

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I am honored to be in this years Communication Arts Illustration Annual, it just came in the mail today! As a kid I used to lay on my bed flipping through the pages of these annuals, analyzing all the images and daydreaming about the artists. It's really surreal to have my work published here after all those years. This one is especially special because my good friend Owen Freeman is on the cover!

Here are some photos from the Power Punch show at Giant Robot San Francisco. If you are interested in purchasing a piece, images of the available work and pricing info are now on the GRSF website store.

Thanks to Mark Todd for the pics.

Today I have an illustration in the NY Times Op-Ed about liquor wholesalers controlling consumer choice. The multi-talented Josh Cochran was guest art director on this one. Thanks Josh!

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Yesterday I had three spots in the NY Times Book Review for a collection of short stories. The stories I illustrated were about the creator of Godzilla, a flood, and an off the grid survivalist. Thanks again to awesome Nicholas Blechman.

the sketches:

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Tomorrow night is the opening of Power Punch curated by Mark Todd. It's at Giant Robot San Francisco from 6:30 to 10pm, and looks like an amazing collection of art.



contributing artists:
APAK!, Drew Beckmeyer, Marc Burckhardt, Chris Buzelli, James Chong, Kevin Christy, Vanessa Davis, Shannon Freshwater, Matt Furie, Frieda Gossett, Peter Hamlin, Ryan Heshka, Andrew Holder, Jason Holley, Patrick Hruby, Rich Jacobs, Hellen Jo, Travis Lampe, Zohar Lazar, LeMerde, Jacob Magraw, Elizabeth Mamont, Mark A. Miller, Brendan Monroe, Christian Northeast, Martin Ontiveros, Mimi Pond, Luke Ramsey, Martha Rich, Johnny Ryan, Brooks Salzwedel, Erik Mark Sandberg, Shark Toof, Keith Shore, Jeremy Tinder, Jesse Tise, Aiyana Udesen, UGLYDOLL, Jon Vermilyea, Wayne White, Matt Wood, Jaime Zollars

Here are my contributions:

© shannon freshwater

It's been a while since I posted anything. Here's some process shots of a little something I'm working on. Stay tuned.

© shannon freshwater

I'm really excited to have received several books from Knopf. It's really great when you see the final application of your work. Barbara DeWilde did a fantastic job with the design. Top notch!

Here's a link to a nice review of my sculptures from the Subtext show. Hope you all had a great weekend!

Here's my piece in today's NY Times Op-Ed about women journalists in war zones. We wanted it to be a strong and powerful image, so I took the idea of Rosie the Riveter and gave her a hijab and a pencil. The editors were afraid it looked like she was going to inject herself (agreed), so in the printed version the arm is a little darker to give emphasis to the face and the pencil, which I think works out just fine. All the elements are collaged. The face is from an old girlie mag, and the arm is my own with a few improvements.

© shannon freshwater

It's video time!
Here's a video from an event I participated in a few weeks ago:

BLUECANVAS Issue 7 Launch Event - January 13, 2011 from Bluecanvas Media on Vimeo.

Here's another video from the opening at The Society of Illustrators:

My book cover for The Collector has been accepted into the Society of Illustrators 53! The book and editorial exhibit opens this Friday Feb 4th from 6pm-12am at The Society of Illustrators. I am honored and exited to be included in this prestigious show!

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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.

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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"

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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