"I find an honesty in painting and drawing; they are a sort of measure of what I can and can’t do. Working from places I know and people I see out on the street, I develop my paintings from drawings based on observation, memory, and imagination. I look at a lot of other painters as well, past and present, to help with ideas and composition. Occasionally I use photos that I’ve taken on my mobile phone too, as they help me retain an essence of something seen rather than the detail; I can easily become suffocated by technique and preconceptions about how things should look, whether my own or other people’s. I find painting difficult, but perversely this is what motivates me; the real difficulty is that there is not one definition of ‘Good’ or ‘True’ and that with every painting you make your judgement is on the line and held to account for all to see." Click Here to View Sharon's Figure Paintings.
Sharon was born in Wimbledon and grew up in Stevenage. After studying on the Foundation Course at St. Albans School of Art, she did her degree in Painting at Falmouth School of Art and her M.A. at the Royal College. Sharon won the Cheltenham Open Drawing Competition (1994), and was highly commended in the Eastern Open Art Competition (1989). She has exhibited widely, most recently in the two person show ‘Meeting Points’ with Gethin Evans at the Royal Drawing School, ‘The Architecture of London’ at the Guildhall Art Gallery, and the Royal Academy Summer Show, where her painting ‘Vaping Man’ was voted Painting of the Day’ in 2019. In 2017, Sharon curated Short Stories, an exhibition of paintings by Frances Edmonds, Mary Mabbutt, and her own work. She taught for many years on the Foundation courses at Byam Shaw School of Art, Wimbledon School of Art, University of Hertfordshire, City & Guilds of London Art School, and North Hertfordshire College. Sharon also taught on the Fine Art BA course at Kingston University. In 2012, Sharon became a co founder and co director of the Foundation Year at the Royal Drawing School. In 2016 Sharon moved from London to Devon where she now lives and paints. Click Here For Sharon's Video Interview with ArtTop10 from 2020.