Today we’d like to introduce you to Savonna Atkins
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in Maryland, and while both of my parents were creative, there are not many visual artists in my family. I fell in love with painting at my preschool. When I was in kindergarten, my dad helped transcribe a journal for me, and it is quite evident how seriously I took my painting and coloring practice. In every entry, I was sure to list all my creative pursuits for the day and if I felt pulled away from painting, I talked about that too. In one entry I stated, “And for a long while I haven’t painted.” I was five and I already knew that I was a painter.
I took evening art classes outside of school starting in first grade. From third grade through high school, I attended weekend art classes at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) in Baltimore, which is where I learned my foundational drawing skills, a love of collage, and B&W film photography. My dad and I would walk through the halls of MICA after my class to look at the student paintings, drawings, and installations on display.
I moved south to attend the University of North Carolina Wilmington where I studied recreation therapy, psychology, and studio art, with plans to pursue art therapy. While in Wilmington, I explored new mediums and I learned how to use oil paint. I also fell in love with sculpting organic forms with clay. I painted many landscapes, focusing on the giant live oak trees that were on campus and at surrounding parks.
After I moved to Atlanta, I started working as an adaptive arts specialist at a physical rehabilitation hospital, while pursuing my MFA at the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) Atlanta. During my three years at SCAD, I pushed myself harder than ever before in my studio practice to discover my point of view as an artist and the potential for abstraction. I graduated with an MFA in painting in 2015. My thesis show featured heavily textured abstract paintings, embroidered abstract textile work, repeating plaster sculptures, wearable textile artwork, and an installation.
In the past decade, I became a mother to two children and raised them during the pandemic. My creative interests shifted to cooking, baking, photography, and painting with my children as I focused on my family. I did not have a consistent studio practice for almost six years. I worked on the occasional painting commission and I continued to sew, weave, and arrange textiles.
2022 was a transitional year, as my youngest was born and my dad died from cancer. My dad had always been so proud of my work and he encouraged my love of art. I knew that all my time spent raising my children was incredibly important, and yet I knew that it was time for me to prioritize my art practice. Once my son was old enough to attend a part-time preschool, I set firm boundaries on my studio mornings while he was at school. For the last year and a half, I’ve been making and exhibiting my paintings and textiles at galleries and art spaces including Swan Coach House Gallery, The Pollinator Art Space, and the Hudgens Center, where my textile work received a 1st place Juror Award. I connected with another SCAD painting alum and mother in my area, Rachel Grant, and we share a wonderful studio in the historic depot district of downtown Lawrenceville. Rachel and I recently collaborated on a two-person exhibition at Gallery 1740 in Atlanta and we discussed our exhibition on WABE City Lights in January.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The hardest struggle has been firmly setting aside time for a studio practice. Mothers are balancing so many demands, and no one is going to prioritize your studio time for you.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am an abstract painter and textile artist. Through the years, my paintings have ranged from non-objective abstract paintings, to layered paintings based on memories, to abstracted landscapes. The majority of my work is layered, colorful, and textured. In 2024, I created a series of landscape-inspired, mixed-media paintings for my two-person exhibition. I am continually inspired by nature’s beauty and its ability to regulate our nervous system. Taking photos of my local landscape remains a key part of my creative practice since having children, as it is something I can do while watching my children play outside. I integrate these captured peaceful moments into paintings using acrylic, soft pastel, and oil paint. My painted shapes, brushstrokes, and layering reference my experience manipulating textiles, sewing, and weaving.
I view my textile work as abstract paintings, inspired by collage, but created with fabric, thread, yarn, and string, instead of paint. I cut up clothing and other domestic fabrics like curtains and bedding. I love the variety of textures and transparencies that is available in clothing and fabric made for the home. I arrange and reconnect the fabric pieces slowly with stitching, weaving, and layered embroidery to create a new textile composition and structure.
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
I have three exhibitions this March. My textile piece, Trip Up North will be featured in the group exhibition Pink Silo at Wavelength Space in Chattanooga, TN. Two of my paintings on paper are included in the Hudgens Center Works on Paper Exhibition and will be shipped to Korea to exhibit at a partner gallery before coming back to exhibit at the Hudgens Center in Duluth. Lastly, my landscape paintings will be included in the Suwanee Art Center Spring Exhibit in Suwanee, GA.
Pricing:
- Painting prices are based on square inch.
- Pricing for paintings start at $225.
- I will offer hand-painted Christmas ornaments and mini, giftable paintings starting in the fall ($38-$95, based on size and complexity). Sign up for my email list to get notifications about when these are available on my website.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.savonnanicole.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/savonnanicole/
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/savonnanicole/
- Twitter: https://bsky.app/profile/savonnanicole.bsky.social
- Other: https://bsky.app/profile/savonnanicole.bsky.social
Image Credits
Exhibition photography: Keri Weiland Photography
Studio photography: Ashley Akins Photography
Textile details: Savonna Nicole Atkins Art
