Shannon Kelley — Mardi Gras House Floats, Krewe des Fleurs & Color
Shannon Kelley, a New Orleans–based artist, crafter, and Mardi Gras enthusiast, creates vibrant pieces across makeup, oil, acrylics, and face paint. A quick scroll through her Instagram shows the color and joy she brings to her work and to the city.
Even with a home studio, the past year of Covid restrictions brought creative challenges. “I’ve struggled to feel like creating sometimes… I’ve been focusing more on ‘for fun projects’ than any real work.”
Alongside commissions, Shannon makes time for personal projects: “It’s self-care when I’m doing something fun just because I want to — a makeup look, costuming, or decorating my house.”
Products used: Power Pigments Plum, Iris, Passion Flower, and Paranormal. See links below.
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“You need a break from the work every so often even when the work is something you love. There’s real pressure to monetize everything — it’s nice to do things strictly for fun.”
House Float Garden
Walk by Shannon’s house and the word “fun” pops to mind: a brightly colored, supersized garden adorns her front porch for the Krewe of House Floats. In just one week, she created and installed nearly a dozen ornate, hand-painted giant flowers.
Krewe des Fleurs
Years of experience with Krewe des Fleurs and the Magical Moving Garden shaped Shannon’s larger-than-life floral builds. The NOLA collective designs a single blank flower prototype each year; members bring it to life in their own style.
Through an isolating year, the krewe provided connection: Zoom hangs, masked outdoor check-ins, and a city-wide scavenger hunt. Since Twelfth Night, members have been hiding past commemorative flowers, #seedsasbeads, and decorated terracotta pots.
The krewe champions sustainability and “green throws,” upcycling costume scraps to recreate floral throws. They’ll keep hiding garden goodies through Mardi Gras day — join the Facebook group The Secret Garden for daily clues.
Join “The Extra, Extra” to meet more unapologetically creative folks like Shannon and see how they’ve sustained creative self-care through Covid.