“I couldn’t tell you when I started painting because I’ve always done it,” said Bentonville-based artist, Chelsea McShane. “I remember a time when we were young, and my dad sat us down to ask what we wanted to be when we grew up. When I said ‘artist,’ he meant well, but he replied, ‘Well, you’ll have to support yourself. You don’t want to be a starving artist.”
McShane is a self-taught painter whose journey into the art world began while babysitting. Creating portraits for parents as gifts, as well as paintings of school mascots and holiday scenes, she made her first foray into painting as more than a hobby.
Babysitting took McShane to Utah after graduation, where she worked as a full-time nanny. She remembers walking into galleries there, asking if they’d display her art. “I think one place took one of my paintings, but it never sold,” she said with a laugh.
She continued to paint but pursued a career in nursing before meeting her husband and relocating to New York for his job. “We were there for his residency program, and when we had our daughter, childcare wasn’t ideal. So, I became a stay-at-home mom and we decided to move back to Arkansas.”
The McShane family lived in Fayetteville for a short time before relocating to Tulsa. Adding two more kids to the mix, she said she felt like she had lost some of her identity and wanted to get back into painting.
“Being a stay-at-home mom is hard,” she said. “But I felt like I had to earn enough for it to be worth putting my kids in daycare so I could have time to paint.”
By this point, McShane was feeling underwhelmed with her more popular subjects and was eager to get into abstracts. “I kept getting requests for the same paintings. I love painting big abstracts and it felt good to do something different.”
Putting herself out there, she pursued a collaboration with Shop Little Design Co., turning her paintings into pillowcases. The collaboration was a hit and thanks to the boutique having a strong following of interior designers, McShane landed a major commission project.
“An interior designer asked if I would paint multiple pieces for the home of a professional athlete in Texas,” she said. “One of the paintings was of a longhorn, and that’s when I learned I loved to paint animals.”
Today, McShane might be most recognized for her contemporary duck paintings. Her approach is refreshing, considering most waterfowl paintings cater to more masculine palettes.
“I figure men usually like duck paintings, but I wanted to make them in a way that women would like them too. So you’ll see a lot of baby blue, or hints of pink.”
In 2019, McShane started sharing her art on social media. A year later, she launched a website to sell her originals and prints online. Some say timing is everything, and in her case, the pandemic played a major role in transforming her business from part-time artist into a full-time brand.
As an oral surgeon, much of her husband’s work was considered elective, and he lost his job in Tulsa. At the same time, however, most of the workforce was shifting to home offices, which McShane says inspired folks to decorate.
“With my social media growing and the ability to sell online, things really took off, and we recognized the opportunity for my art to become a real business, so we went all in. We moved back to Northwest Arkansas, and I’ve added products like ornaments and acrylics.”
Five years after settling into life in Bentonville, McShane’s art brand is thriving, but a cancer diagnosis would shift her ambitions for the next chapter of her business.
“I was diagnosed with lymphoma, but I did radiation and today I’m cancer-free,” she said. “The whole experience really had me thinking about how short life is, and how there’s no better time than now to go after my goals. One of those goals is to open my own gallery.”
By summer 2026, McShane expects to have taken over the space currently occupied by women’s boutique LABEL, in Downtown Bentonville. She plans to brighten the space, filling the walls with original paintings, prints, and more. She’s also eager to create fresh work inspired by the Bentonville lifestyle, offering something for both locals and tourists to collect.
A full circle story, to be sure, McShane’s dad, who once worried about his little girl’s hopes of becoming an artist, will play a major part in preparing and operating her dream gallery.
“He’s my biggest fan.”
To learn more about Chelsea and receive updates about her new gallery, visit www.ChelseaMcShane.com and follow along on Instagram @ChelsMcShane_Art and @ChelseaMcShane_Bentonville.