Today we’d like to introduce you to Sharon Cannon
Hi Sharon, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
I grew up as an only child on a farm outside of a small town in South Dakota. There was not an opportunity for art classes and other creative endeavors. I did not have a family that valued creativity, and I did not have a role model to show me other sides of life. Learning to be self-sufficient was drilled into me. Do not count on anyone but yourself.
When I graduated high school, I struck out on my own to go to college in South Dakota, Iowa, and eventually finishing in Arizona. While working in Lake Tahoe, I met a guy from Arizona, and he wanted to finish where he had started. We got married and set off for Arizona to go back to college. Toward the end of my time there, I sat for the CPA exam and passed. I could not suffer through the heat and dryness or my marriage. Single again, I decided to move to San Francisco and work in a CPA office to earn my CPA certificate. I had a good ten years there and even became a partner, but ten years was enough.
Next, I migrated to southern California. Beverly Hills and Los Angeles to be exact. I finally found my way to a small furniture company that I called my work home for 28 years. Here, I was lucky to work in an industry that had beauty all around and was able to be a part of a creative team. And I found my forever partner!
After 28 years, it was time to retire. Now what do I do!! I felt too good to just sit on the couch and I knew that would be a certain slow death.
I had been taking painting classes on the weekends for a few years. The act of painting made me feel good. I worked in my head all my life. It felt good to lose myself in my painting. I realized that it was important for me to feel free after a lifetime of feeling constrained. For me, reaching freedom in painting meant focusing on abstract painting.
In 2023, I decided to be serious about painting. However, I was not interested in going back to college to earn an art degree; I did add another weekly art class and added some online courses. I also took a trip to England to attend art classes at two different schools in England. I converted my home office to my home studio. I am working on the mindset of “being an artist.”
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have always been a loner. Most of the time I found the trait to be helpful. I am never lonely, never afraid. What is not helpful about the trait is that it is hard for me to reach out… to be social and engaging. In today’s world, this is a disadvantage. To be an artist you need to promote yourself. Instagram and Facebook scare me! I did not grow up with it nor did I use them in my work. My goal this year was to find an artistic social network in Los Angeles that can help me with this piece of the business. I am very happy that I found Shoebox Arts that offers a sense of community with weekly Zoom meetings and other various art related social outings with other artists. Some much more accomplished than I am, and some in similar situations as I am. It really helps to have the support of others in your field to help keep you grounded. One of my main goals this year was to find a place for a solo show. I am happy to say that I will be exhibiting at The Artists Gallery (TAG) at the end of January 2025 for about 3 weeks. I am busy preparing for it now. In addition to this, I also applied for a number of opportunities and so far I have been accepted for the LA Open 2025 Show. I even applied for the LA Billboard Show for next year. So far, I have not been nixed out. I am anxiously awaiting the news……For 2025, I am going to continue to pursue places to show my work.
The other challenge is the amount of time I want to invest. I had a career and years of working seventy plus hours a week. I would like to have more balance this time around. Working on your own is different than working for someone else where you must work if you want that paycheck. When you are on your own, you need to learn how to encourage yourself and keep yourself motivated; a process on which I am still working.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
The bulk of my paintings are oil on canvas. I experiment with other mediums, but I always seem to revert to oil on canvas.
I paint in what I call “Painting in the Moment.” My paintings celebrate spontaneity and intuition. I do not predetermine my work. I let the canvas and the colors be my guide, allowing the artwork to take its own form and reach its unique conclusion.
Beginning with color, found intuitively, I embark upon a dialog with the painted surface through a vocabulary of mark making – pushing and pulling the surface, painting out, painting in, until the surface can “speak” for itself. Harmonizing the color in its own right, lifting and dropping tones until the point at which the painting just “clicks” into place. For me, the act of naming the painting is as important as the act of creating. Once complete, each painting suggests its subject to me – canyons of color, purple rivers, irises – whatever it is, the painting knows who it is.
Recently, I have been collaborating with a well-known Los Angeles photographer, Don Saban. Don has been taking incredible ionic images of Los Angeles for over thirty years. Recently, he has been digitally combining one of his photos and my digital image of my painting into a new digital image. Both of our images take on new meaning. We call the process symbiosis. Don and I are now taking this project to the next level. Don prints one of his images on canvas and then I apply my oil paint in an abstract manner. Then we photograph this new piece, which is an art piece in its own right, and Don brings that image into his computer and merges it with yet another iconic photo from his archives. The end result is quite spectacular and very abstract. We have been achieving amazing colors. Our followers have given us rave reviews. For 2025, we will be pursuing opportunites to show our collection.
Before we let you go, we’ve got to ask if you have any advice for those who are just starting out?
It is important to have a passion or several passions throughout your lifetime. Some people are lucky enough to have their passion and their paid work be the same. If that does not happen, it is important to find a passion or passions and pursue them outside of your work time. Your passion could become your life’s work! Just be sure that you do not fall into the trap that you will have enough time later to do what you really want to do. LATER COMES MUCH FASTER THAN YOU CAN IMAGINE!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sharoncannonstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sharoncannonstudio
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sharoncannonstudio
- Other: [email protected] phone 424.245.0016
Image Credits
All photos except the last two photographer is Bob Barry. The last two are Don Saban
