In a cozy art studio in Historic Old Town Heber, Shanoa Allowitz is facilitating some alchemic transformations for curious artists (and those who wouldn’t consider themselves artists) who walk through her doors. Shanoa’s philosophy is that there’s a “magical transformation of sorts that happens when people are creating art,” which inspired her studio and art school, Alchemy Art. Named after the ancient practice of alchemy and the belief that one could transform ordinary metal into gold, Alchemy Art is adding a little gold to the community, one class at a time.
The idea of Alchemy Art was something Shanoa often dreamed about, and she finally brought it to life in 2024, shortly after moving to Heber. Growing up in Mapleton, she was drawn to art from an early age, beginning lessons at just eight years old and discovering her passion during an oil painting class. Her love for art never waned—she went on to study art education at Utah State University and spent 23 years teaching art in public schools across the Western United States.
The landscapes of the West inspired her art. During summer breaks from school, she spent her time hiking and painting with her children, inspired and drawn to the simplicity of nature. The influences of nature can be seen around the walls of her studio and leaning against artists’ easels around the room. Some depict recognizable landscapes, while others are abstract and non-objective. Over the years, as she has grown as an artist, Shanoa has drawn inspiration from nature, often distilling it into its purest forms—swirls, shapes, and movements that are both beautiful and enhance the creative energy of her studio.
On a table beside the nature-inspired gallery wall of Shanoa’s art, the well-loved tools of her artistic medium sit under a shelf made from an old Coca-Cola bottle crate. The shelf is filled with, not paint tubes, but colorful sticks of wax. When she married her husband, Kit, and their lives started in Heber, Shanoa dove into an art form she’d experimented with in college: encaustic art. Finding an artist in Park City who was selling all her tools for this specific medium, Shanoa felt like it was a call from the universe.
Encaustic art is an ancient form of painting dating back to the early Greeks in the 4th century. “If you could imagine painting with candles? That’s kind of it.” Using a hot plate, Shanoa heats the pigmented wax and paints with it in its molten state. She referenced how many people as kids would dip a finger into candle wax to watch it dry–just like that, the wax dries quickly, so she fuses it with a butane torch. “It’s all about transparency layers. It’s additive and subtractive.” The encaustic paintings on her gallery wall showcase the versatile ways she can manipulate the wax: carving, scraping, layering, and mixing of both texture and smooth sheen across the surface.
As Shanoa dove into encaustic art, even winning first place at the International Encaustic Competition in Santa Fe, NM, Shanoa’s creative energy didn’t end with her own art. By day, she teaches art to students at Heber Valley Elementary, and in the evenings, she continues to share her love of art with the community at large at her studio, Alchemy Art. “[Art has] been this constant strength throughout my life that’s given me joy, strength, insight. And I feel so lucky to have that, that I want to share with other people. So that’s part of the mission. . . give as many people as I can that gift.”
Whether the class is a deep dive into a specific medium, like watercolor or oil painting, or a more casual paint night with friends, Shanoa always strives to offer her students skills that help them progress. Her goal is never a one-and-done painting, but to understand the why and how of certain techniques so they can go home with confidence and create on their own.
Going above and beyond technique, though, Shanoa is passionate about the transformational power of art–the alchemy in Alchemy Art. Which is why she also offers art therapy classes, where that transformational work can shine.
Shanoa strives to cultivate a safe, nurturing space that reflects her mission of fostering community and connection. In art therapy class, she directs students in guided meditations and encourages them to work toward being in a “flow state” instead of structuring the class to have artists follow step-by-step instructions. “I try to get people to enjoy the process and be present with the process and become less attached to the results. The results don’t matter.” Often, it’s much easier for children to get into that flow state, whereas adults can be more timid and overthink things. Shanoa’s seen some touching transformations take place when people open themselves up to
the process.
At the end of each art therapy class, if students are comfortable, they can share their art and what it means to them with the group. In self-portrait exercises—where she encourages students to embrace more abstract, non-objective art—Shanoa has witnessed people who struggled with elusive feelings finally experience breakthroughs in self-reflection. When painting a portrait of a loved one, a woman processed and released some of the grief of losing her husband as she painted him. Often, Shanoa notes, the breakthroughs in her classes are about strengthening relationships, connection, and love.
Shanoa sees this as a process of using art as a visual language. “We all have that visual language, but we don’t access it a lot of times, and there are those things that we know, but we don’t know that we know them. They just kind of reside there. And so, I try to get down to that level.”
Alchemy Art’s class offerings are as creative as Shanoa is, as she rotates through various classes throughout the year, including art therapy, watercolor, art foundations for children and teens, oil painting, acrylics, and fun paint nights. She even offers private lessons and at-home paint parties. “I just have so much respect and appreciation for art… I think it contributes to people’s lives: making it, sharing it, teaching it.”
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