Ennedi Shtanko was “salty” at her computer, harboring doubts about her art career, when she discovered a call for artists to paint murals on Lassiter Way in Leesburg. She chose not to throw in the towel.
Shtanko completed her work, located at the Market Street entrance to Lassiter Way, last October. The piece depicts a stairway traveling down “into the heart of Leesburg” encircled by a portrayal of the Blue Ridge Mountains and grape-laden vineyards painted in a 3D trompe-l’oeil style.
But before the mural, Shtanko’s artistic journey was tumultuous, accentuated by ups and downs, but guided by a true passion, she said.
Shtanko immigrated to the United States from Uruguay at just one year old. At the time, no one in her family spoke English. Instead, they had to “figure it out on the fly,” Shtanko said. Her kindergarten teachers would draw pictures on the board, and through them, Shtanko learned English words.
“It’s very likely that I kind of adapted my ability to communicate through art through that experience,” Shtanko said.
Growing up, she loved art, spending time in the woods and watching anything with Bob Ross. In fourth grade, she won an Earth Day art contest. That same year, an encounter at school caused her to go on an art hiatus for a long time.
“My fourth-grade art teacher one day embarrassed me in front of the entire class and ripped the pencil out of my hand and said I wasn’t doing something right,” Shtanko said. “After that moment, I did not pick up another paintbrush or a pencil or crayon.”
At 17 years old, Shtanko joined the Navy as an aviation boatswain’s handler, helping to launch and recover aircraft off the flight deck. While her shipmates complained about having to paint landing strip lines, Shtanko was delighted to finish their work. She couldn’t understand why people would be upset about getting to paint.
“Everyone was just so mad,” Shtanko said. “I’m over here painting my hands and my clothes are covered in it, because it’s just so much fun.”
A few months short of her 21st birthday, Shtanko left the Navy, and with it, a life of structure. Shedding her rigid military schedule of being told when to wake up, what to wear, and when to eat, civilian life came as a shock.
Shtanko worked at a Sheetz near her parents’ house for a time before deciding she wanted more. She went to school, and started working as a legal assistant.
She loved the work, but the commute was brutal. She switched to social services to make a difference closer to home. That, too, proved difficult with understaffing and being overworked for little pay.
To cope, she turned to her childhood refuge.
“I realized I was not doing anything but art,” she said. “When I was at work, all I wanted to do was go home and continue painting. I would have this crazy idea on my lunch break, and [thinking] I’ve got to paint that when I get home.”
“There were days where I was coming home from work, and, I’m not kidding you, painting until four or five, six in the morning,” Shtanko said.
That routine, unhealthy as it was “absolutely worth it,” she said.
As people learned of her talents, Shtanko was asked to paint the walls in houses or decorate newly opened local businesses.
In 2023, Shtanko launched her professional art business, Studio Sasquatch.
“Fourth grade was the last time I’d picked up a paintbrush, and so I was very embarrassed, and I didn’t want anyone to know that it was my art,” Shtanko said. “So, I would sign everything with a sasquatch.”
Over time, the meaning of the sasquatch shifted. For Shtanko, the sasquatch was less of a way to hide herself from the world, and more of a symbol of being fully present in the creative process—without a care for public perception, social media or when the bills were due.
For her Lassiter Way Mural, Shtanko tried to immerse herself fully into the Town of Leesburg for inspiration. After driving an hour and a half to the town, Shtanko surveyed the painting environment through a chilly downpour and then went to Rust Library to read everything she could.
Sinking her teeth into all things Leesburg and Loudoun County, Shtanko found herself entranced by the story behind the Battle of Ball’s Bluff. The town’s call for artists asked: “What makes this place beautiful?” With that, Shtanko couldn’t go all in with battle inspiration. Her style of art—which she describes as “a mash up of Bob Ross and Shel Silverstein”—lends itself to nature scenes. Thinking about Loudoun County’s wine culture and the social experience it creates, she opted to depict some of the vineyards.
Uniting the two ideas, Shtanko’s original design incorporated the same number of grapes as the number of soldiers who died in the Battle of Balls Bluff. The idea was rejected.
But Shtanko knows that being an artist means facing rejection.
“It’s a tough industry to get into and then stay active through,” Shtanko said. “I was very, very discouraged.” She credits her fiancé, Luke, who encouraged her to refine and resubmit her proposal.
Pulling from the Union’s defeat attributed to faulty intelligence, Shtanko added the staircase to represent traveling down to the heart of a matter, what she called “the heart of Leesburg.”
When her creation was finished, she didn’t sign it with a sasquatch.
Instead, she wrote her name.
Learn more about Shtanko’s work at studiosasquatch.art or check out her instagram @studios_sasquatch.