Featured Artist Sherie Harkins

Oil painter Sherie Harkins presents a collection of fascinating and magical images that celebrate life. See more from this artist by visiting her website.

 

 

Seeing the beauty in the world has calmed and restored me many times. Especially in nature, but also in people and creatures, and in the bonds that exist between.

 

 

Sometimes I represent them directly. I also appreciate finding the elemental art relationships in color harmonies, or texture, or balance, for instance, that compose a painting and symbolize our connections. We live daily in the midst of such beauty. I hope to invite others to join me in the experience of everyday awesome. I want them to look more closely at the unexpected that surrounds us in people, places and things.

 

 

I’ve been drawing and painting as far back as I can remember. And I have always been especially captivated by color. I vividly remember walking home from a neighbor’s house on a stormy evening when I was eight and seeing the yellow green underside of poplar leaves against a darkening gray sky. I was thinking of how incredibly beautiful the colors looked together.

 

 

Nestled behind the shrub wall in my grandparent’s garden, I was struck by the dark green texture of the needled foliage against the shimmering white quartz rocks. And I was convinced that the rainbow-colored dust sparkling in my bedroom as the sun set was the sandman come to ease me into dreamy sleep.

 

 

Life got a bit chaotic as I grew up, but there was always beauty. I spent many years sculpting my family while continuing to exercise the creative in our life together, working as a landscape designer and commission portrait artist.

 

 

When my four grownup children were launched, I turned to more serious painting and teaching. I continue to do both today.

 

 

I am no longer teaching full-time, but I am thrilled to be part of Rhode Island School of Design’s summer faculty. I work with amazingly talented students from all over the world, as well as teaching adults through multiple venues.

 

 

I am excited and humbled to be embarking on the next part of my journey, an exploration of new methods and techniques in painting, as well as better listening on my part. We have all been through a traumatic time these past few years and our connections are fractured. I want to be tuned in and paying attention to how my work and I can be part of the healing.

 

Sherie Harkins invites you to follow her on Instagram.

 

 

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