Coastal Interactions
Shaffer was the Second Prize winner of International Artist magazine’s Challenge No. 111, Seascapes, Rivers & Lakes.
Growing up in the small beach town of White Rock, Canada, Renay Shaffer formed an early connection to nature. The forests and beaches became places where the self-taught artist could daydream and process her thoughts. In particular, the ocean has had a great impact on her and her artwork.
“The ocean became my counselor. I realized early on that there is an energy exchange; that the ocean can handle whatever I am going through and in return shows me rhythm, changing seasons and even indifference whereby I find perspective,” she says. “I greatly admire artists who have a strong political or environmental message in their work, but find I am drawn to illustrate how nature supports and moves me, hopefully giving the viewer an opportunity to connect and gently increasing their own reverence for it as well.”
Shaffer, who works in an array of mediums, creates representational art ranging from atmospheric to photorealistic. Her recent seascapes series was done with pastels, as she is able to blend both styles since pastel lends itself to soft edges and color gradations. Works in the series are based on photos she has taken of the Washington Coast, Hawaii or British Columbia.
I Carry You In My Heart depicts the Maui beach of Maluaka where Shaffer and her husband were married. “I’ve had many lifechanging experiences while on the island over the years, and this particular moment
of sunset and passing storm over the waves seemed a perfect metaphor for the myriad of connections we create in our minds to place and time,” Shaffer explains. “I waited until the end to lay the foam details on top of so many layers of color. It took focus to stay loose and varied in how I held the pastel for those top layers of chaos, but it was that which pulled it all together.”
Another of her pieces, Holding Space, depicts a volleyball net she came across while on a storm watching trip in Washington. “It stood strong in the wind, a witness to stories of summers past, waiting for the next season and generation to arrive,” she describes. “I kept the design simple, focusing on the weathered wood, blowing strings, windswept grass and emptiness of the winter beach.”
Today, Shaffer still resides near the ocean, in Bellingham, Washington, with her husband and two cats.