Artist Profile: Sharon Grey

TELL US A BRIEF HISTORY OF YOUR JOURNEY INTO ART.

I knew I wanted to be an artist from age five. I didn’t know how I could make a living at it until I read a Lois Lowry book in the fourth grade called “Anastasia, Ask Your Analyst” in which the main character’s mother is an illustrator who works from her home studio. I knew that that was the job for me, so I worked on my art all the time. I drew black and white photos that my grandfather took, and copied portraits from Family of Man. When I was about twelve, my parents started me on private lessons with teachers in acrylic and oil painting, then I went to Black Hills State and Baylor University to get a degree in fine arts. When my husband and I moved back home to Rapid in 2004, I joined the Northern Plains Watercolor Society and started working as an illustrator for local authors.

WHAT IS YOUR STYLE OF ART? WHAT DREW YOU TO IT?

I draw and paint realistically, and most often in watercolor. I was drawn to it initially by a simple desire to make things look accurate, but then it became more of a personal challenge to see if I could capture an exact scene from my imagination.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SUBJECT MATTER?

People, and specifically children. Their body language and facial expressions make it very clear what they’re thinking and why, and that makes for a good story, which is what I always want to tell with my art.

HOW DID YOU LEARN YOUR SPECIFIC ART SKILLS?

I started with instructional books, on everything from “Learn to Draw Baby Animals,” to “How to Make a Watercolor Paint Itself,” and I brought paper and pencils with me everywhere so I could draw whenever I had a minute. I learned watercolor painting from Dick Dubois at BHSU, and then my style gradually changed as I got better at predicting what the medium would do. I took classes from other teachers through the Northern Plains Watercolor Society show. I try to take workshops from visiting experts whenever possible.

SHARE A FAVORITE PIECE YOU HAVE DONE.

“Backstage” is my favorite, or at least a favorite (see the cover). It’s the first painting that I won an art show with, and it tells an interesting story. Usually pictures of dancers focus on the dance itself, the way the dancer moves on the stage when he or she is seen by the audience. “Backstage” focuses on the moment of anticipation, when the dancer is carefully watching the show, waiting for her turn in the spotlight. It’s dark, but still beautiful as the lights hitting the main attraction splash back and illuminate the sparkles on the waiting dancer’s costume. It was also a very challenging painting to pull off technically, and I’m proud of the results.

WHAT TIPS OR ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER ASPIRING ARTISTS?

That’s easy: be a good student. Whenever you have the opportunity to learn, focus on what you’re being taught. Do exactly what the teacher says, even if you don’t agree with it. For one thing, that’s the only way you’ll ever learn anything new and grow in your art, and for another, those moments of changing the way you do things are the only times you really question what you do and why. Most of us get in a groove and create art the same way over and over again, from the brushes we choose to the way we fasten the paper to the board. There really isn’t a right or wrong to any of it, it’s just the way we learned. A new way of doing things means a chance to test and find the best way of getting the results you want.

WHAT ARTISTS HAVE INSPIRED YOU?

Steve Hanks, Nita Engle, Dick Dubois, William Turner, and the Florentine Renaissance painters.

WHERE WE CAN SEE YOUR WORK:

My on-line work profile at upwork.com, behance.com, sharongreywatercolors.com I have also been encouraged to start a YouTube channel on drawing, so that might be happening soon as well. There’s often something at the Dahl, as well as at Rensch Law and Grey Law in Rapid City. In Spearfish, I have pieces at Black Hills State University and downtown at the city building. BHW