Studio #91, Open Oct 7, 8, 14, 15

Shayna Larsen is a Boulder artist obsessed with painting large format watercolors. After a long creative career in photography and digital mediums, she has recently found deep passion and a new challenge in capturing the “Spirit of the West.” With this new collection of Rocky Mountain animals (including bears, buffalos, and wolves), Shayna balances their innate power with intimate facial details not often seen in a watercolor medium. Her unique monochromatic indigo colorings and imaginative use of whitespace gives these magnificent creatures an ethereal, spiritual aura.

To paint watercolor at a large scale (often 3ft x 4ft), Shayna learned a unique technique (thanks to Gigi Lambert) to mount rolled archival paper onto beautiful custom-made cradled panels. Each piece is finished with a hand-buffed cold wax to add rich depth to the indigo pigment. In addition, Shayna has made many of her earth-tone hues herself. 

Video by Jonathan Castner, (jonathancastner.com)