About Sharon:

Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, Sharon received a degree in education at Brooklyn College. She moved to Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where she and her husband I raised two sons, and then she received a second degree and a Master’s at Rowan College. She taught art and then English for twenty-six years. 

Upon retirement, Sharon pursued her life-long interest in art full-time. It was then that she discovered my affinity for watercolor painting, enjoying the medium and the surprises it offered. 

Since she started painting full-time, she studied and has been inspired by the well-known local artist Rosemary Hutchins. Development and growth have been furthered by additional workshops by Dolores Zeigler, Phillip Carroll, Ben Cohen, Dan Hines, and George James. 

Sharon is particularly drawn to the creation of the still-life because of the compositional challenges.  What she finds intriguing is not a photographic rendition. When color, light, pattern, and texture come together, it delights her senses. Sharon shares with her viewers an emotional connection that begins with that spark of inspiration a flower provides. 

Winning many prizes, her work is featured in galleries, juried shows, and many private collections. She is a member of the New Jersey Water Color Society and serves on its board.

Taking advantage of the flowing quality of watercolor paint, she tries to create a rich, impressionistic, almost fantasy-like painting that envelops and surprises. In addition to the still-life, she also explores figures and landscapes.  Abstracting the images for the subtlety, ambiguity, and complexity, she finds the highly personal nature of her exploration challenging and fun.

Artist Statement:

Watercolor captured my interest because it has a spontaneous life of its own. Its fluidity imitates and describes nature in unplanned passages with remarkable accuracy and beauty. For me, the process is an act of discovery. The marks I make with paint create a disturbing tension that sets the piece in motion. I then use random and deliberate strokes and often add layers and layers of color and texture and see where the process leads me. Images can appear, disappear, and reappear when I often choose a slick surface type of paper.  I also experiment with both transparent and opaque effects to reflect my own feelings and sensibilities.  

Still-life is a genre I’m particularly drawn to because of the compositional challenges. Realism is but a part of what I find intriguing. Rather, it is the design that’s created when color, light, pattern, and texture come together, which becomes the key fascination for me. Flowers are often included in my work because they have an uncanny ability to engage me, delighting my senses with their unique essence. They provide a living story I can share with my viewers and help me create an emotional connection between myself and the viewers. It all begins with that spark of inspiration that a flower provides. I often feel compelled to take the still-life to another plateau, occasionally adding additional geometric patterns and symbols. It is the mysterious mixture of beauty and symbolism, whose significance cannot be fully understood at a simple glance, that I hope asks the viewer to engage in a dialogue with the images, to go beyond the easily recognized pictorial content.  

My goal is to always be excited about my work and to try to maintain a freshness in each new painting. The process should involve play, taking risks, and exploring creative possibilities. I aim to achieve an overall painterly quality that allows the viewer to continually reach beyond the obvious and find meaning with each viewing of the watercolor.

  • Currently at Dunn’s Gallery in Brigantine
  • Member of the New Jersey Water Color Society and served as an “Elected Member.” Positions on the board include Recording Secretary and Hospitality Person. I was honored to win the Catherine Lorillard Wolf Art Club Award. 
  • Won numerous first-place awards at the Open Juried Art Exhibitions:
    • Willingboro Art Association
    • Burlington County Art Guild 
    • National Arts Program at Camden County College-Board of Freeholder 
    • Medford Arts Center for the Arts
    • Hopkins House Gallery
  • Successfully a yearly contributor to the Yellow Springs Art Show in Chester Springs, PA.
  • Solo shows:
    • Off Main Gallery in Medford
    • Joel and Linda Appel Gallery in Cherry Hill
    • Rulon Art Studio in Swedesboro