NEWS EDITOR – ASHTON JEFFERS
ORIGINALLY PRINTED ON APRIL 6, 2023
Woodlawn Lake, Ray’s Drive Inn, La Popular Bakery, and the Little Flower Basilica. These locations are iconic landmarks around West Side of San Antonio, but to those living there, these places seen familiar and nothing out of the ordinary. In the eyes of Shea Daniel-Youngblood, these areas on the West Side hold a certain type of beauty that she thought would be best suited to being encapsulated in the form of paintings. Daniel-Youngblood is an artist in San Antonio, Texas specializing in “en plein air” painting. En plein air painting is a method where artists paint their works outdoors instead of a studio setting.
After moving to San Antonio to San Antonio 22 years ago, Daniel-Youngblood found inspiration from the places around this city and found her desire to paint. Daniel-Youngblood’s introduction to St. Mary’s University came when Brian St. John (M.E.A), Chair of the Art Department and Professor of Art at St. Mary’s, noticed her work and inquired about the pieces of her art displayed at Oscar de la Tienda. Oscar de la Tienda is a local corner store in San Antonio. It takes a modern spin on the typical neighborhood grocery store by having space for locals to sell their paintings and display other art pieces to decorate the store. St. John noticed a painting displayed at the store and requested Daniel-Youngblood’s contact information from the shop owner.
From this connection, the idea to create an art exhibit focusing on St. Mary’s University and West Side San Antonio was born. Each painting was dedicated to the St. Mary’s exhibition, and would commemorate the conclusion of the month-long celebration of Women’s History Month on campus. Visitors from campus and around the West Side came to the exhibition’s opening reception in the Blume Library Gallery on March 31. Attendees could view the art pieces, mingle amongst themselves and enjoy light refreshments during the showing. Not only were the paintings visible, but Daniel-Youngblood willingly shared some a few of the sketches of her works, allowing visitors to see her process before her brush even touched the canvas. Many were impressed at her dedication to creating her pieces and the time it took Daniel-Youngblood to produce these paintings. For one painting of the Marianist Cemetery, Daniel-Youngblood was able to work fairly quickly on it, finishing the piece in about an hour to an hour and a half. As someone who constantly practiced her painting skills and understood how to utilize her tools, Daniel-Youngblood is talented and efficient.
The en plein painting style is not as possible today because studios provide artists with a potentially more controlled space to hone their craft. Daniel-Youngblood relishes the challenge of painting on sight and outdoors. “When you get outside, and you’re painting, you’re dealing with all kinds of things coming at you at once, Daniel-Youngblood stated. “The lights changing because clouds are moving, bugs are coming at you, the wind…There are so many things coming at you when you’re doing it that it requires an intensity and focus that I felt I needed to have”. This struggle with the elements is part of what Daniel-Youngblood needs to produce this kind of work she is proud of. This method draws a level of respect from those who admire her work, and they continue to support her in her artistic journey, especially in these environments on the West Side she came to know more about. “Sometimes it’s history. Sometimes it’s an iconic place”, Daniel-Youngblood shared about how she chose specific locations around the area to paint. “Things that people think about when they think about this part of town, on the West Side.” many of these paintings resonated with visitors, who initially recalled the names of these locations around San Antonio. It also spoke to Daniel-Youngblood’s love for San Antonio and her desire to share her talents with the community through art.
If interested, a few of her pieces will be available to bid on throughout April while the exhibition is up. To see more of Daniel-Youngblood’s work, follow her on Instagram @sheadanielyoungblood or check out her website at sheadanielyoungblood.com.