Oatley 101 Society of Artists Inc.

     

Artist’s statement

I have been drawing for as long as I can remember…from the age of about three or four.
In my early twenties I was offered a job with Hanna Barbara Australia. Then worked for a number
of years with Burbank Studios, a company specialising in full-length animated feature films for
television, such as Wind in the Willows and many other classics. I also, during this time, did some
freelance work for Disney which to me was the realisation of a dream.

My work has appeared in the American hardcover publication “Art Journey- Portraits and Figures”
the french publication “The Art of Watercolour” magazine. I was the featured artists  in Australian
Artist magazine- May 2019 and that work called “The Vanishing#2” has also been chosen to
appear
in this years American hardcover publication “Splash 21” by Northlight books.

I love to paint and draw people, I find portraits one of the most challenging subjects but also the
most rewarding. To capture the essence of someone in a painting is extremely satisfying. I find it
no different with animals. It is the nuance of expression or emotion that I search to find, capture
and communicate.

I work with any media that I feel adds to the subject and have been recently combining graphite,
charcoal, watercolour and pastel in my current work exploring the traditional media used slightly
untraditionally, again, to add elements of the unexpected to common images.

I am currently working on a series of paintings of endangered animals which allows me to combine
art with something else close to my heart, conservation. It is challenging, and also satisfying to be
able to get the subject to tell their story through painting or drawing, and to engage the viewer. 

My goal is to communicate an idea or a message in my work, to hopefully evoke a feeling that is
similar to my own when I see the subject.

See more of Sharon's work on her website