Coming Full Circle

Thomas Merton said it best: “Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” After several years of exploring her newfound passion for art, Sharon has found her way into a new life as an artist.

It’s been a remarkable journey with several detours along the way. For example, Sharon wasn’t able to pull off another art sale this summer. The last art display/sale she had in 2019 was an outstanding success. Unfortunately, logistics and scheduling conflicts curtailed another one for this summer. Undaunted, Sharon did one better and created a whole new collection of her paintings. She recently had a gallery showing, an artist’s reception, two more galleries asking to display her work and a return to the warmth of fellow artists. Sharon is back up and running full steam with her art and loving every minute of it.

About four years ago, Sharon began her artistic journey by creating metal art through welding various forms and shapes. Gradually those endeavors evolved into alcohol ink and acrylics. Then Sharon’s art became a full blown exploration and examination of various painting mediums, methods and techniques. In that process of experimentation, she began mixing and matching a plethora of textures, patterns and applications. She also learned the disciplines associated with the many different approaches to her art. Then two years ago Sharon felt it was time to display and perhaps sell some of her art.

The idea for an art sale started out simply enough. Sharon’s Apple Valley Rotary group wanted to do their yearly fund-raiser. In other years, the group had sold raffle tickets for a new car or staged other events to raise money. But because of COVID-19, they decided to just ask for money to feed the hungry in town.

Sharon thought she had a better idea. After two years as a practicing artist, she had amassed a sizeable collection of paintings, sketches, cards, etc. Why not sell those at a steep discount and donate all the proceeds toward the Apple Valley Rotary fundraiser. She could stage it in our backyard, have masks for everyone who attended and a no-pressure opportunity to perhaps buy nice art at a deep discount and benefit the local food shelf at the same time.

The show was a tremendous success. Sharon sold over 90 pieces of art out of 100 displayed. Then this summer, with the pandemic behind us, Sharon returned to her old haunts in Northeast Minneapolis for more art classes.

While growing up in Saint Paul, old Norde East could have been on the other side of the planet for all my wanderings around town. Even when I lived in a hovel near Dinky Town, Northeast Minneapolis was one part of town that held absolutely no allure for me. It was on the other side of East Hennepin Avenue and considered no man’s land to most of us seekers.

Fifty years after the West Bank of the University of Minnesota harbored the disenfranchised, the hippies and other malcontents of a similar ilk; their decedents have now migrated to the North-east part of Minneapolis. In an unplanned, almost organic metamorphosis of a cityscape, this unwashed morass of creativity has moved west leaving such hippie watering holes as the Triangle Bar behind.

Back in twenties and thirties, Northrup King was one of the largest seed producers in the world. Time and changing economics changed the equation and the business went bust. Then a new generation of entrepreneurs discovered its solid foundation, huge windows, cheap rent and a blank canvas for change. Now artists like Sharon along with artisans, house flippers, yoga gurus, craft beer specialists, software developers and other creative types are flocking to the area.

The roughhewn, anti-fashion, individualistic, truth-seeking individuals whom I find so fascinating all hang out there. It’s not as compact as Dinky town but the atmosphere is the same. The haunts of past lives have come alive again in that charged arena. It’s almost as if inquiring minds once again scream for an exploration of life’s truths in that modern version of old Bohemia.

All of which takes us to her recent artist’s reception in Rosemount. The Rosemount Area Arts Council (RAAC) hosts artists in their gallery at the Steeple Center. Sharon was invited to display some of her collection and a reception was held in late September.

Well over eighty folks attended the event to view her art, enjoy the company of fellow artists and listen to Sharon’s story that began with a simple: “I could never do that” while admiring another artist’s work. Her artist-friend, Doris Loes, got her started on her first painting and it’s been a rapid uphill climb ever since.

Starting her education in a one-room school house to finally retiring as Vice President at a local college, Sharon’s journey into art has been a circuitous journey at best. But she’s now found her passion, her creative roots in creativity and a journey of discovery.

Living with an Artist: Part Two

Retirement can be a funny state-of-mind. Everyone approaches it a little differently. Some folks embrace the concept with enthusiasm for their measured time ahead; for however long that may be. Others take a more cautious approach, judging time and money spent in return for what?  I found my post-retirement calling pretty quickly and have settled into a routine that satisfies my soul as well as my curious mind.

Sharon followed a bit of a circuitous route but has finally found her focus. I blogged about this some time ago and it just continues to grow over the years. Sharon has become an artist.

In the beginning, it meant creating metal art through welding various forms and shapes. Gradually those endeavors evolved into alcohol ink and acrylics. Then Sharon’s art became a full blown exploration and examination of various painting mediums, methods and techniques. In that process of experimentation, my wife began mixing and matching a plethora of textures, patterns and applications to see the results. She also learned the disciplines associated with the many different approaches to her art.

I’m living with an artist now. Her lifestyle has changed and evolved over the past couple of years. The changes were subtle at first then grew more focused as an interest in the arts became her new-found passion.

The residue of her artistic endeavors continue to be seen everywhere; on the kitchen table, in corners, the basement and even Brian’s old bedroom. There is evidence of her art projects all over the place. Picture frames and paints are stacked everywhere.

Sharon can no longer chide me for stacking papers on the floor of my writing room (Melanie’s old bedroom). The artist’s ammunition has come to rest and now even Sharon understands it has to go somewhere.

Over the years, Sharon has taken art classes at the Northrup King Building in Norde East Minneapolis and at the Palm Springs Art Center. Her work is being displayed in a design store at International Market Square and soon will be represented in the desert.

Sharon recently had an art sale in our backyard.

It was a fund-raiser for her Apple Valley Rotary group and Sharon raised over $10,000 dollars for a local food shelf. Sharon had 93 pieces of art for sale and sold 87 of them.

Sharon’s venture into painting is less impressive than her embracing the true spirit of her craft. She is experimenting, succeeding at times and failing at others and trying again. There is a sense of urgency and a crusade that she is on. She is finding her voice, her comfort level and self-expression in her art. Sharon’s art is the story of her thoughts and feelings and moods and ambitions.

Sharon’s paintings energize her and give her a reason to care. It is carrying her beyond past academic success to newfound pleasures of the soul. Now she is passing on that knowledge to her grandchildren.

It means fulfillment for Sharon as an artist, an explorer and a person. It now defines who she is and what she has become. It is a life filled with purpose and meaning.

Been there, done that, doing it.  I know what it’s like. I couldn’t be more proud of everything she’s accomplished thus far and will in the future.

A Passion for Art

Sharon hadn’t touched a paintbrush until well into her retirement. In fact, art theory; its creation and the emotional undercurrent within, wasn’t even on her radar when she left academics in 2014. Then a new passion began calling for her attention. Aside from her role as ‘Nana extraordinaire,’ Sharon found her muse in colors and tones and textures and abstract visions that call to her inner consciousness.

Like running was for me and writing is now, Sharon’s art is her new positive addiction. It’s an inner drive to create and make something out of her imagination. It’s given her purpose, focus, energy and a drive to add more to her already busy life. She’s doing what she loves to do; bypassing the notion that retirement means ‘slowing down and relaxing.’ I get it. I’ve found my own elixir in novels and plays and screenplays.

Unfortunately, this past summer my latest play put the brakes on Sharon’s inner drive to create. ‘The Last Sentinel’ proved a huge distraction for Sharon and her art. But after twenty-five hundred truffles and great attendance numbers later, Sharon was ready to bounce back to her true love of creating art.

Fortunately the teacher in Sharon helped her quickly morph back into guiding her five grand-children through new techniques and processes for making gauze art, abstract impressions and the old favorite alcohol ink. Both Minnesota and Colorado proved apt backgrounds for lessons in these new approaches to creativity. 

While not as frequent as in the past, Sharon’s classes in Norde East Minneapolis and the Palm Springs Art Center still prove fertile proving grounds for new approaches to her art.

This summer, Sharon’s art traveled to Hawaii and Colorado where she conducted more classes for her grandchildren and introduced a traveling companion to coloring books. It was both relaxing and therapeutic.

A ‘must see’ each fall for Sharon and other artists is perusing the winners of the Minnesota State Fair art contest. Even though Sharon hasn’t yet made the cut, Brennan and Charlotte, her two Minnesota pupils, have both won coveted prizes three years running.

Sharon has finally agreed to display her art around the house.

It’s a fitting tribute to her new-found passion which has been less than five years in the making. I and the children and grandchildren could not be prouder.