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Sharon Wright
CANADA
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“Painting my daughter-in-law in her garden lets me hold two things I love in one frame.”
Sharon Wright grew up in a small town in Alberta, Canada, and from an early age she was involved in one creative undertaking after another. She sewed her own clothes, played in a marching band, took piano lessons and went to dance classes, and between them these pursuits filled much of her time. Each asked for a different kind of attention. Sewing called for precision and a steady hand, music for practice and timing, and dance for a sense of movement and form. Taken together, they gave a small-town girl a remarkably broad creative education, years before she would ever call herself an artist.
Red and White Delight | Oil
$500
24" x 20"
I loved how the light played on this beautiful bouquet.
Whatever time was left, Sharon spent outdoors, exploring on her favorite horse, Amigo. A horse sets an unhurried pace, and a rider learns to notice what passes slowly by: the shape of the land, the turn of the seasons, the small growing things along the way. Those hours in the open seem to have given her a closeness to nature that would one day find its way into her art. It is tempting to imagine that the artist who now paints so many flowers first learned to look at them from the saddle. Either way, those rides taught her early that the best things are often noticed at a walking pace.
Ah Summer | Oil
$750
36" x 24"
My beautiful daughter-in-law in her garden.
“After a long winter, nothing brings color back into my world quite like daffodils.”
For many of her adult years, Sharon was a teacher, and her creativity went straight into the classroom. She used her talents to plan interesting lessons, looking for ways to make a topic come alive for her students. Teaching is an art in itself. An idea has to be shaped, set in a sensible order and presented so that someone else can take hold of it, and the best lessons, like the best pictures, leave room for discovery. Sharon practiced that craft day after day. Few careers ask for so much patience and preparation, and she brought both in generous measure.
A Walk in the Woods | Oil
$400
20" x 16"
My favorite walk when needing a spiritual break.
When Sharon retired, she turned to art to feed her creativity, and an entirely new part of her life began. The choice grew out of a need to make things that reached all the way back to her childhood, and retirement finally gave it room to grow. Now she could give it her full attention. She came to art with a beginner's curiosity and a teacher's discipline, a pairing that shows in how steadily her work has grown. Everything she makes has the freshness of someone who arrived at art by choice, at a stage of life when she was free to follow her own interests wherever they led.
I just loved the colors and symmetry.
A Bounty of Blooms | Oil
$400
16" x 20"
“When I sculpt a rose, I follow every curve of every petal. With sculptural paste, the poppies and delphiniums from my garden become a marble-like keepsake that will outlast the summer.”
“I discovered a love for so many kinds of art that I never knew I had. Each new form has taught me to look a little more closely at the world around me. Oils became my home seven years ago, and they are still the medium I reach for most, though landscapes call to me too. I keep taking classes, and I love being a student again, because every lesson shows me something new. I hope that joy comes through in every piece I make.”
Manhattan at Night | Acrylic
$1,000
24" x 60"
I just had to paint this iconic New York bridge after visiting New York.
Charcoal came first. Sharon began by drawing flowers, working in black and white with one of the oldest and simplest tools an artist can hold. Charcoal rewards a close study of shape and shadow, and it was a fitting place to begin. Yet the flowers in front of her were full of color, and a drawing could only hint at their beauty. To depict the florals she was capturing as fully as she wished, she needed to advance to oil paint. That move set a pattern that would repeat throughout her practice: whenever a subject asked for more than her current medium could give, Sharon found a way to give it more.
Sunlovers | Sculptural paste
$400
18" x 14"
My take on creating a marble-esque replica of poppies and delphiniums in my garden.
Sculptural paste was the next step. To show the botanicals she worked with more accurately, Sharon started building them up from the surface, giving each bloom real dimension so that it catches the light and casts shadows. The medium is demanding and hands-on, and it suits her well. The girl who once sewed her own clothes is still recognizable in the artist who now shapes flowers by hand with the same practical care. Her sculpted pieces invite viewers to look closely and even to imagine touching them, which may be the highest compliment a botanical work can receive.
The positioning of the vase, flowers and lace challenged me to create a lifelike composition.
Sunflowers | Sculptural paste
$400
17" x 13"
Portraiture entered her work for a reason that says a great deal about how Sharon thinks. She took it up so that she could include figures in her botanical scenes, letting people step into the world of flowers she had already been creating. A person among blossoms changes a painting. It adds a story and a sense of scale, and it turns a garden into a place where life is actually lived. In Sharon's work, each new direction joins the ones that came before it, so the portraits grow out of the same affection that first drew her to flowers. Nothing is really left behind.
“My favorite path through the woods is where I go when my spirit needs a rest.”
Sharon is refreshingly direct about what wins her over. Of one floral painting, she says simply that she loved its colors and symmetry, and that plain enthusiasm tells you a good deal about her. She does not dress her pleasure up in theory or hide it behind complicated explanations. She responds to balance, to harmony and to color that sits beautifully on the canvas, and she trusts those responses. For collectors, this sincerity is a large part of the appeal. What caught her eye is right there on the surface, offered openly, so that every viewer who pauses before it can share in the same moment of delight.
Roses on a Trellis | Sculptural paste
$400
20" x 12"
The intricate petals of the roses made this a perfect piece to sculpt.
Not all of her inspiration grows close to home. After visiting New York, Sharon felt she simply had to paint one of the city's iconic bridges, and Manhattan at Night takes her work into the city after dark, far from any flower bed. The painting reveals a traveler's eagerness, the instinct to come home from a trip with an image she has to get down in paint. That readiness to be moved by something new keeps her from repeating herself. A city bridge and a spray of blossoms may seem worlds apart, yet she approaches both with the same wholehearted interest.
After a long winter, daffodils bring color to my world.
Daffodils | Sculptural paste
$400
12" x 10"
Today, Sharon moves freely among the many avenues her art has opened, pursuing each of them to fill her creative soul. Her story offers quiet encouragement to anyone who has ever wondered whether it is too late to begin. The pieces she creates carry warmth, care and an honest love of beauty, and they bring that feeling into the homes of the people who collect them. Whether a collector is drawn to a lush floral, a sculpted bloom or a portrait, each one comes from the same place. Sharon also welcomes commissions, giving collectors the chance to work with her on something made especially for them.
“T” in the Garden | Oil
$600
36" x 24"
Another scene with my daughter-in-law in her wonderful garden.
“Some moments of light are so beautiful that I have to catch them in paint before they're gone.”
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