SHARON Potter’s studio is a riot of colour and is set in the luscious green hills at her home in Alverstone.
Canvases take up space as they either lean against walls that are festooned with paintings, both large and small, or are works-in-progress that await her attention on easels.
It’s immediately obvious that Sharon loves what she does. She is adamant that even her ‘day job’ as a clothing designer, which she loves, takes second place and declared that painting is her love.
Once her family was grown, 10 or so years ago, Sharon was able to start devoting time to her craft. She took lessons from Shirley Howells and Dee Donaldson for two years but said,
“There is still so much to learn and explore and I am so grateful to Woza Moya for giving me this opportunity to show my work.”
ALSO READ: Pop in for colourful WOZA Moya art exhibit
Oils are her favourite medium due to their rich and lush colours. Sharon loves to paint portraits and the opportunity it creates to capture the essence of the person. But she is extremely versatile and her paintings range from still life studies to landscapes.
Recently, with the prospect of her first art show ahead of her, she branched out into ‘big acrylics’, as she called them, and a whole new way of approaching her work.
“When I start a big painting, I have no clue where it’s going. I’ll get to a point where I go, ‘that’s it for now’,” she said. “And when my inner critic nags at me, I simply tell it to go away.”
Several of the large acrylics are stashed around the studio and, although still incomplete, the vibrant colours bring the space to life.
Sharon’s goal is to create more completed paintings than she needs for the show to create a varied selection.
The Sharon Potter exhibition will open at the Woza Gallery at the Hillcrest AIDS Centre Trust, on Thursday, 30 January 2020 until 10 March
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