Deception Pass by Shawna Marie Franklin
Being with Kelp
Art by Shawna Marie Franklin
January 30 - March 31, 2025
Jeanette Best Gallery
701 Water Street, Port Townsend, Washington
There is a feeling of pure joy when swimming or paddling a kayak through a kelp forest. Shawna Marie Franklin of Orcas Island knows this intimately. As a professional sea kayaker turned artist, she seeks to transport her viewers to an ocean teeming with marine life.
Shawna, who is trained in art, design and biology, has created her largest-yet body of work: Being with Kelp. Through her grand oil paintings and monoprints, the artist shows us a place shimmering with light — where we can be part of an arrestingly beautiful ecosystem. Traveling by kayak, Shawna says, brings you into close contact with the kelp zone, so “you’re able to peer over the side and look down, and you’re seeing things you would never see when you’re walking on land.”
Pictured: Snell's Window, 72x48," and Blue Mind, 72x48," both oil on canvas diptychs by Shawna Marie Franklin