Featured Artist in the Gallery APRIL 4 -29

SHARON SPENCER - sculptor

OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY, APRIL 6 FROM 5 - 7

Sharon Spencer has had a long and distinguished career as both a stone sculptor and bronze sculptor. Walking into the gallery, almost all of our visitors are drawn to the sensuous beauty of Sharon's sculptures. Their simple elegant lines and extraordinary patina finishes strike a deep chord, and almost automatically has one reaching out to softly run one's hands along the sculptures' forms.

In recent years health issues made it increasingly difficult for Sharon to continue working, leading to her retirement this past year, and subsequent moving away from Whidbey Island after having been part of our arts community for more than twenty years.

The gallery is celebrating the accomplishments of this extraordinary artist and exhibiting the
last available works in bronze and stone. Included are both stylized figurative and abstract pieces in a variety of sizes and patinas.

Click image to see additional views and sizes, or to purchase.

Sharon explains: "Carving for me is very exciting. It can be very deliberate and thought-out, or it can be totally free, with no idea in mind as to the direction I might go. The spirit of the piece seems to be within, and coming out of the material, as well as within and from me. At times it feels as if someone outside myself is doing the carving.”

Patinas

When Spencer began her exploration of bronze the amazing patinas that give her work such characteristic color began to emerge.

Patinas are a treatment of the bronze with various salts, minerals and acids that react chemically with the bronze to change its color. Working with Artworks Foundry, Sharon became a master at this, and often has her pieces look like stone or marble, or getting deep reds and lapis blues, or delicate feather patterns. Each casting in an edition receives a unique and different finish, giving it individuality and personality.

Sharon's work reflects her fascination with Native American, Eskimo, and Asian cultures. It affirms her respect for animals and the earth, and this thematic thread is constant throughout her body of work, which ranges from large outdoor abstract pieces to small-scale, figurative work.

If you have questions about Sharon Spencer's sculptures,
please contact the gallery at 360-222-3070 or 800-858-5063.