ATTENTION: To use this site, it is necessary to enable JavaScript in your browser.
Here are the Instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your web browser.

About Shan

ARTIST'S STATEMENT

My art reflects my beliefs about the nature of the universe and the interconnectedness of all things. I’m inspired by light and color, Nature, the Earth, the Cosmos, patterns from biology, geometry, astronomy, physics, quantum physics, metaphysics and how they all interact and intersect. I believe there are unseen patterns and structures that exist in multiple dimensions across the multiverse - surrounding, connecting and influencing everything in the material and non-material realms. Some structures exist in the form of waves like light or sound while others take the form of mathematical structures like the Fibonacci Sequence that dictates the spiral patterns seen in many plant forms, or the Golden Ratio expressed in the spirals of galaxies as well as in many life forms. I’m intrigued by such things as string theory in which matter and energy are interchangeable and the tiniest particles turn out to be vibrating waves of energy weaving in and out of multiple dimensions, by the way the vibrational frequencies of sound can translate into visual structures, by the way the frequencies of spinning electrons create color and how color in turn emanates vibrational frequencies, by the mysteries of quantum physics, the mysteries of space-time and the mystery of life. My aim as an artist is to capture the wonder and beauty of those unseen structures and bring them forth into the visible physical world in the form of colors, patterns and images.

I work in both acrylic paint and in digital media. My subjects in both media include light and color, patterns from life, science and math, dots, spots, circles, particles, waves, energy, flowing lines, spirals, mandalas and abstract landscapes. Inspirations include Mark Rothko, Vincent Van Gogh, Victor Vasarely, Yaakov Agam, Hilma af Klint, Brigitte Riley, Op Art of the 60’s and 70’s and the work of Alan Turing on the mathematics underlying the spots and stripes of animals.


TECHNIQUES

Acrylic Paintings: My acrylic paintings incorporate diatomaceous earth (DE) mixed with gel mediums and pigment to create heavily textured surfaces with expressive brush strokes that add movement and energy. DE is a very fine sand like substance made from the skeletons of diatoms (tiny one celled sea creatures) used because of it’s grainy texture and non-reflective quality. I make my own brushes out of dust broom straw to achieve the directional textures. Color and the vibrational and emotional effect it has on the viewer is an important part of my work, with color harmonies and compositions meticulously built from several layers of translucent and opaque paint. The full effect of the color vibrations and energy emanating from my paintings are best appreciated in person.

Digital Images: Although much of my art is digital, I am actually an “old school” artist. I call many of my digital images "digital drawings" because each piece starts as a concept pencil sketch, refined with successive layers of tracing paper. For the repeat patterns, I draw out the design as a pattern tile, then trace the edges several times over until I get a smooth transition at the seams of the pattern tile. The final drawing gets scanned into Adobe Illustrator where I trace over every line and shape by hand using a digital drawing tablet. Sometimes the drawing consists of a grid upon which I place and distort shapes such as circles, one at a time by hand in Illustrator. I also do “digital paintings” using many layers of brush strokes in much the same way as my layered acrylic paintings. 




BIOGRAPHY

Shan Ogdemli was born into a creative family in Berkeley, California in 1958 to a Sicilian artist/actress/musician mother and architect/engineer father of Siberian Tatar heritage born in Turkey. When Shan was 7 years old the family moved to Bangkok where her mother passed away from illness. Her father remarried an adventurous German photographer who became Shan’s second mother, and the family moved again from Bangkok to Hong Kong, then to Hawaii. There Shan finished high school and went on to attend Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, CA, earning a BFA in Graphic Design, with honors and a full scholarship. 

After college Shan married Daniel Feldman and the two founded an award-winning graphic design studio in Los Angeles called Ogdemli Feldman Design. They soon expanded to a staff of 10 with projects that included Super Bowl logos and tickets, cards for Paper Moon Graphics, album covers, fashion ads and more. In 2000 they created Designs By Shan, licensing Shan’s illustrations onto thousands of products including home decor, stationery, fabrics, cosmetic bags and many more items. In 2005 they and their agents launched Pampered Girls, a fashion brand, which became an international phenomenon with stores in Japan and Taiwan and thousands of licensed products sold globally. 

Besides the design businesses, Shan always created her own fine art and dreamt of one day focusing on her art full time, but life presented many obstacles. The Recession of 2008 caused the couple to scale down their design businesses and move them out of their beautiful 4000 square foot studio space and into the 400 square foot living room of their small but charming Hollywood Hills home. Before that they had adopted a troubled 13 year old son, and then later gained custody of their 2 troubled teenage nieces. Parenting proved both rewarding and challenging, as well as expensive. To earn extra income they started an additional business called Hounds of the Hills - home-based dog sitting and boarding. The doggy biz became wildly successful, averaging 24 dogs a day and adding to the joyful crowded chaos of their lives, which now included running 4 businesses, raising 3 kids, plus the 24 dogs a day in their small 3 bedroom house. Needless to say, this all made painting very difficult!   

The kids eventually grew up and in 2021 Shan and Dan sold their beloved Hollywood Hills house, shut down the design businesses and sold the dog business. They packed up and moved to beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico to finally pursue their dream of focusing on Shan’s fine art career full time. They set up Shan’s art studio and a small gallery space inside their home not far from Santa Fe’s gallery districts in The Plaza and on Canyon Road. Shan is now happily devoting all of her time to making her colorful and expressive art.

COMMISSIONS

I welcome commissions large and small, private and corporate.

Trusted Art Seller

The presence of this badge signifies that this business has officially registered with the Art Storefronts Organization and has an established track record of selling art.

It also means that buyers can trust that they are buying from a legitimate business. Art sellers that conduct fraudulent activity or that receive numerous complaints from buyers will have this badge revoked. If you would like to file a complaint about this seller, please do so here.

Verified Secure Website with Safe Checkout

This website provides a secure checkout with SSL encryption.

Cart

Your cart is currently empty.

Saved Successfully.

This is only visible to you because you are logged in and are authorized to manage this website. This message is not visible to other website visitors.

×

Import From Instagram

Click on any Image to continue

Create a New Favorite List

×
Name

×

Manage Favorites

Below, select which favorite lists you would like to save this product into.

×

This Website Supports Augmented Reality to Live Preview Art

This means you can use the camera on your phone or tablet and superimpose any piece of art onto a wall inside of your home or business.

To use this feature, Just look for the "Live Preview AR" button when viewing any piece of art on this website!

Newsletter Sign-up

SAVE 20% ON YOUR FIRST PRINT ORDER!

SIGN UP FOR MY NEWSLETTER AND RECEIVE A 20% OFF COUPON!

= required

This offer is valid for NEW CUSTOMERS only!
This offer DOES NOT apply to original paintings or special edition prints.