Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne Shackelford.
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 six years old when I first felt the pull to create. For my birthday, my grandpa built me a dollhouse and my grandma began furnishing it. After that, I was constantly making things. I crafted miniatures, made tiny doll clothes, and spent hours building out that world. I did not just want to play in a world. I wanted to build it.
As I grew, my creativity moved through many forms. I explored costume design, fire dancing, headdress design, jewelry making, leather work, and eventually body painting. Body painting brought everything together because it allowed me to create a full visual story using a living canvas.
Around the same time, I deepened my yoga practice and completed a month long teacher training. Yoga trained me to listen to breath, sensation, and subtle shifts. That same listening guides how I create. Both practices are rooted in presence, patience, and embodiment.
In 2024 something clicked into place when I took the Lightworker Launchpad course with Alyssa Malehorn. It helped me understand that my art could intentionally influence how a space feels. That same year I hosted my first solo exhibit, combining my artwork with somatic movement, guided meditation, and sound healing. It made it clear that my work does not only live on a wall. It lives in how people move through a space and how they connect with themselves and each other.
Today I create mixed media artwork and immersive experiences through Chrysalis ATX Studio & Gallery, focusing on work that brings harmony, presence, and the patterns of nature into the spaces people live in.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It definitely has not been a completely smooth road. Like many artists, one of the biggest challenges has been learning how to balance the creative side with the business side. Creating the work is the part that feels natural. Learning marketing, sales, pricing, and how to consistently reach the right audience has been a much steeper learning curve.
Another challenge has been trusting my own vision as it evolved. My work crosses a lot of disciplines. I have moved through costume design, fire performance, body painting, and now mixed media work and immersive art experiences. For a long time it was not always clear how those pieces fit together in a way that made sense from a business perspective.
There is also the practical side of building a creative career. Funding materials, investing time into large pieces, and creating exhibitions or events all require significant resources and risk.
At the same time, those challenges have forced me to become more intentional about how I structure my work. I have spent a lot of time learning about the business of art and building a clearer foundation for Chrysalis ATX Studio & Gallery so the work can continue to grow in a sustainable way.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am an interdisciplinary artist and the founder of Chrysalis ATX Studio & Gallery in Austin. I create mixed media artwork using natural materials such as live edge wood, shells, and stone combined with resin, metal leaf, shimmer pigments, and fire based techniques like pyrography. Much of my work is inspired by patterns in nature and the sense of harmony they bring into a space.
I am especially known for pieces from my Firelight Collection. These works combine burned wood, layered resin, and reflective materials to create depth, light, and movement within the surface. Many of the pieces are designed as statement works that shift how a room feels when someone enters it.
Alongside the artwork itself, I also create immersive art experiences that combine visual art with somatic movement, guided meditation, and sound. These events invite people to interact with art in a more experiential way rather than simply observing it.
What I am most proud of is creating work that people genuinely feel when they encounter it. I often hear that my pieces bring a sense of calm, curiosity, or connection into a space. For me, art is not only something you look at. It shapes how a space feels and how people experience themselves within it. That idea continues to guide everything I create.
Where we are in life is often partly because of others. Who/what else deserves credit for how your story turned out?
There have been many people who have supported my path along the way. My grandparents were the first to encourage my creativity. My grandfather built the dollhouse that sparked my love of making things, and my grandmother helped furnish it. That early encouragement made a lasting impact.
In more recent years, mentors and creative communities have played an important role. Alyssa Malehorn, through her Lightworker Launchpad program, helped me see my work in a new way and encouraged me to think about how art can influence the energy and experience of a space.
I am also grateful for the artists, collaborators, and collectors who continue to engage with the work. Other artists push me to expand my thinking, collaborators help bring immersive experiences to life, and collectors are the people who ultimately choose to live with the work and bring it into their spaces.
Finally, the Austin creative community has been incredibly supportive. Being surrounded by people who are building their own creative paths makes a real difference. That sense of shared energy and encouragement helps keep the momentum going.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chrysalisaustin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrysalisaustin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrysalisAustinArt/
Image Credits
me
