Shawn_Belanger

Artist Shawn Belanger is a visual artist from Calgary who specializes in artist inks. Shawn lives with Autism and is largely a self-taught artist with no formal training. Though Shawn has very limited speech, his art speaks volumes about the way in which he sees the world. Shawn's drawings are full of life. His use of organic, free-flowing line shows a strong connection to the natural world, his energetic and vivacious choice of color brings his works to life and reflects all of the detail and beauty that Shawn perceives in the world around him. Family Shawn Belanger was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1985. He resides there with his parents, Greg and Nancy, and his brother, Kevin. His brother Michael, his sister-in-law Tanya, niece Brooklyn and nephew Colton live nearby. Shawn's outlook on life and infectious smile have been an inspiration to many others. A Mind for Detail Nancy Belanger had no idea that her son Shawn, diagnosed with Autism at age 5, had a talent for art when he first began to draw. As a 6 year old, Shawn's artwork was unremarkable and did not display any unusual talent. Still, Nancy knew how much he loved to draw, and she was committed to encouraging him in every possible way  while she had no idea that it would later become his career. By the time he was 7 or 8, Shawn would find a picture book and put it beside him on the table to look at as he drew. At first he did not like the images he created; he was having trouble holding the pencil and decided that he and his mother should draw hand-over-hand, with her holding the pencil, and he controlling the actions. Eventually he began to draw on his own. Shawn especially loved Disney books. He would sit and draw pictures for hours on end. He became very good at drawing every detail. Eventually he started to design his own characters made up of parts of the characters from the Disney books. He named them letters of the alphabet. Each character was a slight variation of the other.