...People always want to know how long it takes to paint some one or something. For Sharon Matthews it has taken her lifetime. With a background of over 30 years as an illustrator, designer, teacher and art director, she is an accomplished artist who has come full circle returning to her first passion, drawing and painting. It has been said, that what makes Sharon exceptional is her unique ability to translate words into images, this same skill is now evident in her portraiture and fine art.  Painting the unseen forces within and around us is a great challenge and is what Sharon does each time she paints or draws. She approaches the enigmatic quality of each subject and then brilliantly communicates that nature with her developed fine art language, to great acclaim. Moving between landscapes, animals, wildlife and portraiture allows Sharon to explore the inner and outer expression of the relationship to the environment and one another. It is the telling of visual stories once again except now the story is more personal, drawn from her life experiences and memories.

Consistent with the multiple directions her work has always taken, she works in numerous mediums such as conté, encaustic with gold leaf and acrylic paints. This multi-media layering adds movement and energy slowly refining her images into a core message of hope and joy.

Sharon lived and worked in Toronto until moving to Hamilton in 2012.

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