Hi there and thanks for stopping by.

I am a long-time frustrated artist who quit a decades long career in an unrelated field in order to pursue my creative passions full time.

I've been an occupational therapist and a health outcomes researcher. Go ahead, PubMed search for "AM Shea"... and the next time you’re having trouble sleeping? "Resource use and costs of branch and central retinal vein occlusion in the elderly. You're welcome.

It's been four years since I started my relationship with watercolor, and I am totally smitten. I love everything about it. I love its quirky unpredictability, and how full of pride I feel when I still manage produce outcomes that meet, or even exceed, my own expectations. I love the twinge of anxiety I feel every time I put down a color--especially staining ones--knowing that I've often only got one shot to get it right. I love getting out a fresh sheet of that seemingly million dollar 300 pound cold pressed paper and feeling like, "This paper cost so much money. I CANNOT screw this up." Nothing like a little pressure.

Watercolor still terrifies me, but in the most delicious way. It's an overachieving, perfectionist, control-freak's dream, providing just enough of a challenge to make the whole process a tension-filled whirlwind of creative excitement. I start painting first thing in the morning, and the next thing I know it's mid afternoon. Hours have gone by, but to me, no time has passed. My anxieties about everyday bullshit simply fade away and I'm transported to a place where nothing else matters but light and shadow and color… and it is SO. GOOD.

So that's where I'm at right now. Welcome to my encore.

Follow me on Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/alisa_shea

Check out my watercolor website and blog: http://www.alisashea.com

Shop vintage vinyl shop at: http://etsy.me/1qwgivd