Multimedia Artist

Wisconsin

Shawna N.M. Barnes is a multimedia creator. She was once a ceramic sculptor who created “animals with big personalities”—figures imbued with human-like characteristics and personas designed to make people smile and think—before having to step away from clay due to her disabilities. Barnes' studio practice consisted of sculpting animal memorials/tributes, creating art project boxes, developing economical and easy-to-reproduce adaptive art tools, and teaching others the importance of having a creative outlet.

Barnes' career in the arts started after her medical retirement from the U.S. Army in 2011. Deployed to Iraq in 2009, she was serving as a combat medic when she began having seizures and faced an avalanche of other health issues. Barnes was 27 when she was medically retired with a service-connected disability rating of 100 percent, and she found herself living with her parents because she could not live independently. “I couldn’t work, couldn’t drive, my health was continuing to decline…I was lost,” said Barnes.

Then, Barnes met her husband-to-be who encouraged her to take a pottery class at a local studio. “In the clay, I found my center again,” she said. When throwing on the pottery wheel became physically difficult, she transitioned to hand building and began focusing strictly on sculpting.    

Barnes says that her disabilities are the reason she became an artist and why she discovered a new life’s purpose. The secret to her success is her mindset, which drives her to find alternative ways to do things when she faces barriers. “I firmly believe that I am differently-abled and able to do most everything anyone else can—I just have to do it a bit differently,” she said. In the studio, she uses special material to bulk up commonly used paint brushes and sculpting tools to accommodate her hand weakness. She also uses raised work tables and keeps her shelves and toolboxes on wheels to keep materials at arm’s length. And she is “always experimenting, trying new methods and techniques to see what lessens the pain or makes a task easier.”

Barnes said her most meaningful achievement in the arts has been becoming an advocate for arts accessibility and creative outlets for all. She teaches an arts therapy class and is passionate about healing through the creative process, psychologically, emotionally, spiritually, and physically. She hopes to see more residencies for artists with disabilities since many of the residencies she’d like to attend are not physically accessible to the mobility impaired.

Her advice to other aspiring artists with disabilities is to “DO IT! But only if it’s because you find enjoyment in whatever medium you choose to pursue. Don’t embark on a career in the arts to be the next Picasso, Van Goh, or Kuntz. Embark on the journey because it’s something you love.”

Barnes also encourages artists to take business and entrepreneurship classes to develop the business acumen one needs to succeed. “There are no overnight successes,” she said. “Being an artist/teaching artist/art teacher takes dedication, hard work, and lots of time invested.” 

In August 2019, she began working as a graphic designer for a small print shop in Belfast,  Maine.  In July 2020, she purchased the shop ( IMAGES Belfast,  LLC) to save it from closing due to the Covid-19 global pandemic.  Barnes continues to work with clay through her classes at the Travis Mills Foundation while enjoying the new adventure of running an independent print shop.  

In December 2021, due to declining health, Barnes had to close the print shop in Maine. In April 2022, she and her husband moved to a small community in northwestern Wisconsin. In January 2023, she relaunched her website design business under S. Barnes Designs. Designing websites allows her to continue to have a creative outlet while not exacerbating symptoms related to her disabilities.