Shawna Moore’s belief in the power of the mind to invent and visualize the world is part of her conceptual perspective as an artist.

Moore is an established, professional painter and encaustic artist living in Whitefish, Montana, with exhibits in galleries in Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah and New York. Anchored by the use of color and the immediacy of art making, Moore has spent the past 20 years developing and refining her artistic process and intention. Her art integrates elements of painting and drawing, and reflects both her education in architecture and fine art, and her inventive and experimental nature.

In recent years, the ancient method of encaustic painting is Moore’s medium of choice. This unique and dynamic technique incorporates pigmented bee’s wax, which is heated, re-worked, etched or scuffed to achieve dimensional depth.   As each layer cools, another can be applied, resulting in a radiant and complex terrain of light, color and texture.

For Moore, making art is a quest to make sense of the world, both materially, and conceptually, through the observance of nature, line, and color and how they entwine with the flow of thought and activity.

Her talents are manifested not only in the paintings she produces, but also in her dedication to support and progress the arts in her community for both children and adults.

In her words:

“Each line I draw describes a moment in my life as an artist. The interplay with materials is a visual diary of my life experience and my contemplative journey. Most fascinating are the passages which remain visible and those that disappear. The surface is a visual record of selective memory and how despite our best efforts, outcome is subject to so many forces beyond our control. This ability of encaustic paint to reveal and obscure creates mysterious surfaces and depth filled fields of line and color.
I have been described as freewheeling, inventive and provocative in the quiet pursuit of my exploration of life via art.  Running like a river through my art are questions and implied answers about the nature of art, the boundaries between life and art, and the necessity of exploring those boundaries. Moving from conventional painting methods into experimental materials and a fascination with found objects helps connect me to the world around me, and the interactions I experience each day. I am not interested in style as much as I am in spirit.
The drawing, layering, melting, scraping and watching are the moments where you immerse yourself in the materials, tools and process. This is the joyful, timeless place-free from outcome. The critic is not present, which allows for the creation of open space and curious discovery; but this can be dangerous terrain as well, for the ego and blind repetition.  When I emerge from this phase, with the paintings as pure expression and exploration, then the editor is invited back for a bit of structure and form.  The process is about learning to think critically when you need to but not letting the critic ruin the freedom. It is a challenging, ever present balancing act between quality control, compulsive thoughts, dreaming, construction, movement, art history, fullness and emptiness.”