Conversations with Shianne Schorr

Today we’d like to introduce you to Shianne Schorr.

Hi Shianne, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
I’ve always been interested in art, always doodling and drawing so when going off to college I knew I wanted to do something creative but I didn’t think there was ever a chance I could work for myself and make a living, especially in the art world! So I went to University for Integrated multimedia so I could learn all the different and modern forms of creative industries with the plan to move to somewhere like Burbank to work in a cubical and climb the corporate ladder to maybe one day get to be on the creative side of things. While I was in college, I continued to draw and do any creative odds and ends for people and small businesses in my community from logos to photography, design to even a mural here and there. Fast forward about a year after graduating, I had a few small consistent design clients and was designing for a small tshirt company that was paying me something like $15 an hour. Then my husband (who worked in manual labor, nothing remotely creative) had a client who was a muralist and saw he was doing a mural festival. Naturally he told me I should apply in which I told my husband it wasn’t that simple, you don’t just paint murals cuz you want to. Long story short, I applied the night before, got in and got the opportunity to paint with some incredible artists. I also started selling prints of my work around this time, something I never thought people would want. From there door after door opened up, I didn’t need to work anywhere else and I was fully sustained by my different creative venues. I’m now at year 8 with 40-some retailers and galleries selling my work, creating for many amazing brands and organizations big and small and I have had the honor of painting and doing commissions for resorts, airports, parks and residential and commercial spaces. I still have SO much to learn and grow into but I am so grateful that I went from not thinking there was a chance anyone would pay for my art to doing it full time!

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not but I think it’s perspective! I mean covid happened a year after I started my business. I became a registered substitute teacher as a plan B if my business totally failed. But by the grace of God, every time I thought it was time to call it quits and I was on my last client without another one lined up, I literally would get a text or email like that day with more work. Especially because I didn’t think this was something that could happen, I had more self doubt then anyone that I wouldn’t be able to survive on it, and sometimes I was right. Sometimes I had just enough for rent and gas (and not food lol so I got creative) but I said yes to ALL work in my industry, all of it if I could do it. Even if it was tedious website or computer work and not something creative in my ideal terms, I’d say yes. I wasn’t going to see any opportunity as below me. I was doing something I didn’t think was a possibility so I was ALWAYS grateful and never focused on the bumps in the road because having a business is a wild ride, it’s not a smooth path set before you like other career paths so I never expected it to be. I worked with the bumps, stayed humble and eager and worked my butt off.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an artist, muralist and illustrator. I was born and raised in Hawai’i so my creativity is drawn from island upbringing and community. I am most proud of some of the murals I’ve had the honor to paint. My work is set a part this way by visual storytelling in a contemporary style that seeks to balance detail with minimalism within my pieces with soft, bright colors and crisp line work.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
I was very self taught which was really hard. I didn’t have someone to help me so whenever there were community opportunities, I jumped at them. Anytime there were other artists, I was able to have conversations and learn so much.
Also I feel like we are in such an interconnected world now where everything is at your finger tips, I would take advantage of it. Find pages to follow and contact people online that inspire you. See if you can be mentored by them, I’m sure they would be honored cuz they’ve been there before and stoked to have a set of helping hands!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.schorrdesign.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/schorrdesign
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/schorrdesign
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shianne-schorr-a5849997/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@schorrdesign

Image Credits
Products- Wailua Granola, Skincare photo- Ao Organics, Coffee- Outpost Coffee