statement

All of my artwork is about energy, movement and change. I'm interested in how opposites exist simultaneously and how we live with inconsistencies. I've been exploring these issues through drawing, painting and sculpture since I began making art over 35 years ago.

My recent paintings express my love affair with this planet. After a day of painting, when I leave my studio I want to bring my paintbrush to bear upon the evening sky, to drawings rivulets of melting snow create on pavement.

The ocean has been a repeating theme throughout my art career. When I was a young child my family spent summers at the New Jersey shore. I have fond memories of awakening early in the morning and heading to the beach with my father for a swim. The water was cold and the beach was bright. I can still visualize the ocean sparkling in early morning sunlight.

As a young adult I lived by the sea. I spent my days wandering through pine forests, around ponds, and out to the ocean. My intention was to get lost in my surroundings, becoming one large mind hearing and seeing. When I got lucky I was rewarded with a wide perspective: seeing each individual tree in simultaneous sharp focus, hearing every pine needle fall. I experienced all the details, there was no sense of background, each detail was as important as any other. In painting my seascapes my intention is to recreate that state of mind. I use tiny brushes and lose myself in details, trying to paint each droplet of water so every inch of my painting is flowing, creating an abstract surface rich in detail that coalesces into a compelling seascape as you stand further back.

bio

born: 1947, Newark, New Jersey

education

Loyola University MSW, 1967
Syracuse University BS, 1965

selected awards/honors

Finalist, Adolph and Esther Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant, 2011
Winner, World Ocean Day Photography Contest, National Ocean Service, 2011
Fellowship, Massachusetts LLC Grant, 1994
Fellowship, Medicine Wheel Artists' Retreat, 1991

selected publications

Paintings depict an area affected by hurricane, The Somerville News, Nov. 28, 2012
Jane Sherrill: An artist who likes to tear paper, The Somerville News, Dec. 8, 2010
Reclaiming the Flag, The Mass Media, April 9, 2007
Critics' Picks, The Boston Globe, Jan. 10, 2003

selected solo or two-person exhibits

Gallery at Maxwells Green, Somerville MA, 2013
Harbor Gallery, University of MA: Reclaiming The Flag, Boston, MA, 2007
Sacramento Street Gallery: Human, Cambridge, MA, 2003
Gibbs Gallery, Arlington Center For The Arts: Explorations in Spirit and Nature, Arlington MA, 2000

selected group shows

Sacramento Street Gallery: A Drawing Show, Cambridge, MA, 2009
Borderland State Park: The Blanche Ames National Art Exhibition, North Easton, MA, 2006
Tufts University Art Gallery: Tufts Second Annual Juried Summer Exhibition, Medford, MA, 2005
Provincetown Art Association and Museum: Young Artists' Exhibition, Provincetown, MA, 1982