BIO – Born in a small Kansas town, Shanelle Deater discovered her love of art early in her father’s paintbox. The paints, powders, and mediums were too fascinating to pass up. Shanelle Deater is now an accomplished, classically trained artist, a member of Oil Painters of America, Plein Air Artists Colorado, the Guild of Nature and Science Illustrators, the American Society of Botanical Artists, the Rocky Mountain Society of Botanical Artists. Ms. Deater paints landscapes, stilllifes, portraits, and botanical subjects. She enjoys the challenge of painting in a traditional manner for its high level of precision, standards and subtlety.

ARTIST’S STATEMENT – I have loved nature since I was a little girl. My father would take us out to the countryside to wander through the fields and woods. We would pick wild plums, pears, strawberries, blackberries, persimmons, walnuts, and pecans. I observed and explored the natural world throughout the seasons – the smells, sounds and textures. My paintings are imbued with my love for nature and my desire to portray each subject’s personality and unique beauty. I hope to elevate the viewer out of the mundane to experience this divine creation in all of its wonderment and glory.

It is exciting to try to capture the magic and illusion of a three-dimensional world in a two-dimensional painting. I think the biggest influence to my work has come from the Old Masters, in particular the Dutch. My painting process includes a mix of tonal underpainting, glazing, scumbling, and direct painting. As an artist, I feel honored to be a contributor to one of the most rewarding and enriching parts of human existence.

I also practice cultivation in Falun Dafa, so I try to cultivate myself in accordance with truth, compassion, and tolerance. Vibrational energy exists in everything, everywhere. Each person, plant, animal, and thing in the entire universe all has its own vibrational frequency that it emits. Not only does each and everything have its own vibrational frequency, but these vibrational frequencies also affect everything around them. This I feel is especially true with the arts. My wish is to leave viewers of my art with a sense of beauty, goodness, hope, serenity, and joy.