If you enjoy satirical comedies and haven’t seen this movie, then you MUST go watch it. Long story short, the movie features Molly and Joel (Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd) who tell the story of their relationship in New York City. It is filled with romantic comedy clichés, but in a more sarcastic way. Not everyone’s type of humor, but definitely mine. It is also one of the first movies my boyfriend Shawn and I watched together at the beginning of our relationship, but I’ll get into that later. First, I want to talk about the doors that are named after this movie.
I originally bought these doors from the Albany Historic Foundation. They have a variety of older windows, doors, shutters, furniture etc. As soon as I saw these two matching pantry doors I saw my vision of bohemian painted designs come to life. After I brought them home, they sat in my art studio untouched for about a month. Typical. Shawn sanded them for me and I finally began priming and planning my design.
First mistake: planning.
Every time I have a plan for what I want my painting to look like, it never turns out that way in the end. I’ve learned to accept this over time, but I definitely became frustrated with the process of these doors. My vision started out with royal blue for the main color of the doors with pops of yellow and oranges in the squares. I loved the royal blue color at the beginning, but as I started on the squares, my designs quickly became more tribal than the bohemian style I was going for. It all seemed to clash with the main color of the door and that’s when I stepped away from the project for about another month due to frustration and lack of direction of where I wanted my painting to go. Soon after, I had finally created my art Instagram page and began working on my website, so I decided to circle back to the doors and give them another chance. God bless. I painted over everything with red, which gave the doors a purple tint in certain areas while the blue was still able to shine. I then dry brushed black and gold around the squares, cracks, textures, and corners of the doors. This was my absolute favorite part as I finally felt excited for how this once frustrating project was turning out. Although I had painted over my mistakes, I could still see the first design peek through the blue and gold. I thought they were mistakes, but soon realized that they made the doors even more unique. They are now my favorite aspect of my painting. Trust the friggin process. It all comes together in the end.
With this long painting process finally coming to an end, I took the time to look back at my artwork and figure out what exactly it meant to me. When people look at or buy my art someday I want them to feel inspired and creative. I hope they see my work and say to themselves, “she put her heart and soul into this painting” and that’s what makes it so meaningful to have that piece of artwork in their home. While I usually love when everyone has their own interpretation behind the meaning of a painting, I want to share what this one really means to me. Not just as the artist, but as a person looking at the artwork from the outside.
As soon as I finished these two doors I knew exactly what I wanted to name them: “They Came Together”
You could make the assumption that I named them after the movie and you would be correct. Partly. It is one of my favorite movies and the name, as well as the plot, most definitely correlates with how my process went. There were mistakes, misunderstandings, fuck ups if you will. But in the end, as did Molly and Joel, it came together perfectly. However, the real reason I named the first piece of artwork that launched my art business “They Came Together” is because of Shawn.
Don’t cry, don’t cry. Okay I’m good haha.
Some of you may already know Shawn, but if you don’t, you wouldn’t know just how amazing he is. So let me tell you. As I mentioned before, They Came Together was one of the first movies we watched together as a couple. One of the first times I stayed at his house. The first of many times we cuddled on the couch together. And while we’ve had many firsts throughout our relationship, this one sticks out to me the most because it is the moment I realized that was falling in the love with him. Sappy I know, but stick with me. From then on, this movie became very special to me and even though we’ve watched hundreds of movies together since then, this is still my favorite one to watch with him.
Throughout our almost 2 years of dating, we have moved into together, adopted a dog together, and even said goodbye to him together. Rest in peace, Zee Boy. We have learned a lot about each other in that time. He cooks dinner every night (stay away ladies, he’s mine), makes me laugh uncontrollably, and always apologizes first. But the most amazing thing about Shawn is how supportive and caring he is. I wouldn’t be here making art and starting my own business without this person. I have dreamed and planned for it so many times in my life and I’m confident that I still would have been able to do it on my own….eventually. But no one talks about how hard it is to find the motivation to start, to get out of bed every day, to remember to eat dinner, to ask for help when you’re feeling low. And while I’ve always considered myself a very independent person, I know that I was meant to have Shawn in my life for a reason.
To me, these doors symbolize when WE came together. We’re together through every mistake, frustration, and lack of direction. He’s the first person I want to show my artwork to even if it’s still a work in progress. When I’m feeling blue and broken, he’s the gold that fixes all the cracks.
I’m excited for what’s to come for Shannon Egan Art. I never thought I would be writing something like this let alone have an art website, but if you’re reading this thank you for being here.
I dedicate this one to you.
Love,
Shannon