Meet Shan Ogdemli | Fine Artist and Product Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Shan Ogdemli and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Shan, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I have a somewhat international and unconventional background which I believe contributed to the broad, wholistic worldview I hold today. I was born into a creative family in Berkeley, California at the height of the Beatnik era. My mother, the daughter of Sicilian immigrants, was an artist, actress and musician with a gorgeous singing voice, and my father is an architect and engineer of Siberian Tatar heritage, born in Turkey, who used to play bongos in a local band in Berkeley. Early on my mother became ill and we moved to Bangkok, Thailand for 7 years where she eventually passed away from her illnesses. My Dad then met and married an adventurous German photographer who became my second mother. He took a job designing ticket offices for Pan Am throughout Asia for a time, during which our family took advantage of free unlimited international air travel, exposing me at an early age to many different countries and cultures around the world. We moved from Bangkok to Hong Kong and later to Kailua, Hawaii, a small town on the island of Oahu, where I finished high school. My Dad quit his job and my parents started what grew to be a very successful design and import business of Asian art and antiques.

It was this early exposure to different cultures, religions and art styles; to different ways of thinking and looking at the world, at life, at nature and the universe, that helped to open my mind and consciousness to a wholistic, expanded world view. I became fascinated with the exotic animal and plant life of Thailand and Hawaii and developed an intense appreciation for the natural world. I also developed an appreciation for the many different spiritual practices of the peoples of the world, how they are different from each other and what they all have in common. It gave me a sense of how we are all interconnected with each other, with the Earth and the universe. This appreciation for the natural world and the sense of interconnectedness with all of creation are major themes that inform my art today.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My art reflects my beliefs about the nature of the universe and the interconnectedness of all things. I’m inspired by light and color, Nature, the Earth, the Cosmos, patterns from biology, geometry, astronomy, physics, quantum physics, metaphysics and how they all intersect. I believe there are unseen patterns and structures that exist in multiple dimensions across the multiverse – surrounding, connecting and influencing everything in the material and non-material realms. Some structures exist in the form of waves like light or sound while others take the form of mathematical formulas like the Fibonacci Sequence that dictates the spiral patterns seen in many plant forms, or the Golden Ratio expressed in the spirals of galaxies and in some life forms. My aim as an artist is to capture the essence of those unseen structures and bring them forth into the visible physical world in the form of colors, patterns and images – to inspire an appreciation for the wonder and beauty of life and all of creation.

I’m currently working on a series of paintings based on the Fibonacci Sequence, in which each number in the sequence is a sum of the 2 previous numbers (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, and so on). The formula is found in many plant forms with spirals of 2 consecutive numbers from the sequence spiraling in opposite directions. It is a beautiful construct of nature that ensures the most perfect distribution of leaves to allow maximum sunlight exposure to each leaf, or to allow the optimum distribution of seeds in a pinecone, for example. I use digital assistance to define the math in the spacing of the spirals, then transfer the spiral patterns to canvas and paint with thick expressive, organic textures and richly layered colors. I aim to portray the dichotomy of how there is a perfect mathematical order underlying the structure of life, yet life expresses itself out of that perfect order in an imperfect, organic, seemingly random form in the way that every leaf, petal, branch or life form is unique, imperfect and organic. Just as every human is also unique, imperfect and organic, yet we are created from some perfect, divine underlying order.

I work in both acrylic paint and in digital media. My acrylic paintings incorporate diatomaceous earth (DE) mixed with gel mediums and pigment to create heavily textured surfaces with expressive brush strokes that add movement and energy. Color and the vibrational and emotional effect it has on the viewer is an important part of my work, with color harmonies and compositions meticulously built from several layers of translucent and opaque paint. The full effect of the color vibrations and energy emanating from my paintings are best appreciated in person. Light is another common theme, with the aim of inspiring a connection to the light within, the light at the source of all of creation.

My digital work is often in the form of endless repeat patterns, which not only reflect my philosophy of endless interconnectedness, but also lend themselves in a more Earthly manner to print on textiles that I incorporate into my product line called Designs By Shan that includes silk scarves, woven cotton blankets and active wear.

Currently my focus is on my fine art practice, but I started my career as a graphic designer, illustrator and surface pattern designer. I graduated from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, as a graphic design major with honors and a full scholarship. Soon after graduation my husband, Daniel Feldman, and I started a graphic design and illustration studio called Ogdemli Feldman Design and Illustration. We won awards and grew to a staff of 10 with projects that included Super Bowl logos and tickets, cards for Paper Moon Graphics, album covers, fashion ads and more. In 2000 we created Designs By Shan, licensing my illustrations onto thousands of products including home decor, stationery, fabrics, cosmetic bags and many more items. In 2005 we and our agents launched Pampered Girls, a fashion brand, which became an international phenomenon with stores in Japan and Taiwan and thousands of licensed products sold globally.

Throughout those years I had always maintained the dream of one day selling the design businesses and focusing full time on my fine art career, but life presented many obstacles. The recession of 2008 caused us to scale down the businesses, moving them out of our beautiful 4000 square foot studio space and into the 400 square foot living room of our small but charming Hollywood Hills home. Before that we had adopted a 13 year old son with a challenged upbringing, and then later gained custody of our 2 teenage nieces, also with difficult early lives. Parenting proved both rewarding and challenging, as well as expensive, and the tough economic times made it even more challenging. To earn extra income we started an additional business called Hounds of the Hills – home-based doggie daycare and boarding. The doggie biz became wildly successful, averaging 24 dogs a day and adding to the joyful crowded chaos of our lives, which by then included running 4 businesses, raising 3 kids plus the 24 dogs a day in our small 3 bedroom house. Needless to say, this all made painting very difficult!

The kids eventually grew up and in 2021 we sold our beloved Hollywood Hills house, shut down the design businesses and sold the dog business. We packed up and moved to beautiful Santa Fe, New Mexico to finally pursue the dream of focusing on my fine art career full time. We set up an art studio and a small gallery space inside our home not far from Santa Fe’s gallery district. I’m now happily devoting all of my time to making art and maintaining my fine art based product line. Although we now live in Santa Fe, Los Angeles still holds a special place in our hearts and we maintain strong personal and professional ties.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
There are so many wonderful places and things to do in Los Angeles! I would make sure to include a day spent rollerblading or bike riding on the Venice / Santa Monica boardwalk with a sunset dinner by the ocean at the Lobster or up the coast a bit at Moon Shadows in Malibu. Another day would be spent downtown LA visiting MOCA and the Broad Museum. Hopefully we’ll get tickets that night to see a performance at the Disney Music Hall with dinner at one of the trendy, fine restaurants in DTLA. Downtown deserves another day or 2 visiting the galleries of the arts district, the Geffen Contemporary Museum, the flower market early in the morning, lunch at Grand Central Market, a visit to the Bradbury Building, shopping in Santee Alley and dinner in Little Tokyo or Chinatown. Another day would be spent hiking either up to the Hollywood sign or with the doggies in Runyon Canyon, followed by dinner in Hollywood at my favorite restaurant in the world – Musso & Frank’s. Hollywood also deserves a second day of exploration with visits to Yamashiro’s, the Chinese Theatre, the Farmer’s Market and shopping on Melrose followed by a picnic dinner and performance at the Hollywood Bowl. High Tea at the Huntington Gardens is a must followed by an afternoon stroll through the gardens with dinner at President Thai in Pasadena. And the beach deserves another day too – at my favorite spot between the rocks, down a cliff at Leo Carrillo State Beach Park followed by a drive through Topanga Canyon to dinner at the Inn of The Seventh Ray. Somewhere in there we need to include dinner at the Smokehouse in Burbank with dancing to the music of our favorite Smokehouse band, Joe Finkle and the 7/10 Splits, plus another evening of fun music by our other favorite bar band, Jack Shit, at the Baked Potato in Studio City. Then there is a visit to McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, gallery hopping in Culver City and dinner in Little Ethiopia. There is so much more to see and do, but I think our week has already been way over extended!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would like to dedicate this article to Daniel Feldman, my wonderful husband and business partner of 37 years, who’s unwavering support, hard work and encouragement has allowed me to prosper and grow as a person, designer and artist. I could never have achieved as much as I have today without his dedication and help.

Website: https://www.shanogdemli.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shanogdemli.art

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shanogdemli

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShanOgdemliArt

Other: https://.www.designsbyshan.com