Lafayette artist captures vibrancy of Louisiana life with neon colors : Acadiana Makers

Emily Spikes Shannon has always been a painter — as a child, as a business major in college, as an employee in "regular" jobs after graduation — but she decided to make a go at it full-time in 2019.

She had steadily been selling her work on the side, and then three years ago she was commissioned to create 30 original paintings for a hospital. She and her fiancé (now husband) decided this was the opportunity to shift her side hustle to her main gig.

A few months later the coronavirus pandemic made its way to the Bayou State, and Shannon continued to paint through it all, as she always has.

You'll find her on different social media as Emily Spikes Art and get a glimpse into her process of layering funky colors to create classic Louisiana landscapes and wildlife with surprising pops of color.

One canvas features a flock of spoonbills preparing to take flight from a rugged tree branch, all set off by a backdrop of pinks and oranges. The lines, dots and swirls that add to the vibrant background colors give the painting an otherworldly touch.

It's her unique way of capturing the vibrancy of the culture and nature of her home state. The Lafayette native paints dreamy swamp scenes, "funky frogs" and even a "groovy gator," as she titles them, but her favorite to get down on canvas are birds.

"We have gorgeous waterfowl," Shannon said. "They're just elegant creatures. And the inspiration is so available here."

Her appreciation for the animals is easy to spy on her website, which features prints of stoic pelicans, kissing blue herons, a blue jay in flight and more available for purchase.

Shannon, 27, also branches out to include other Louisiana loves, like intertwining magnolias, ripe satsumas and a tray of raw oysters. Each original painting is challenging, with its many layers of colors required to create the details and desired effect.

'I wanted to stir it up'

Her work wasn't always so bright. Today many of her pieces begin with an underpainting of neon pink or orange, which she allows to peak through the final layers, but several years ago, her work looked quite different.

"When I look back at the work I was doing eight or nine years ago, it was a little darker, literally," she said. "I was using muted colors."

Her primary reason for the change was simple, boredom. She needed a new challenge.

"It's an artist thing to get bored and want to push boundaries," Shannon said. "I felt like I was seeing the same things over and over — in my work and others' around me. I was bored with what I was making. I wanted to stir it up."

So a few years ago she started incorporating more of these bright colors, which also can be found in dry smudges on her work desk and chair and in lines painted across a wall in her home studio.

Shannon's bright style has paid off personally and professionally, attracting a local children's book author and the opportunity to create the illustrations.

"Everybody can stand to have more colorful things nowadays," she said. "Things are too neutral."

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The Acadiana artist continues to grow, learning from others through social media and putting in the work most days.

There are seasons in which she paints every day and others where she focuses on creating content that will grow her reach online. That can take a lot of time but still is creatively fulfilling, she said. But she still aims to get in some painting, even if it's something small and quick.

"I compare art to exercise," she said. "I feel better even if I only do a little bit. But you also need rest days."

'What do you have to lose?'

She has begun a new series highlighting landmarks in Lafayette that have neon signs. These, too, take more time and present more of a challenge.

Her swamp scenes can be very forgiving and allow for more freedom, she explained, while painting Mel's Diner has to be more precise.

"Mel's is a challenge because people know it," she said. "They know if you got it wrong. It's also significant. You want to get it right."

But she's enjoying incorporating more of Lafayette's civilization into her repertoire, in addition to all the nature scenes she tends to make.

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She creates prints of her work to make the art more accessible, both in price and size, than original canvases.

"I was under the impression for a long time — I was ignorant — I thought if you weren't selling your big canvas paintings you weren't a real artist, you were a failure," Shannon said.

"I would rather sell a million prints because then they're in a million homes. Everyone deserves something to brighten their wall, literally."

Maybe that means buying art like hers or maybe it's making it themselves, which she encourages others to do with added instruction to be kind and patient with themselves along the way.

"Why not? What do you have to lose?" she said. "Art is important, but it's just not that serious. Give it your best shot."

Contact children's issues reporter Leigh Guidry at Lguidry@theadvertiser.com or on Twitter @LeighGGuidry.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Lafayette artist paints vibrant Louisiana scenes with neon colors: Acadiana Makers