My painting style is that of a layered construction of abstracted color merging to form spaces suggestive of landscape. These imagined places invariably correspond to a personal emotional state. The innate ambiguity of abstraction as opposed to representation allows me to explore the transformative process of making art, to seek a balance between inner and outer worlds, to modify an underlying state of complexity and to coax a simple beauty out of it all. My intentions are for subtley; for a lushness and depth of color that engages the imagination and conveys a weight of emotional connection to atmospheres and places. Recently, the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke has been influential to my work.
I studied visual art and art education here in Bellingham at Western Washington University and have shared my passion for the arts with elementary age children as a youth art instructor for the past 6 years. I am currently resident artist, gallery director and art instructor at my studio/gallery Works on Canvas. My paintings are held in private collections in the USA and Canada.
see more of my work at www.sharonkingston.com
Group Exhibits
THIRD PERSON PLURAL, 2010 exhibiting artist
RED show, 2010 exhibit curator and exhibiting artist
Size Matters, 2010 exhibit curator and exhibiting artist
Reaching for the Light, 2008 & 2009, Non-juried group exhibit
Friends of the Blue Horse Benefit Exhibit, 2009 Invitational Group show
Whatcom Artist Studio Tour, 2009 Juried studio tour
Whatcom Artist Studio Tour Preview Exhibit , 2009 exhibit curator and exhibiting artist
Flirting with Abstraction, 2009 exhibit curator and exhibiting artist
Allied Arts Member Show, 2009 group exhibit
Nudes on Parade, 2008 Juried exhibit Blue Horse Gallery and Studio UFO
Public Hanging, 2008 Blue Horse Gallery
Objects, 2008 Harris Street Cafe
South Hill Historic House Tour, Forest Street House, 2008
First Friday Downtown Bellingham Artwalk Studio Exhibitor, June 2008 to present
Honors
Cover Art Linguistics at School by Kristin Denham and Anne Lobeck, Cambridge Press 2009
Honorable Mention, 2008 Nudes on Parade Juried Exhibit for painting Self Defining
Salute Auction Poster Original Art, 2007
Teaching
Developed and taught Masterminds Summer Camp program bridging art and science in conjunction with the American Museum of Radio & Electricity, 2009
Student and instructor participant in the Woodland Park Zoo Penguins on the March exhibit, 2009
Studio Friday Art Program created for St Paul's Academy elementary students, 2008/2009
Classroom Visiting Artist and after school art program instructor, 2005-present
Education
Studied fine art at Western Washington University (2004-2006)
MBA Marketing, Santa Clara University (1997)
BS Minnesota State University (1987)