Evolving Door Retrospective Celebrates Decades of Multi-Media Work, Lifetime of Sharing in the Joy of Art

M. Shawn Cornell and his wife, Elizabeth, at the opening of Shawn’s retrospective at Heartland Art Club September 6, 2024.

By Kara Dicker

As a gallery volunteer at Heartland Art Club, M. Shawn Cornell has set up a lot of shows over the years. Yet, he admits he was a little reticent about the idea of installing an exhibit devoted entirely to his own work.

“I didn’t think I’d feel that comfortable with all that attention,” he said. For a painter who enjoys the harmony within subtle colors and describes his brushstrokes as “whispers as opposed to yells,” it took a little nudging from Lisa Ober, a long-time friend and fellow HAC director, to get him to see things differently.

“He has such an interesting story of how he came into fine art,” she said. “It should inspire those interested in making that transition.”

“I want the viewer to see my work as fun and then be more intrigued to look deeper,” Shawn said, before adding that the goal is to put a smile on the viewer’s face. “If it put a smile on Elizabeth’s face, all the better,” he said of his wife, whom he considers his best friend and muse.

Evolving Door is more than a celebration of Shawn’s prolific body of work. It’s a story of someone who learned from his father at an early age that joy in art comes from sharing through engagement with others. “The purpose of art is to communicate,” Shawn said. “To me it’s all about that interaction.”

Shawn’s father, the late David Cornell, was an engineer with the U.S. Air Force. “Anytime he had spare time he was painting,” Shawn said. He also found impromptu ways to bring Shawn and his brother into the fun. Given a pencil, the three would take turns letting one line lead to another, delighting as an elephant or mouse took form. “He always did those little things for us; he was just a very giving guy with his talent.”

Shawn’s arrangements of pottery and sculpture are warm and inviting.

Growing up in a military family, moving was a constant. “We bent with the wind,” Shawn said. “I saw a lot of the world, which impacted my tolerance and curiosity.” When he was a senior in high school, his father was stationed at Scott Air Force Base in Southwest Illinois. It was the first time Shawn experienced a sense of geographic permanence. He graduated from SIUE with degrees in fine art and graphic design. For 23 years he worked as a graphic designer and illustrator for the St. Louis-based Maritz and Paradowski Creative. He met and married Elizabeth, a St. Louis-area native. It was in the ‘90s here in the Midwest where Shawn discovered plein air painting through the encouragement of his long-time friend and artist David Huth.

“We didn’t even know what the French term was, but we gave it a shot,” David said. “Shawn was doing pencil sketches, and I was struggling to paint. His images always looked great, but I encouraged him to start using color. He eventually did, and he quickly surpassed my feeble attempts at plein air painting.”

Interactions with other artists they met on their plein air outings inspired the formation of The Missouri Plein Air Painters’ Association (MOPAPA). “It was a great opportunity to learn, grow and commune as an artist,” Huth said. “Shawn became the most enthusiastic of the group. He developed a logo and a website. He made sure we all knew where we would meet every weekend.” Those Sunday outings included Shawn’s father, who was always on hand to guide those who asked.

Shawn’s design for Metro St. Louis Transit Fleet is still in use 24 years after its completion.

It was at Illinois’ renowned Belleville Art Fair where Shawn, after being juried into the painting category, won Best in Category and the Mayor’s Choice Award. It was the encouragement he needed to become a full-time artist. “I started to think that I could do this,” Shawn said. He gave Paradowski Creative a five-year notice and in 2008 became a full-time artist. Shawn said he was attracted to the sense of permanence from fine art. “There’s very little longevity in commercial art,” he said. “For the most part it’s a short-lived shelf-life.” One exception, which is displayed in the show, is Shawn’s design for the Metro St. Louis Transit Fleet. The design was adopted in 2000 and is still visible today along transit routes.

Since becoming a full-time artist, Shawn has devoted innumerable energy to Heartland Art Club and its previous permutation, OA Gallery. “Shawn has put his heart and soul into building OA and Heartland Art Club,” Lisa said. “He is the most energetic, enthusiastic, supportive, selfless person I know.”

Maintaining the smooth operation of the gallery, including the setting up and dismantling of shows, speaks to his preference for behind-the-scenes work. This attitude is reflective in his painting style, in which he seeks to convey a sense of calm. “I’m not a loud painter; I’m quieter,” he said. “Even my prairie burns have calmness. I find harmony within subtle colors. My compositions are pretty simple. I like soft edges. My brushstrokes are whispers as opposed to yells.” Where there is a touch of bright red within a painting, “it’s a nod to my mom and one of her favorite colors.”

As the show’s title suggests, Shawn’s artistic door continues to evolve. Since Elizabeth enrolled the two of them in a pottery class at Krueger Pottery in Webster, his fascination with ceramics has grown. Shawn says he’s intrigued by the unpredictable results from the way chemicals react to heat in the firing process. “When I get done with a painting, I know what I have,” he said. “Not with pottery.”

“A Bee of Many Parts” is a monotype with a literal meaning.

Monotype printing from found objects is another medium Shawn intends to further explore. The show features his A Bee of Many Parts, an 11”x11” monotype, printed from several found objects including a domino, spoon handle, and tv channel knob. The piece is cleverly displayed above a sculpture of a smile-inducing bumbler created from a wooden fence cap.

While viewers of Shawn’s work find joy in his art, his artist friends appreciate his generosity of spirit. “I will say without hesitation that I became a better artist because of Shawn’s influence,” David said. “He continues to be an inspiration, a great artist, teacher and one of my best friends.”

Anchoring the retrospective is Shawn’s tour de force, Last Painting with My Dad, a 40”x60” oil landscape inspired from a scene at Cliff Cave Park. The painting was completed in 2020 inside the studio of his father. It was there, during a month of “Tuesdays at Dad’s,” where the two worked together offering critique and the enjoyment of each other’s company as they had done for a lifetime. “It was the last one we did together and the largest,” Shawn said. It is not for sale.