Meet Ruby Shanahan | Visual Artist

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

Hi Ruby, where are your from? We’d love to hear about how your background has played a role in who you are today?
I was born and raised in Los Angeles to parents in creative fields; music and art direction/graphic design. My closest friends are in film, music, illustration, animation, fashion design, writing etc. and being able to work with each other and participate in each others artistic endeavors has provided a lot of growth and understanding in finding a niche. Being surrounded by people pursuing passion over wealth has opened up so much space for me to feel more secure in the uncertainty of any career in the arts and the many creative interests and pursuits I still hope to explore further as I get the chance. Photography has been my most consistent creative pursuit, and the variety of landscape and location within Los Angeles has been an inspiration in itself for a lot of my photography, often forming concepts for a shoot after driving past or encountering an interesting location.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I’m by no means at a professional level with anything I do, there is so much more room for growth and improvement, but consistency in creating something, whatever it may be or how outlandish it seems, and knowing its not too late to start over and try something new or something else has kept me excited about the work I’ve done and all that I hope to do. Music and literature and big inspirations for me when it comes to photography, creating mental visuals while reading or listening to music tends to be the basis for any visual project I want to create, and is usually the first building block. The most valuable lessons for me have been welcoming critique, and allowing yourself to open up to a multitude of pursuits and interests and finding where they can intersect. Critique is invaluable, it has been the biggest catalyst for improving my work, and staying open to trying out new visual projects to find what works and what I want to do more of.

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.
My friends and I frequent diners when we eat out, Mel’s on Sunset, Fred 62, and Swingers are favorites. Home in Los Feliz and Figaro Bistro are lovely for drinks and dinner. I love old and independent film, so I always like to check out what’s playing at the arthouse theaters; Vista, New Beverly, The Nuart, Braindead, and The Alamo Drafthouse. I’m a huge museum lover as well, I like to check out every visiting exhibit at The Broad and MOCA, and stop by Grand Central Market while I’m in DTLA. I love picnics or just bringing a speaker and blanket to the park with friends, Hollywood Forever, The Meadows and Echo Park are our go-to’s. I’m the worst person to ask about nightlife but The Abbey in WeHo is a favorite for clubbing, but seeing live music at smaller concert venues like The Moroccan lounge, and The Echo is my favorite way to spend a night out. State Social House and Bar Lubitsch are great for free live music and drinks as well. Finally, I love to read and expand my little library, so Book Soup and Skylight Books are my favorite spots to browse or buy.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My mom was a graphic designer and art director, and I grew up watching her work and spending time with her on set, observing the makeup artists and photographers and stylists, and I fell in love with the idea of working and collaborating with people of many different skillsets to create something. My dad is a composer and jazz musician, so music has been a huge part of my life, and usually ignites creative ideas for me. Both my parents would be able to sit with their work and hours later almost come back to life, they were so enmeshed and consumed by their love for what they did, and I still look for that through trial and error of anything that I’d like to try, what will make time fly by for me. My closest friends have provided me with all the encouragement I could hope for, always offering advice and critiques, or getting in front of the camera for me, letting me cover them in fake blood or jump in freezing cold water, whatever they can do to help me create my vision and I literally would have never created the way I do if it wasn’t for their enthusiasm and passion.

Instagram: @Rubyshanahannn

Image Credits
All images by me