Artist's creations will fill new Beatles hotel
Howell resident known worldwide for works of Fab Four
BY AMY ROSEN Staff Writer
When the Beatles came to America in 1964, they rocked our world, literally. To this day Beatlemania is still running rampant across the country.

ERIC SUCAR staff Surrounded by her paintings of the Beatles, local artist Shannon reflects on her current project to create all of the artwork for the Beatles-themed Hard Day's Night Hotel in Liverpool, England.

With the 40th anniversary of the release of the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album having been marked earlier this year, tributes to the Fab Four are cropping up here, there and everywhere to celebrate the phenomenon of those talented musicians.

After almost 44 years of undying love for the music of the Beatles, an American has found a way for this nation to reciprocate that gift from England.

Shannon, "The World's Greatest Beatles artist," a title bestowed upon her at a meeting with the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, England, in 1997, has been commissioned to create all of the artwork that will be placed in the 110 Beatles-themed rooms and suites in Liverpool's new Hard Day's Night Hotel slated to open in February.

A painting by Shannon shows Paul McCartney and John Lennon during the period in which "Hey Jude" was being created by the Beatles.

The hotel has been in the planning stages for about 10 years, and after almost a decade of traveling back and forth from Los Angeles to Liverpool, the long and winding road has led Shannon back to her roots in New Jersey. She now finds the solace she needs to create her art in a barn that has been converted into a studio on her picturesque property in Howell.

As a child growing up in Bayville, Ocean County, Shannon says that she was born with a gift to create art.

"My mom told me that when I was 2 years old, you could really decipher exactly what I was trying to put on paper," Shannon explained. "And that's what I did all the time. I ran around with a pencil and any kind of paper I could get my hands on."

Shannon recalled her days at Central Regional Middle School, saying, "Seventh and eighth grade were really great for me. People were getting interested in what I was doing and I got a lot of awards for my art."

Shannon credits some of her teachers during her middle school and high school years for helping shape her life.

"Miss Marshall, an excellent art teacher in middle school, influenced me artistically," she recalled, "and Ronald Velano, a sociology teacher at Central Regional High School, influenced me in life."

She described Velano as a down-toearth person who got his students ready for the world. She recalled that he always told her to go out into the world and make something of herself. Shannon listened and later followed her dream to live in Los Angeles, where her career took off.

When Shannon entered high school the art teacher had a different message for her. Shannon said she loved to copy pictures of Beatles collector's cards that came in packs of gum. That teacher, whose name Shannon preferred not to mention, told her, "You'll never get anywhere drawing those pigs."

Shannon said that same teacher also marked up all of her creations with negative comments and gave her grades in art class that would ultimately keep her from being accepted to the Parsons School of Design and Pratt Institute in New York, which she said were both pursuing her prior to seeing her grades.

Disgusted, Shannon dropped out of high school in 11th grade, but went back a year later and graduated with high honors and the designation of "most talented." Although she graduated feeling better about herself, she had lost interest in attending art schools. She did a complete turn-around and pursued music.

For the next 15 years Shannon avoided her art and forged a successful musical career, playing keyboards, four-, eight- and 12-string bass, rhythm guitar, writing songs and singing with many successful musical artists including Roger Glover from Deep Purple and Tommy Price, who performed with Billy Idol. She was also a member of a band called Jet!, and still continues to produce music on her own.

In 1992, someone gave Shannon an iwata airbrush. She started experimenting with it and produced her first airbrush creation - a picture of John Lennon.

"That airbrush was so important because it fueled any kind of desire that I had lost," Shannon said. "Some burning ember that was there was driven to flames again by this tiny little airbrush. It got me started into the art world again."

Three months later Shannon's band was participating in a Beatles music battle of the bands for what was known as the New York Beatlefest at that time, in a hotel in East Rutherford, and she brought the picture of John with her. She entered it into an art contest for fun and went on to perform in the battle of the bands. She had forgotten about the painting until somebody came up to her and said, "You've got to get up to the auditorium. Your painting of John Lennon just won first place!"

"So that is what started me off on this Beatles road," Shannon remarked.

After that she was invited to participate

in future festivals for Beatles fans. Armed with her airbrush, she created illustrations of the Beatles mostly on Tshirts, and talk of her talent spread.

A few years later, in 1995, Billy Heckle, from the Cavern Club in Liverpool, met Shannon at a Beatles convention in Connecticut. He and his partner, Dave Jones, said they were interested in having her do some pieces for the Cavern Club, which is best known as the club where the Beatles began their career. Shannon did not hear from them again until 1997, when Heckle called her at her new home in Los Angeles.

Shannon recalled, "Billy said, 'We looked in Liverpool for a male artist, then we looked in all of Britain for a male artist, then we searched all over Europe' and he went on and on and never spoke of Americans until after the fact. Then he went on to say, 'We went back and we checked out female artists, but we took a couple of pieces of your artwork that we had gotten in Connecticut and held everyone's artwork up to yours.

"After it was all said and done, we did everything we could to knock you off of your pedestal, but we really were gobsmacked by your work.' I wasn't sure what 'gobsmacked' meant," Shannon continued, "and I said, 'Thanks, I think.' When I looked the word up later, I understood that it wasn't such a bad thing. It meant they were in awe."

Heckle made arrangements for Shannon to fly to Liverpool immediately. She thought she was just going to meet with Heckle and Jones, but they surprised her by arranging for a meeting with the Lord Mayor of Liverpool at the same town hall the Beatles went to when they came back from America.

At that time she was told that Liverpool had declared her "The World's Greatest Beatles Artist" and she was asked to sign the official register, a historic document in which "Shannon, The World's Greatest Beatles Artist" will always be inscribed.

The title, originally coined by Heckle who was fond of saying, "We searched the whole world and finally found the world's greatest Beatles artist," soon caught on. Shannon said although the title almost embarrasses her, she is very proud of it.

As if that meeting was not great enough, Shannon felt the meeting with Heckle and Jones that followed was phenomenal. That's when she was told about their plans to build the Hard Day's Night Hotel, dedicated to the Beatles, right around the corner from the Cavern Club. They asked her to do all the artwork in the entire hotel, which was to incorporate the Beatles story into its design. Each one of the 110 rooms was to have a piece that depicted a specific era in the Beatles' career.

In addition to creating 110 pieces of art in a little more than one year, Shannon helped design many other things in and around the hotel, including the cars that will transport guests and four giant granite plaques.

According to Shannon, the plaques will house four paintings of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr when they were young and four pieces from when the Beatles broke up. Engraved descriptions will document landmarks in their career. Shannon also designed the hotel's logo, which has a few hidden meanings of its own.

According to the Hard Day's Night Hotel Internet Web site, Jonathan Davies, director of Bowdina, the developers be- hind the hotel, said, "The logo is both classic and sharp and I think it will illustrate that the unique Beatles theme will provide a luxury boutique hotel with a twist."

Each room will center around a portrait and a theme reflecting major events in the Beatles' career. For instance, the "Strawberry Fields" room will have a psychedelic feel to represent what was going on at the time, and the "Yellow Submarine" room will have a bright yellow door and many more surprises inside. Groundbreaking effects using special paints and lighting will be used to bring the painting to life in special places such as the John and Yoko suite.

Shannon's portraits are so lifelike that many of them look like photographs, but each must be an original unlike any other ever seen - quite a challenge for Shannon's boundless imagination.

She is excited about one piece that will combine her music and artwork, but will not divulge too many details.

All of Shannon's original works are being stored in a vault in Liverpool until they are sold. High tech giclée reproductions will be displayed in the hotel rooms in order to protect the originals. When someone buys a piece from a room, the entire room will be revamped and Shannon will create a totally new painting. The theme will stay the same, but the look will change. The original pieces are expected to sell for about $100,000 each.

"The Beatles story is amazing to me," Shannon said. "These four kids used their gifts to the best of their ability. That they were able to create 40 years worth of music in such a short time is unbelievable."

Shannon said she has never met any of the Beatles, but she knows that Ringo has a piece of hers and that Paul has said he is a big fan.

"At some point I think our paths may cross when the time is right," she believes.

Shannon credits the many family members and friends of John, Paul, George and Ringo with providing an enormous amount of information and material that helped her visualize and plan out her portraits.

Cynthia Lennon, John's first wife, gave Shannon what she perceives as one of the nicest compliments of her life. Lennon said she knew the Beatles when they had the fire and hunger in their hearts to be who they are today. She believes Shannon's portraits captured it all in their eyes.

George's sister, Louise, provided photos that gave Shannon insight into what the musician looked like as a little boy.

She recently saw Yoko Ono, John's widow, at the White Ball, a party to raise money for Alder Hey, a children's hospital in Liverpool, which Shannon was very impressed with.

Since she feels so blessed with her success, Shannon is committed to helping others, especially children. Together with Jol Dantzig, owner of Hamer Guitars, she designed the Uncle Pepper Guitar, which was unveiled in August by Cheap Trick guitarist Rick Nielson at a two-day musical tribute at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, celebrating the 40th anniversary of the release of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band."

The guitar was autographed by the many guest stars who joined the band on stage and proceeds from a lottery to win the guitar will benefit Alder Hey. The guitar will be on display in the Hard Day's Night Hotel with the owner's name on a plaque.

Shannon also helped raise money for the United Way's Make-A-Wish Foundation several years ago by painting a giant guitar in front of an audience at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. Tony Perkins from "Good Morning America" spoke about Shannon's guitar several times on his show and eventually bought it. It was a bittersweet memory for Shannon because it helped to raise the spirits of her mom, who was suffering.

Shannon recently donated a piece of art that was auctioned off at a Beatlesthemed rock opera called "A Day in the Life" at Monmouth University, West Long Branch. The event raised funds for Parents of Autistic Children, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of families with autistic children.

Perkins was so impressed with Shannon and her work that he agreed to write the forward for her book that should be coming out next summer. The book, "A Hard Decade's Night," will tell the story of how Shannon got involved with her love for the Beatles leading up to her present career.

Shannon is planning to arrange a Hard Day's Night Hotel Road Show after the hotel opens. Giclée prints will be taken on the road so people who cannot make it to Liverpool can get a glimpse of some of Shannon's work and purchase the originals from the hotel if they so desire.

Shannon's accomplishments are not limited to painting the Beatles. From 1995-99 she worked with Sylvester Stallone and created the artwork for a series of European "Rocky" postage stamps. She is also responsible for designing the European James Dean, Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali and Princess Diana stamps, and many others.

In conjunction with King Features, the cartoon production firm known for Betty Boop, Popeye and others, Shannon has produced a line of collectible miniature motorcycles, "Phantasy Choppers," which has seen much success throughout the country.

The logo Shannon designed for her newest line of collectables, "Shannon's Bakery," immortalizes her grandmother, Florence Mathis, who had a great influence on Shannon's life. The miniature cakes depict special events in people's lives. Plans are also in the making for "Smokey Burnouts," nostalgic hot rod cars geared toward baby boomers.

Shannon says she never turns down the opportunity to work.

"I'm not the kind to pass on anything," she said. "In my life there was no silver spoon. My parents worked their butts off. You have to do that and hope that someday you'll be able to have a decent amount of work coming in."

The last 10 years have proven that hard work pays off. Her work has been admired by people throughout the world and featured on television. Through her love for art and music she has met many famous people and gotten the opportunity to work with members of the Spielberg family, Aerosmith, Kiss, No Doubt and many others.

In an ironic turn of events, Shannon recently received an offer to lecture at one of the art schools that turned her down years ago. She said she would consider the offer at a later time.

It won't be long until the Hard Day's Night Hotel opens, so Shannon now spends her days and nights working hard on the project. More than 80 paintings were completed at the time of the interview.

Shannon said of her 10-year rise to fame, "I've gotten to meet so many different people, it still blows me away to this day. I'm just a painter. This celebrity thing is just weird. Although it's a Beatles hotel in Liverpool, I'm proud to say that everywhere you go in the hotel you will find artwork done by this American woman from Ocean County, New Jersey."

For more information visit theshannongallery. com, myspace.com/shannonzzworld or harddaysnighthotel.com.