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ABOUT SHEN
Born and raised in the San Francisco bay area, Shen (Jodi) has literally been drawing since the womb.
Her mother was a performing musician who also dabbed in oil painting, and she introduced expression and creativity to her precious daughter at a very young age. An only child of a Vice-President of Marketing, Bud and his beautiful wife Joanie spent a great deal of time on the road. Shen always had a supply of drawing and coloring books to keep her occupied. These constant companions helped to develop Shenıs artistic skills early in her life. Sometime around the age of four, she created her first "masterpiece", a rather large drawing executed in crayon on the back of her bedroom door. As you can imagine, mother was furious!
Undeterred, Shen continued to pursue unconventional approaches to art. She became a graffiti wall muralist, using San Franciscoıs many overpasses and abandoned structures as canvasses. At the age of fifteen she enrolled in a class offered by the San Jose Museum of Art creating street murals with spray paint. A member of a "Graffiti Crew," Shen says, "I used to cover up the bad words on walls with hearts, butterflies and beautiful colors." Not to mention, this excuse worked well the one time she had creative interference from a local San Jose Police Officer. The nickname "Shen" came about during this time period, as was the norm with graffiti artists not wanting to sign their actual name for obvious reasons! Unbeknownst to her at that time, Shen meant, "Close to God" in Chinese, a foreshadowing of the years to come.
Shen received many accolades for her Graffiti work including a feature on a bay area television show that highlighted talented teens, and contributed to an installation put together by the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art.
Shenıs love of aerosol art led her to apply for a position airbrushing designs on T-shirts at a local amusement park at the age of 16. "They handed me an Airbrush and told me to copy the designs, so I did. The airbrush was much easier to use than the spray cans I was used to, I had so much more control over the spray, I loved it!" Shen mastered her craft, first painting names and sunsets, then cartoons and automobiles. She learned to work quickly upon demand, and she learned to please her client, being very quick to determine each of her clientıs desires.
A couple of years later, while attending De Anza College, Shen met and apprenticed under an exceptional painter from San Francisco by the name of Sun-Bear. While working under his tutelage, she was introduced to the California art fair. Bear taught young Shen all that he knew of color, value, and form, and not the least of which the art of the sale.
When Sun Bearıs career took him to New York, Shen spent summers at Art Festivals on her own accord and winters in local venues such as "Nordstrom" painting apparel. At one of these festivals, Cliff Steiglitz, owner of "Airbrush Action Magazine", discovered her. He was so impressed by her work that he decided to bring her onto his revolving airbrush tour, allowing her to create and teach classes all over the country. In 1998 she was named one of the top 10 Airbrush Artists in the nation.
In the late nineties, the airbrush or certain aspects of realism that had once enamored her no longer challenged Shen. She decided to venture into new territory and began working with paintbrushes for the very first time. Her first work in this new period was a combination of airbrush and paintbrush, and received accolades nationwide and much critical acclaim. For this period, see the "Classic Jazz Series", and Airbrush Action's "Airbrush, Rub and Scrub" article from May June 1998. Her new jazz work was featured in Gallery Art 54 in SoHo, New York, Oct Nov 1998.
Shen then enrolled in "The Illustration Academy" in Kansas City, and studied day and night for six weeks under the incredibly talented Fred Otnes, Mark English, Bart Forbes, John English, and several other famous illustrators. Shen feels that she received the equivalent of a masterıs degree in art during this time.
A venture into collage came immediately after returning home, as seen in the "Fruit of The Spirit" series. Then, after her first visit to Mexico, enchanted by the countryıs extreme use of color, Shen delved into acrylic painting, as seen in the "Inspired by Love" collection. All of this led up to her present challenge, oil painting. After working to master this new media, "which will never be accomplished," Shen laughs, she finds her greatest joy now in painting simply from her heart, life experiences, and the things she wishes to meditate upon.
In May 2003, Shen married her best friend Matt and inherited a six- year old daughter, Samantha. Shortly after the honeymoon, she reunited with the airbrush once again. After 4 years away from the tool that brought her so much notoriety, it was astonishing to see the results! In July of 2003, Shen and Matt launched "Famous Faces", their own unique line of celebrity portraits. Since that time, these portraits have fast become the most sought after line of originals in Shenıs entire illustrious career. 2004 marks the second consecutive year for this increasingly popular collection of works, adding the "Take 2" series of memorable classic movie scenes. Shen loves to create custom portraits, including pets and loved ones and often works one on one with her clients to design and photograph reference to create a painting that will last for generations.
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