We’re looking forward to introducing you to Anne Shackelford. Check out our conversation below.
Anne, really appreciate you sharing your stories and insights with us. The world would have so much more understanding and empathy if we all were a bit more open about our stories and how they have helped shaped our journey and worldview. Let’s jump in with a fun one: What makes you lose track of time—and find yourself again?
What makes me lose track of time and find myself again is being in the studio, creating. I’m not thinking about outcomes or agendas. I’m listening. It becomes a quiet conversation between the materials, my body, and something beyond me. Hours pass, the light shifts, my dogs are curled up nearby, and I feel reset. Reconnected.
That same presence returns during a sound journey or somatic session, when the field softens and there is nothing to prove, only resonance. These are the spaces where the noise dissolves and I remember who I am.
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I’m Anne Shackelford, a full-time interdisciplinary artist born and raised in Austin, Texas. My work blends visual art, sound, movement, and healing to create pieces and experiences that resonate on a deeper level. I work with natural materials like wood, resin, stone, and shimmer pigment, infusing each piece with intention, vibration, and energetic clarity.
My art is rooted in connection. It is not just something to look at, but something to feel. Whether I am working on a fire-burned wall piece, leading a somatic sound experience, or creating a custom commission infused with prayer and personal symbolism, my goal is to offer beauty that recalibrates and restores.
Right now I am focused on expanding both my gallery offerings in Austin and my creative work in the Colorado mountains, where I also host guests in an artist-designed cabin. I am also working on a new guide to help people curate personal, meaningful art collections because I believe living with art should be intuitive, joyful, and alive.
Okay, so here’s a deep one: What part of you has served its purpose and must now be released?
The part of me that overexplained, overgave, and overaccommodated has served its purpose. For years, I shaped myself to make others comfortable. I softened my edges, dimmed my knowing, and made space for everyone but myself. That way of being taught me how to listen, how to care, how to attune, but it also taught me how easily I could disappear if I was not careful.
Now I am choosing clarity over cushioning. I trust that the people meant for me will meet me in my wholeness. Releasing the version of me that needed to be liked or understood by everyone has opened up space for deeper alignment, cleaner energy, and more authentic connection.
When did you stop hiding your pain and start using it as power?
I stopped hiding my pain when I realized it was costing me more to keep it quiet than to let it move. I had spent years staying strong, staying composed, staying busy. But my body knew. My spirit knew. The turning point came when I finally stopped performing resilience and started honoring what was real.
Instead of pushing through, I began listening. Through yoga, sound, movement, and creating art with my hands, I found ways to metabolize what I had carried for too long. That is where my power came back. Not in pretending everything was fine, but in trusting that beauty could emerge through the cracks.
Now I create from that place. Not to fix or bypass the pain, but to alchemize it. To offer something honest, whole, and alive.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What’s a belief or project you’re committed to, no matter how long it takes?
I am committed to creating art and experiences that bring people back to themselves. That has always been the throughline, no matter the medium. Whether I am working with fire-burned wood, sound, somatic movement, or curation, it all flows from the same source. I believe beauty heals. I believe harmony is a frequency we can remember through art, presence, and ritual.
This is not a short-term project or a business plan. It is a life path. I will keep creating, refining, and offering what wants to move through me, for as long as I am here. Some seasons are louder, some quieter, but the devotion remains the same.
Okay, so before we go, let’s tackle one more area. When do you feel most at peace?
Lately what is bringing me joy is the quiet. Journaling. Long walks with my dogs. Letting the day stretch without rushing to fill it. I have been spending more time in nature and in the in-between moments, without trying to capture or share them.
There is something deeply satisfying about the ordinary when I let it be enough. A certain kind of peace arrives when I am not trying to shape anything, just letting it be. That space, in many ways, has become its own kind of art.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.chrysalisaustin.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chrysalisaustin/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChrysalisAustinArt/
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@chrysalisaustin
