Neighbors: Shawn Mcloughlin

“Siesta Shawn” McLoughlin has more than earned his nickname. Although he doesn’t live on Siesta Key, (he’s a Sarasota resident) his more than 18 years of experience painting portraits and capturing snapshots of life on Siesta’s white sands have earned him a lasting reputation around the island.

His paintings and murals can be found around town in locations such as Beach Bazaar, Crescent Beach Grocery and in his gallery at Captain Curt’s, and whether he’s working on a new beachside painting or braving the weather to get footage of a tropical storm, McLoughlin can usually be found nearby.

Despite his artistic presence on the Key, McLoughlin wasn’t always known as “Siesta Shawn.” In the early 1980s, the Ringling College of Art and Design graduate found himself working as a catalogue designer and technical illustrator for Sun Hydraulics.

As a Christmas present to his wife, he used his artistic skills to draw an illustration of her and their two sons, and he brought the finished drawing in to show to a few of his co-workers.

“One of the engineers who sat by me asked me to draw one of his kids,” remembers McLoughlin. “Before I knew it, I was doing illustrations for the whole shop. I thought to myself, ‘Man, everyone has kids, and I’d rather be (doing art).’”

McLoughlin quit his job and began painting portraits full time; at first from submitted photographs and, eventually, he painted from his own candid photographs of children playing on the beach.

He opened a gallery at Captain Curt’s and has enjoyed many years of success with his art. McLoughlin remembers bringing his two sons to join him on the beach while he helped sell paintings and prints of his work to the large crowds that would gather.

“Those were the crazy times,” he says. “People would surround us on the beach to buy the prints. It was like a mob scene.”

Eventually, McLoughlin took a break from art to sell real estate for a few years, but he couldn’t stay away from his passion. In 2008, McLoughlin returned to putting brush to canvas, and, today, he’s looking for new ways to show his love for Siesta Key.

Along with his son, Ryan, McLoughlin is in the process of developing a website, called iSiestaKey.com, which he hopes will become a comprehensive place for people to find videos related to Siesta Key. Although the project is still in its early stages, McLoughlin is excited to combine his artistic vision and creativity with his son’s.

“We’re just looking for creative ways to showcase what Siesta Key is,” he says. “I can hardly wait to see how it evolves.”