Shani Wray-Jenkins

Painting intuitively, Shani likes nothing more than to turn on her favourite music, close her eyes and make the first mark on a blank canvas… each stroke informing the next. A self-taught artist working largely in acrylic, Shani’s still life paintings are a joyful, colourful celebration of everyday life – the mad and the mundane. An avid collector of old pots and vessels from her travels and trips to flea markets, she is surrounded by an abundance of inspiration to call upon. Painting fast and loose in an impressionist style, Shani prefers to conserve the energy of each brush stroke, each line of charcoal or oil pastel, rather than strive for precision, and her slightly surreal use of collage adds a touch of trademark whimsy.

In her words:

“I’m inspired and moved by the amazing and the ordinary. My art is about the people I’ve loved, lost or am yet to meet, the wondrous places I’ve travelled to and the cultures I’ve experienced. It’s poetry and music, and how they make me feel in the moment. It’s the mad and the mundane and the desire to make the most of every single day… summed up beautifully in the last line of a poem by Mary Oliver:

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”