Cheryl Shanahan
I paint the places that remind us life is bigger than our daily worries.
The lakes, the boats, the barns, and the wide skies of New England are more than scenery to me. They are touchstones — the places people return to when they need to breathe again. Places where time slows down, where the noise of life falls away, and where we remember what actually matters.
Color is central to my work. Life is vibrant and intense, and I want my paintings to reflect that richness. I want viewers to feel movement in the water, wind in the trees, and light shifting across the sky. I paint the full range of values — the drama, the brightness, the quiet moments — because that’s what life actually looks like.
The deeper reason I paint is simple: tomorrow is not promised.
Because of that truth, I believe beauty belongs in our daily lives. Not someday. Not when the house is perfect or the timing feels right. Now.
The collectors who bring my work into their homes understand that. Many of them are entrepreneurs, leaders, or professionals who have built meaningful lives through hard work and persistence. When they live with one of my paintings, it becomes more than a decoration. It becomes a visual refuge — a place their eyes can rest and their thoughts can wander.
A reminder of open water. Big skies. Freedom.
My paintings reconnect people with the feeling of being somewhere expansive and alive. Whether the memory is a lake you grew up visiting, a summer you never forgot, or simply the deep human need to step away from the noise of modern life, the work brings that feeling back into the room.