Sharon Mark

by Susan Fisch (August 2021)

Sharon Mark is one of the true daughters of Hemmingford. Her mother’s family came here from Ireland in the 1820’s and on her mother’s side she is related to a number of the original families. On her father’s side, her great grandfather, P. Henry M. Somerville, was the first bank manager for the CIBC in Hemmingford in the early 1900’s; and her grandfather, Alister Somerville, was Member of Parliament and long-time mayor of Hemmingford.

Of course, Sharon is most well known for her art. She is an international artist in the Naïve Art style and has supplied galleries across Canada. She even has paintings in the GINA – Gallery of International Naïve Art of Tel Aviv in Israel. GINA describes Naïve Art as: it reflects a scene simple to understand, with rich colours, an idealized view of the world, or life, of refreshing innocence – a genre that celebrates the human narrative. It is timeless. And Sharon’s paintings certainly do all that. They depict a much simpler life – country scenes and activities from her childhood. We can fully get lost in the peacefulness and innocence of her landscapes. They are delightful. As a young child, she watched her grandmother paint realistic landscapes in oil.

As a teenager she finally picked up a brush and followed in her grandmother’s footsteps. Then she began adding in features like people and cows. Once she switched to acrylics, she was hooked. Influenced by Grandma Moses and Maud Lewis, her paintings emerged in folk art naïve style in the 1990’s. Sharon and Dan, her husband, have two beautiful daughters, Emily and Erin, each with their own families. As a young stay-at-home mother in the 1980’s, she needed something to do, so she turned to painting. She began selling her art and brought some extra money into the household. What began as a project, turned into a lifelong career. Over the years, several art galleries have been selling her paintings. She supplies four to six galleries regularly. Of course, during this health crisis they had been closed, but she tries to keep an inventory on hand.

Sharon and Dan, her husband, have two beautiful daughters, Emily and Erin, each with their own families. As a young stay-at-home mother in the 1980’s, she needed something to do, so she turned to painting. She began selling her art and brought some extra money into the household. What began as a project, turned into a lifelong career.

Over the years, several art galleries have been selling her paintings. She supplies four to six galleries regularly. Of course, during this health crisis they had been closed, but she tries to keep an inventory on hand.

Her studio gallery is in her basement and is normally open to customers by appointment. A recent addition, she also has her online store. To view and purchase her paintings, you can go on her website at www.sharonmark.com.

Sharon enjoys painting small pieces. She has made hand-painted cards and ornament pieces. Last winter her Christmas decorations were very popular. She has also produced tiny, framed works, which are really beautiful and take a lot of patience to produce. Some of her larger paintings can take up to a week or more to complete. In between those larger paintings, she enjoys working on small pieces that can be completed in an hour or two. Her smallest pieces are 2.5 to 3 inches in size.

Over the years, she has participated in and helped organize various art and craft shows and fairs around Hemmingford. During Old Home Week she used to organize the Village Artist Shows and the Hemmingford Elementary School Craft Fairs in the 90’s and has helped with the Girl Guide Christmas Craft Fair.

This year, the Junior Council of Hemmingford is organizing a Farmers and Artists Market on the 28th of August at the Rec Centre. Sharon will be there with a number of her pieces. We hope you will all come out to encourage this endeavour. Every year Sharon likes to donate pieces to worthwhile local causes. She has donated several small paintings to the Archives last fall to sell online or in the silent auction, and has given to the Terry Fox Run, the Hemmingford Elementary School Craft Fair, and other organizations. Whenever she has extra pieces, she looks around for local causes to donate to for fundraising purposes.

Dan and Sharon have been very active in the Hemmingford Archives for many years. Dan has been running the website and Sharon contributes. She is also an administrator of the Facebook page, Hemmingford Community Events and has been informing us through her posts of all the important events concerning Hemmingford.

A lot of people have said to Sharon, Oh, you’re so talented! Indeed, she is a self-taught artist, who has produced over 3000 paintings. In her own words, she didn’t start off talented. Her advice to young aspiring artists: You have to put in the time. You have to practice. Even the great masters left behind a bunch of spoiled canvases. You have to be patient and practice, practice, practice. That’s how you become good at it.