Shawn Messenger

Biography

Shawn describes her work as Impressionistic; inspired by flowers, gardens and landscapes and washed with splashes of vibrant color on a 3-dimensional canvas of glass. Each piece is individually designed and hand-blown, using colored glass powders and chips to produce a painterly effect. Transparent veils of color, seemingly frozen in motion, float through her paperweights, while bowls and plates of undulating glass echo the graceful simplicity of forms in nature. Her pieces are alive with a fluidity of motion, each expertly crafted and produced, to achieve a unique expression of the artist herself.

Shawn holds a BFA from the Cleveland Institute of Art, and has furthered her study in glass at the Pilchuck Glass Center and the Toledo Museum of Art. Since 1979, Shawn has exhibited her award-winning pieces at national shows and competitions, including those held at the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Toledo Museum of Art. Her work can be found in private collections throughout the United States, Japan, France and Germany.

Artist's Statement

My work has been greatly influenced by my love of nature and the wonders it has to offer us. I have tried to incorporate my fondness for flowers and gardens with glass to create an impressionistic vision of the landscape. For me, the flowers are small works filled with colors and shapes that produce incredible beauty. The glass murrinis in my work represent the flower. These flowers together become a field of color floating between grasses and stones. This is much like a millefiore, a million flowers. My intention is to evoke a feeling of serenity and solitude, an homage to nature.”