It is with great sadness that we share the news that longtime Renderosity member and vendor, Shana, passed away on Saturday, July 13, 2013.
From her home in the South of Portugal, Shana had been working as a freelance artist, honing her digital art skills for more than twelve years since she first started with coloring her own drawings in Photoshop.
Shana became a member of Renderosity in the beginning of 2005, and shortly thereafter became a vendor here. As evidence of her incredible talent, Shana quickly became a top vendor and received a number of Vendor of the Month awards. Here on Renderosity, Shana forged many friendships, learning from others and willingly sharing her own advice and knowledge as well.
A lover of books, movies, video games, and a self-proclaimed
shop-a-holic, she enjoyed life to the fullest, and believed in her
own advice for others: "...just do what you love and be
happy!" An inspiring artist who gave so much of herself,
Shana will be truly missed. Long time collaborative vendor,
outoftouch, says, "It’s the saddest news that has ever arrived
in my mail account...It makes me happy that Shana stays in this
community in a very special way.†"
“When we first received the notice from Shana’s boyfriend,
we had hoped it was just a horrible hoax,†says Marketplace
Manager, Stacey Granstaff, “we just didn’t want to believe
this could be true. We are all deeply saddened and we will miss
her. She was so kind and enjoyable to work with.â€
Marketplace Admin, JennBlake says, "Shana was one of the
sweetest people I have had the honor of meeting here at
Renderosity. When I first started in 3D as a hobby she was one of
the first vendors I contacted to ask questions about lighting and
render settings. She was always very willing to give out tips and
tricks. She never had a bad word about anyone. She was a girl after
my own heart with the pink textures (she would giggle if she heard
me say that). Every time a really great outfit came out I would
wait for her add-on for it because I knew there would be a pink
one. And I always wrote to thank her for it. She never failed to
reply with, ‘I knew you would love it!’ She was a joy to buy
from as a buyer before I was lucky enough to be an Admin here. And
as an admin, she was a pleasure to work with. I will miss her, and
her work here at Renderosity very much."
Messages from her parents and boyfriend are below.
From Shana's parents:
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To our dear and beloved Shana, who so suddenly has left us, we will
remember your smile, your sweetness, your honesty, your
companionship and how much you helped us. We will forever be
grateful.
We will also remember the dedication she had to her work, what she
loved to do. With these simple but meaningful words, we want
everyone who worked with her and those who helped her, we want you
all to be certain that she will always be in our hearts. We hope
that just like us, each and every one of you will keep not only the
seeds of what she created alive, but also the memory of the amazing
human being who now has gone up to heaven, from where she will look
out and protect all of us.
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From Shana's partner, Nuno:
My name is Nuno, I am Shana's boyfriend and longtime partner
in more ways than one. You're hearing from me now for the worst
reason possible, I'm completely heartbroken, this has been the
worst week of my life, and I doubt it will get better anytime
soon.
Most of you knew her as a vendor here, you've known her for years,
what you didn't know was that a lot of what she did here was with
me by her side. I helped her as much as I could over the years in a
lot of the work she did. So even if you don't know me, I do know a
lot of you already. There's too many of you to mention, but I wrote
a lot of e-mails and sitemails to all of you for my girl because
she thought I wrote better English than her. I'm not here to take
credit for anything. If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here right
now. Ever since I got to know her, she literally changed my life.
She was just amazing that way. I can say without any doubt in my
mind that if she hadn't come into my life, I would not be here
right now. I wouldn't be who I am today, she's the best thing that
ever happened to me. I will forever be grateful to have spent these
years with her.
I don't even know what to say, what to do or where to start. All I
keep thinking is that she didn't deserve this, it shouldn't have
happened, it was way too soon. There was so much that was left to
say, so much that we didn't get to do, so many dreams and wishes
she had that never got to be fulfilled, and that's not fair. If
there's one person in the world I'm completely sure deserved
better, it was her. She went through a lot over the years, most of
you don't know anything about her illness because she didn't
complain. She only talked with me and few people in her family. She
could have played the pity card, but she never did, she didn't want
to, she didn't need to. It makes me completely sick to hear anyone
complain about anything bad they think they have, how unfair life
is to them and how things didn't turn out the way they think they
deserved. People say these things without knowing how bad it can
actually be, without having any idea what actually hurts.
Unfortunately she knew, she went through all of it and still came
out smiling. I'm not as good as her and never will be, she had her
problems and still helped people around her. She was the bravest,
sweetest girl I'll ever know. I wish I could have done more. I
really did try my best to make her happy and even if I know and
truly believe that at least for a few moments I did make her happy,
somehow that doesn't seem like enough, she just deserved better,
she deserved more.
I will remember her forever, how beautiful she is, how sweet she
was, how amazing it was to be with her, how much fun we had, I'll
never forget and will always treasure her memory forever. I learned
so much about life just by being close to her, about the actual
important things we all one day hope to have, things I never
thought I would one day have, things I never imagined would happen
to me, they all did, all because of her. As bad as it hurts right
now, as much as I don't know how or when this pain will go away, as
much as I just want to run away and hide, as unfair as I think all
of this is, how unfair it is that I will never get to be with her
again, see her again, touch her, kiss her...as sad as that makes
me....I'm still happy that at least I got to be with her, even if
it was just for a few years. I love her, she's my girl, she always
will be.
Something else I need mention, even though I'm not ready for it
yet, I do plan on eventually continuing what we did. This time
alone but with her always in my heart, always thinking of her, this
was what we did, this is what she liked, it was on Renderosity that
we managed to make some of her wishes come true. It was because of
this website, other support of other vendors, and all the purchases
you all have made. I want everyone to know how thankful she was.
She always wanted to be taken seriously as an artist, make an
actual living from it, and she got to do that. It doesn't matter if
I helped or not, she made it happen for herself. She worked for it.
I know she was thankful to everyone who helped her, as I am. I
don't know when, but I do plan on continuing sometime. Hopefully,
also with those who worked with her. It's what she wanted me to do,
it's what her parents want me to do. .I want her username to live
on, I don't want anyone to ever forget her, that's the only thing I
can do for her now.
Renderosity has kindly agreed to keep the Shana username and store
active (thank you!). Just nothing new will be added from her. I
will added to her products to take care of them, so contact me now
as ShanasSoulmate if you have any support questions. ShanasSoulmate
seems appropriate, since we both thought we were made for each
other. No one knows me as she did, and no will ever know her as I
did). Shana, if you're watching over me now, please know how proud
I am of you and how much I'll always miss you. I truly hope one day
I'll get to see you again fofa, I love you!
Thank you everyone,
You'll hear from me again,
Nuno
Please join with us in sending condolences to Shana's family and friends. She will be greatly missed.
~The Renderosity Staff and Community
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