On August 11, 1984 artist Shawn Mackey was born in Edmonton Canada. Growing up during the long cold winters gave Shawn ample time to to draw and his creativity had no limits. Every sheet of scrap paper and copy paper was used to draw on. He would draw cartoon characters, cars, floor plans and anything that drew his attention, he even created his own superheroes that came purely from his own imagination.
At the tender age of 8 he was collecting money from his friends for his hand drawn pictures of cars, Shawn Mackey was born with an entrepreneurial spirit. He also was using ink and colored markers to create tattoos on his friends in the school bathrooms. His teachers gave him many lectures for this, but it didn’t stop him from creating.
Once he graduated high school he decided to put a hold on his art and pursue a college education at university with an emphasis on becoming a lawyer. A year of classes later that we’re filled with essay writing, politics and economics had not quelled his longing to create. Like all natural artists they have creativity in their bones and it could not be contained any longer. He deiced to take a summer art course and once he began to put paint on canvas he decided to transfer to the fine art program and study painting instead.
Shawn had also considered being an architect, but realized the canvas was the only place that he had the true freedom to create whatever he wanted to create, whenever he wanted to create. To be totally free when creating art was what Shawn wanted to to do and the ability to tell a story with a painting and to draw forth emotions from the viewer was what Shawn wanted to do the most.
Experimenting with abstractions came next and he did this while he was completing his Bachelors of Fine Art degree. Shawn used a variety of mediums such as oil, acrylic paint, polymer mediums and even earth to create these abstractions. Shawn was searching for new ways to bring new life into an art from that had been around for centuries. While he was in art school he worked as a bartender which greatly influenced his later work with the love of fine wines and spirits, which he portrayed in such paintings as “Dancing In The Streets” and “Dream Girl”.
Shawn graduated art school and pursued a variety of random jobs afterwards, but then he returned to school to become an art teacher. During this period of time Shawn considers this to be his biggest growth in his artistic journey. When he had time off he began to study in detail the great masters of art history. Today, Shawn Mackey focus is on Hawaiian Art. The impressionists were first and he worked his way through the ages learning their techniques. Like all artists he did put his own twist on their techniques and put his own mark on the pieces he created.
Shawn Mackey is being inspired today by the islands of Hawaii and his newest pieces bring out the beauty of the people, the location and the culture. His artwork is layered with texture and feels dramatic. The Hawaiian Islands are captured with vibrant colors, you can feel the breeze on your skin and hear the waves washing upon the shore. Shawn is able to capture the feeling of being there with his brushstrokes and create a painting that brings that feeling to you each and every time you view it.
