Holly Ann Shaw

Visual Art – Kansas City

I began my art career as a little girl growing up here in Kansas City: I decoupaged a picture of Holly Hobbie onto a piece of muslin and I was hooked on mixed media. This was long before mixed media or altered art was celebrated as it is now. There was no place in traditional school art classes in 1976 for the kind of work that made me happy. I couldn’t draw well, nor could I sculpt, so I believed that a career in art wasn’t for me. I channeled my need to express myself into theatre and writing. I went to college, got married and started a family and a career. I became a marketer and events coordinator. But there was always something missing. Several years ago I started playing around with paint and paper and I found my true love again. Since then, I have worked with polymer clay, acrylic paint, paper, canvas and cast-off materials that I can turn into collage. I also started using art to process my life experiences and to help others do the same. Six months ago, I started my own company, Haleighanna’s Hands. I want to share my art and all the things that make me happy with others. The company is founded on my passion to build or transform items that people use and to make their lives a prettier place—or just make them happy.