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  Ms. Shawn Marie Hardy   
  Spring Lake, Michigan USA  
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Juried Member of EBSQ+


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Print & frame my art at Imagekind...

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way -- things I had no words for. - Georgia O'Keeffe

Abstract art places a new world, which on the surface has nothing to do with 'reality,' next to the 'real' world - Wasilly Kandinsky

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Please visit me on myspace: www.myspace.com/shawnmariehardy

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A LITTLE HISTORY

I am fortunate to have been brought into the world by two very creative parents so it was inevitable that I would have an interest in art. Most of what I know is self-taught, although I did spend one school year totally immersed in art classes at the City College of San Francisco from 1993 to 1994. Afterwards I spent the next several years traveling throughout New Zealand, Australia, and the U.K. In the interim I had my daughter, Ella, my current muse.

I create images that are emotive and tantalizing - impressions representing the core of my imagination, from transient thoughts and deep-rooted memories to endured tribulations. I am fascinated by dreams and the haunting images the mind conjures up while we're asleep. Most of my work is as spontaneous as these unconsious images and I tend to work directly on the canvas, rather than drawing a preliminary study or mixing paints separately on a palette.

I am also interested in spiritualism - not necessarily in the sense that the living communicate with the dead, but more in the sense that I question where our energy goes after we die. In the wonderment of these questions I create dreamy landscapes that represent the state of passing from present life into the next state of being. They are both light and dark, depicting both joy and melancholy, often with the focal point being a window of light or an ethereal, winged being on a path into the unknown. I sometimes incorporate copies of vintage photos into these landscapes - visages of unknown people who have passed on, in order to give them a purpose and to honor those lives that are long forgotten.

I am a perpetual student of art and art history and I continue to study the work of masters, past and present. I am inspired by many great artists and it is my talented uncle, Mark Esper, who gave me my very first drawing lesson and whose own work has been instrumental in fueling my desire to persevere in this challenging career.

Besides art, another passion is music, and during 1998/1999 I played in the New Zealand band, Dating Godot, with Andrew Spittle and Nigel Duncan. We produced two cds: Everyone is Leaving and Nights Through Your Window. In 2000 I came back to the U.S. and have played around here and there, but nothing steady. I played two shows with Richard Davies (The Moles, Cardinal), Malcolm Travis (Bob Mould, Human Sexual Response), and Bob Fay (Sebadoh) at the Cake Shop in New York City last September and since then, the bass guitar has been collecting dust. For more info on these bands, Click Here For DATING GODOT and Click Here For RICHARD DAVIES

  Here is a photo of Dating Godot - circa 1999:

PROJECTS

2009 - CARL D. BRADLEY COMMEMORATIVE DIGITAL COLLAGES

I have recently read Wreck of the Carl D., Michael Schumacher's excellent account of the sinking of the Carl D. Bradley just off Gull Island in Lake Michigan on November 18, 1958. There was a true human element portrayed in the book, and a realization that very little is known about this event. It overshadowed by the Edmund Fitzgerald despite the fact that more lives were lost on the Carl D., and the sadness I felt while reading this book compelled me to create an individual piece of art memorializing each of the men who perished on the ship. For more information regarding this project please go to

www.shawnmhardy.com

2006 to Present - Founder and executive director of OUR CHILDREN: Honor with Art

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MUSIC

PAST SHOWS

"SPRUNG" - Masonic Lodge, Dunedin, New Zealand December 14-19, 2007: with Robert Scott, David Kilgour, Graeme Downes, Gaylene, April Dolkar, Haunted Love & more!

September 2007 - The Cake House - 152 Ludlow St. NYC: Richard Davies, Bob Fay, & Shawn Marie Hardy

December 1999 - Arc Cafe - Dunedin, New Zealand - Andrew Spittle and Shawn Marie Hardy

October 1999 - Nelson Community Center / Anti-vivisection concert - Nelson, New Zealand - Dating Godot (Andrew Spittle, Shawn Marie Hardy, and Nigel Duncan) September 1999 - Nelson Community Center - Nelson, New Zealand - Dating Godot (Andrew Spittle, Shawn Marie Hardy, and Nigel Duncan)

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SOLO ART EXHIBITIONS

2008 - River House Restaurant - West Linn, Oregon

2008 - Starbucks (Garden Home) - Beaverton, Oregon

2007 - Cappuccino Cafe April & May - East Lansing, Michigan

2004 - IRENE'S - Lansing, Michigan

1999 - Fibre Spectrum (Juried Exhibition) - Nelson, New Zealand

1999 - Chez Eelco - Nelson, New Zealand

1995 - Bay View Boat Club - San Francisco, California

UPCOMING

UPCOMING

Stay Tuned....

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GROUP ART EXHIBITIONS

UPCOMING

~ NAM: The Sky's Curved Mirror

28 April - 5 May .
Community Gallery
Princes Street
Dunedin, New Zealand

"NAM: The Sky's Curved Mirror" is an interdisciplinary, multi-media exhibition and event. Comprised of visual arts, music, performance, written and spoken word, it will be free to the public.

"NAM" is the Tibetan word for 'sky', reflecting the boundless expanse and matrix of experience. Like a curved mirror reflects light, the participants will explore the interstices of memory & inspiration, in an exchange of dialogues to form a greater synergistic whole. Thus, "NAM" is a metaphor for a openness, mutual support & inter-cultural solidarity, in a dynamic, collective expression.

"NAM: The Sky's Curved Mirror" will also pay special homage to the untold suffering & destruction to the land and people of Tibet for the last fifty years; and will honour its unique culture and art.

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PAST SHOWS

December 2007 - "SPRUNG" an art and music extravaganza - Masonic Lodge, Dunedin, New Zealand December 14-19: with Robert Scott,  Graeme Downes, Gaylene & Pter, April Dolkar, Chris Matthews, The Puddle, & Alpha State!

July 15th 2006 - Art at the Forge Exhibition - North Commerce Park (Old Melling Forging Building) - Lansing, Michigan

June 16th & 17th 2006 - Portland Community Art Fest (Juried Exhibition) - Portland, Michigan

2004 - Ladyfest at Spiderhouse Gallery - Lansing, Michigan

2004 - Spiderhouse Gallery - Lansing, Michigan

1999 - Suter Art Gallery (Juried Exhibition) - Nelson, New Zealand

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TEACHING

2005-2006 Volunteer Art Instructor - Oakwood Elementary School - Portland, MI

2004-2006 Ebay Workshop Instructor - Delta Community Center, Lansing, MI

2005 Volunteer Art Instructor - Boarshead Theater - Lansing, MI

2005 Small Business/Ebay Lecturer - MOMS Group - Grand Ledge, MI

2003-2005 Volunteer Art Instructor - Delta Center Elementary School - Lansing, MI

2003 Art Instructor - Holt Public Schools Community Education (Midway and Dimondale Elementary) - Holt & Dimondale, MI

1999-2000 Art Instructor - Nelson Community Center - Nelson, New Zealand

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PUBLICATIONS

2008 - Honor with Art is featured during March at ZNE's Art with Heart - radio interview on March 10, at ZNE's BlogRadio

2008 - Jan/Feb issues of Stampington & Co. Publications - 1/2-page ad for Honor With Art


2007 - Dream Interview www.dreamish.com

2007 - EBSQ Zine Article, "Art: A Way In, V" by Martin Devine

2004-Present - The Cumbria Directory Website - United Kingdom: Lanercost Priory

2002 - The City Pulse, Independent Newspaper - Lansing, MI

2001 - Lansing State Journal (Internal Journal Newsletter)

1999 - The Leader - Nelson, New Zealand Community Newspaper - Arts & Entertainment

1999 - The Leader - Nelson, New Zealand Community Newspaper - Gallery Guide

1999 New Zealand Musician Magazine - Fresh Cut. CD Cover.

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CURATORSHIP

December 2007 - "SPRUNG" an art and music extravaganza - Masonic Lodge, Dunedin, New Zealand December 14-19: with Robert Scott,  Graeme Downes, Gaylene & Pter, April Dolkar, Chris Matthews, The Puddle, & Alpha State!

April - September 2007 - Top 8 Gallery - Gallery 801- www.myspace.com/top8galleryone. Featuring the work of Martin Devine, Betty Refour, Colin White, Marilyn Suchan, Judith Dransfield Kuepper, and Robert Scott

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HONORS AND AWARDS

January 2009 - Member's Mention - EBSQ "Alice in Wonderland" Show

May 2008 - Finalist in CNN / Nancy Grace "Extraordinary Parent" contest

January 2008 - Patron's Mention - EBSQ "WIP - Unfinished Art" Show

July 2007 - Patron's Mention - EBSQ "Ripped Off" Show

June 2007 - Patron's Mention - EBSQ "Light My Way - Artist-made Lanterns" Show

June 2007 - Patron's Choice - EBSQ "FOTM (Flower of the Month)" Show - Morning Glory

April 2007 - Patron's Mention - EBSQ "Wild Birds" Show

March 2007 - Patron's Choice - EBSQ "Lichen and Moss" Show

January 2007 - Member's Choice - EBSQ "The Urban Street: Photographs from Town" Show

January 2007 - Patron's Choice - EBSQ "FOTM (Flower of the Month)" Show - Water Lily

August 2006 - Patron's Choice - EBSQ FOTM (Flower of the Month) Show - Petunia

July 2006 - Member's Choice - EBSQ "Plein Air" Show

July 2006 - Member's Mention - EBSQ "Underground" Show

March 2006 - Member's Mention - EBSQ FOTM (Flower of the Month) Show - Daisies

March 2006 - Juried into EBSQ Plus

August 1999 - First Place - Nelson Photography Club Photo Rally - Nelson, New Zealand

December 1994 - Achievement Award - City College of San Francisco, California

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I am proud to be a juried member of EBSQ PLUS!