ACRYLIC ON CANVAS BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA A natural born artist and an animal lover since childhood, Shannon Ford was born in Regina Saskatchewan, totally enchanted by the natural world. She was raised on a farm west of Calgary where she grew up loving Art and knowing horses, cattle and wildlife. Shannon paints in her oceanfront studio on Denman Island, BC where she and her sweetheart Denis raise Mangalarga Marchador horses. Best known for her intuitive bold contemporary painting style and her use of her hand made precious and semiprecious gemstone powers, Shannon gives credit to her intuition, imagination and dreams in guiding her painting process. Shannon’s collectors value most the unique way her paintings appear well drawn and technically accurate from a distance while being free flowing, naturally abstract and infused with multiple colours when viewed from close up. Shannon’s brushwork is unique and bold and expressive. She binds her love for sculpture and gemstones with her love for painting by incorporating her own handmade precious and semiprecious gemstone powders (and sometimes even cut gemstones and 24 Karat Gold or Palladium) to create paintings with a unique quality of surface, light and colour; capturing more deeply the true essence and beauty of the subject she is painting. Through her passion for nature and conservation, Shannon is constantly learning more deeply about the animals she portrays, and is eager to connect with those who are like minded.