The year was 1990. Seated on the ground in warm sunshine on a lightly wooded ridge, I looked out across the vast and ancient landscape of the Flinders Ranges. I wanted to respond in paint, but I didn't know how. Instead, I sat quietly, listened to the stillness, and breathed deeply. Later, I wrote a poem.
A seed had been planted for my visual art journey - or maybe a seed had begun to swell.
Five years later, having received a gift of twelve watercolour pencils in a tin, I started sketching. By which I mean making marks in a blank note pad from the news agency. This time we were at Cania Gorge, and those coloured pencil marks became a record of my looking.
Casual art lessons led into studying a Diploma of Visual Art majoring in painting, and an art journey that includes seven solo and two collaborative exhibitions, numerous group shows, curation and tutoring opportunities.
Landscape and the natural world have continued to inform my art practice, however essence and place are of more interest to me than the depiction of a scene. As I enter the painting process "How does it feel?" or "What does it mean? " are more important questions to me than "How does it look, exactly?" My use of colour has more to do with colour relationships and their emotive or symbolic impact than the realistic colour of the object. There is a minimising of detail, as I seek to express the quality or idea which inspired the artwork.
Although I am frequently outdoors sketching aspects of landscape, the majority of my work happens in the studio. I use oil, acrylic and watercolour paints (sometimes making my own), on watercolour and oil papers, and either cotton or linen canvases. Predominantly a painter, I also work with other media including drawing media, textiles, photography, gathering and arranging, and poetry.
Across my body of work, you may experience my passion for pigment and paint, colour relationships, gesture, space, emotional connection and faith. Maybe there is something that connects or inspires you; that reminds you of a place or time in your own journey.
Sharon Roberts