Sharon E. Rawlins finds her artistic voice primarily through watercolor, and works in a figurative tradition. She lives in Southern California, an ideal climate for painting out of doors and whose atmosphere is legendary for its quality of light. Her love of painting finds her exploring not only the local environs but also traveling to those locales that, over time, have captivated the great plein air artists. The lightness of watercolor and the quality of light in such magic places as the southern California coast, Maine, and Venice is endlessly fascinating, as is the discovery that every place has in its light its own allure.


Artist Statement

« My challenge, and my great delight, is in capturing the unexpected beauty of the everyday, those small scenes that are monumental, that stay with one throughout a lifetime, and bring meaning, to where we are, where we’ve been, where we’re we going, if only the time is taken to look and to see. Beauty is everywhere. As a colorist I use the play of neutrals and colors and as a figurative artist I use the alchemy of abstraction to create images that resonate. ».


Curriculum Vitae

Selected Exhibitions

Butler Institute of American Art, 73rd National Midyear Show, Youngstown, Ohio, 2009

Belles of Capistrano, Four Women and Their Art, Mission San Juan Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano, CA, 2008

Catharine Lorillard Wolfe Art Club, 112th, 113th Annual Open Juried Exhibition, National Arts Club, NY 2008, 2009

Huntingbeach Plein Air Painting Festival, Huntington Beach, CA, 2007, 2008, 2009

Painting the California Landscape, Mission San Juan Capistrano, CA, 2007, 2008

Arizona Aqueous XXII, Tubac, AZ, 2007

Palm Springs Art Museum, 38th Annual National Juried Exhibition, Palm Springs, CA, 2007

Plein Air 2005; 2006, Keyes Gallery, Springfield, MO, 2005, 2006

The Human Form, Anaheim Museum, Anaheim, CA, 2002–2006

Artisti Americani Interpretano Venezia, Giorgione Gallery, Cannaregio, Venice Italy, 2004

Louisville Arts Festival, Louisville, CO, 2002, 2003, 2009

Unspoken Dialogue, Nottingham Gallery, Newport Beach, CA, 2002

Plein Air Painting Festival, CA, 2002 Jeff Horn, juror

Pacific House, Irvine, CA, 1994 Solo Exhibition

Newport Beach Salute to the Arts, Newport Beach, CA, 1993 Jean Stern, juror

All Media ’91 and ’93, Irvine, CA, 1991, 1993

North American Marine Artists Society (NAMAS), 1991–1992, Gloucester, MA; Vancouver, Canada

CMAL Fine Arts Competition, Newport Beach, CA, 1981 Millard Sheets, juror


Selected Awards/Honors

Legacy (Tulipani) selected for invitation art for “Capitalism in Question (Because It Is)”, Pitzer Art Galleries, Pitzer College (The Claremont Colleges), Claremont CA, 2010

Honorable Mention, Plein Air Festival 2008, 2007, Huntington Beach, CA

Second Place, Plein Air 2006, Keyes Gallery

Best in Show, Plein Air Painting Festival, 2002 Jeff Horn, juror

Third Place, The Artist Eye, Costa Mesa, CA 2001 Timothy J. Clark, juror

Second Place, Newport Beach Salute to the Arts, 1993 Jean Stern, juror

Special Award, Orange County Fine Arts, 1994

Special Award, Orange County Fine Arts, 1987


Bibliography

A Soulful Workshop, Watercolor, an American Artist publication, Summer 2000, New York, NY


Education

Advanced study in Italy, Argentina, Hawaii, and California with Timothy J. Clark

Art Students League, New York

Art Center College of Design, Pasadena, CA

University of Maryland