New Exhibitor; Sharon Chadwick

There's a new exhibtion at the ACE Centre, by an artist Sharon Chadwick. Filled with many different styles of work there is something for everyone! I got chance to talk to Sharon and ask her a few questions about herself and work, so here is some extra information on the exhibition and the artist herself.

From Sharon’s very early childhood she has always loved drawing, painting and making things. Since winning an award for painting in her school days she began to think she wanted a career in the arts. But it wasn’t always a certainty, Sharon explained that her parents sent her to secretarial school instead, for a more practical and dependable job. But after realizing that this was definitely not what she wanted to do, Sharon followed her heart and retrained to become an art tutor. Since then has had a successful career in art. With exhibitions in Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cornwall, and a variety or commissions of work including landscape, still life, portraits, and modern contemporary work. Sharon is a very firm believer in doing what you are interested in, what’s best for you, and ultimately doing what makes you happy. It’s a refreshing take on career advice for me, and one I definitely support!

Sharon enjoys music. In the past she was part of a folk group and was a semi professional musician, she enjoys playing guitar, and songwriting, and also writing poetry. She feels that her other creative hobbies contribute to her artwork, and vice-versa.

Notes from a Guitar (acrylic)
£420

What’s really interesting about Sharon’s work, is the sheer variation in styles and content. Being a teacher of art she has to understand all the styles anyway, and this is to her advantage. Whereas most artists find a style that fits, Sharon constantly adapts and moulds her style to suit the subject. Her exhibition is so interesting because of the variety of different mediums she uses. From mosaic style tiles, pastel pieces, to mixed media pieces including real stones and bark, to painted fantasy pieces, there is something for everyone to enjoy.



Growing Plants (stone and mosaic design)
£180

Through the Arches (Mosiac design)
£230

Rocky Cost (mosaic design)
£250

Splashing in the Sea at Sennen
£470

Branching Out (mixed media)
£710

Polperro Village (Mixed media)
£440

Mermaids Dance (acrylic)
sold

Red Sunset (acrylic)
£330

Sharon explained that different subjects for her require different expressive techniques. For example, in her watercolour pieces in the exhibition she explained she felt the atmosphere of them was as important as the actual content. So the colours and almost vagueness represents the feeling she got while creating them. Sharon compared it to like a fantasy land of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings fantasy world.

Bombadil's World (watercolour)
£300



Rainbow River (watercolour)
£300



Drifting through Time (watercolour)
£320

Sharon really recommends creating work outside, as then you take in the full atmosphere and can get the feeling of what you are going to portray, so you can represent it fully. It definitely shows in her atmospheric portrayal of her subjects. Sharon also said how she loves drawing and painting trees, for the variety in texture and colour, ‘I could draw trees forever’.

Roots (watercolour)
£170

Wild Wood (mixed media)
£750

Langdales (pastel)
£410

When asked about how she creates work, she explained she never simply copies from a photo. It’s more a mixture of sketches, a few different photos, and life itself. And Sharon always plays and experiments with different techniques, to get an authentic and truly original piece. Art is about putting how you feel down, and not simply recording what’s in front of you.

When asked what inspires her work, Sharon explained ‘all aspects of life and nature.’ Her influences ‘stem from the great masters such as the impressionists, Monet, Pissarro, and expressionist painters August Macke and Franz Marc for their vibrant use of colour and interpretations of two dimensional form.’

Sharon also said how she is pleased now to be able to be creative without boundaries. In the past she did many pet portraits, and more traditional pieces that she enjoyed, but didn’t feel truly fulfilled her artistic curiousity. ‘I love to experiment with colour and textures in different media, pushing ideas around to widen my horizons in finding new and exciting ways of painting and creating artwork.’

Bye for now 
Rosie