New Year News
Daydream 002
Hi Dreamers,
How is January half over already?! Did you have a nice ‘n cozy New Years? Jason and I had Kendall over for dinner, we made a massive pot of spaghetti, and then went to the school yard near our place so Mary could run full speed into 2026. Such wholesome times.
It is sunny in Vancouver today, thank goodness. Winter has been hard on this sun-lover, I’m feeling like one of those spooky, hollow-eyed Victorian portraits. If you need me, I will be standing in the yard with my hands outstretched towards the sky absorbing all the UV. I can hardly wait for t-shirt weather and ice cream.
I meant to check in with you over the holidays but life here has been a little rocky. Post-tour is always a bit disorienting. The perpetual motion of travelling and playing shows every day comes to a grinding halt at home. I was exhausted but also restless—I knew I needed to shut down but felt guilty for prioritizing rest.
Then there was some health stuff to navigate, a death in the family (RIP Uncle Don ❤️) and I’ve been feeling a bit discouraged with my art and music lately. Since returning home in October I couldn’t seem to get any substantial ideas off the ground. Creativity can be illusive like that—art is work too. Sometimes you have to dig, and dig, and dig some more before you find anything. I had to make friends with the frustration, and keep going.
Thankfully some Warholian inspiration helped rescue me from the dread. I always liked the Coca-Cola paintings, so I put on my thinking cap and designed a Coca-Cola + Dracula mash up. The result is a crisp, cold-blooded Drac-Cola! 🩸
I’ve been wanting to try some at-home printing methods so I can print my own work by hand. Screen-printing seems too messy, and requires more space than I have available, so I began a side-quest into block printing. I was super excited to give this medium a try but unfortunately I found the physical effort needed to carve the linoleum block inflamed an old repetitive stress injury. I am not discouraged though, I hope to try again with some different surfaces and tools. Stay tuned. For now, it’s back to my trusty paintbrush, sometimes you have to go around the block to realize your first method might be your best.
The result! There are three original, very reasonably priced 5x7in Drac-Cola paintings available in my shop. If you’d like one for your collection, you can grab one at the button below.
Much love, thanks so much for being here.
xx
Shannon
DAYDREAM TRASH is an ongoing newsletter about art, songwriting, creativity, and tour life🪐 — share it with a friend.
The Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh will make your brain explode in the best possible way. If you can build in some time for a visit during your next east coast touring marathon, I guarantee you won’t be disappointed. Cheers to you and your bandmates!
Have you ever come across Edward De Bono? His concepts of lateral thinking, especially his “random input” idea, always generates new ideas for me. Happy to send some material along.