Sharon Furner Fine Art offers paintings filled with ebullient color, energetic brushwork, spiritual intensity and abundant imaginative design. Sharon’s signature style offers freshness, originality and an emotionally positive outlook on life. Sharon’s artistic expression offers hope for a peaceful world. Her focus is on color, harmony, patterns and elements of storytelling. She paints a variety of themes in oil, acrylic and gouache.
Lah-de-Dah Designs features original storybook-style paintings that have been created for the young at heart. Bright, vibrant paintings for children are offered as original art work or canvas reproductions. Many designs are licensed through Oopsy Daisy, a California based business selling to stores and catalogues through out the country. Original children's art is available through this website.
Art Journaling: the best of all worlds: writing, painting and photography come together in the form of an Art Journal. In her many journals, some fancy, some rather "plain-Jane" Sharon is able to express herself without boundaries, expectations or censors. Whatever there is to record or explore is found within these pages of her Art Journals. They are her "little jewels" for the mind.
Forming themes/ideas for paintings: Sharon has had many wonderful opportunities to travel about the United States and abroad. Where ever she goes, her art journal, camera and sketching materials go with her. There many ideas formulate for future paintings. Other paintings are based on pure whimsey, lightheartedness and pure imagination. It is the best of two worlds.
Personal STUFF: Sharon was born on a houseboat in the San Francisco Bay. Her family relocated to Utah where the next ten years were spent in semi-isolation on a farm. This afforded her much time for reading, exploring the fields, animals and gardens. When not jumping off of high hay stacks, she began drawing....mainly 'girly' things like houses, gardens and endless paper dolls. High school gave her an opportunity to take painting and drawing classes. She never looked back. She graduated from the University of Utah.
Sharon taught school prior to marrying. She and her husband, Howard were blessed with five children, all of whom are now adults living very interesting and colorful lives. The Furners lived in many states through out the west, then later Chicago, Gaithersburg and Havre de Grace, Maryland. They currently retired to Charlotte, North Carolina.
Each place they live, each country and culture they visit is better than the last. Life just builds upon itself. There is no time to become stagnant. A favorite saying: Keep the BUBBLINESS in your life!
Resume
Sharon Furner Fine Art--full time artist
Licensing-- children's art market, boutiques, catalogs
Gallery representation--juried eastcoast art shows, juried exhibitions, commissions, charitable donations to school libraries, half way houses, those in need of a bit of beauty in their lives.
Juried Art Exhibitions--see events listings
Community Service
Volunteer--Art with a Heart--teaching disadvantaged, mentally challenged adults and children
Volunteer--art projects in public school
Volunteer--Boys and Girls Club
Support- www.womenforwomen.org
www.penniesforpeace.org building schools in Pakistan
www.ikat.org
Professional Experience
S.Furner Fine Art Studio, Havre de Grace, MD--2004-present
Painterly Touch--owner Chicago, IL; Gaithersburg, MD--1990-2003
Gingerbread Haus Folk Art Studio--Reno, NV -1980-1989
Elementary School --teacher
Art\Instructor-- Girl/Boy Scouts, public schools, community programs
Teacher/Folk Art--15 years, local, national
Co-chair--Women of Faith Art Exhibit, Washington, DC 2003-04
Cultural Arts Committee--Washington DC, Visitors' Center
Invented--Dip 'n Dotter, precursor of today's stencil stamping tools
Gallery Representation, Publications, Exhibitions
Exponent ii Volume 1, 2 featured paintings. 2010
Sequllah--Feature artist for the Summer 2008 publication.
Galleries--Towson Art Collective, Towson, MD; RiverView Gallery, Havre de Grace, MD; Kent Gallery, Galena, MD; Corte Real Galeria, Portugal; R 'n R Restaurant, Timonium, MD; International Art Gallery, Gaithersburg, MD
Fine Art Exhibitions--Faces and Figures, Towson, Maryland; Art at the Library, Bel Air, MD; Towson First Annual Art Exhibition, Towson, MD; Pictures at an Exhibition, Bel Air, MD; Rockfield Manor Art Exhibit, Bel Air, Maryland; American Mother's Art Exhibit, Washington, DC; Women of Faith Art Exhibit, Washington, DC; Jewish Community Art Exhibit, Rockville, MD; International Art Gallery, Gaithersburg, MD
Licensed Art--children, Oopsy Daisy wholesale distributor
Awards--all levels art festivals, photo newspaper recognition and articles
Author and co-author--20 decorative art books, magazine articles three magazine publications.
Teacher/Lecturer--decorative arts conventions, seminars- national/ local
Illustrator--Swiss cookbook privately published; LDS Women's cookbook, Privately published
Education
University of Utah--BS Education
Graduate level courses--children's literature, writing
Workshops/seminars--fine art painting, children's literature/writing, marketing, acrylic, oil, decorative art
European Study--folk artists in Norway, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland
Workshops: Connie Winters, Leslie Rich, Robert Burridge
