Owl Pen Fine Art Gallery’s First Anniversary Celebration will take place First Friday, May 2nd, 5 to 8 pm in Chestertown and the Gallery welcomes the return of Sharon Hardin who was our Opening Artist in 2013.
Sharon graduated from the University of Cincinnati, School of Design, Art, and Architecture and continued her education in Europe focusing on landscape and still life in Oil. For the past twelve years she has continued her studies at the VanderZee School of Painting in Alexandria, VA. where her mentor is Rob VanderZee. We are very pleased to have a piece of Vander Zee’s work included in the show. It will be interesting to see how a mentor influences and inspires his student.
Sharon and husband DeWitt Hardin have lived in Chestertown for the past few years to be close to their family living in the outskirts of D.C. In Chestertown in 2013 she met Laura Drons, the owner of the new gallery, Owl Pen Fine Arts t in downtown Chestertown. Drons was captivated by Hardin’s use of thick oils, with brush and palette knife and often layers of glazing. What she accomplishes with color is memorizing…quite different from what you normally see today.
Last year Owl Pen Fine Arts opened May, 6th, with Hardin as the Opening Artist, and her art was well-received. We were pleased to see one painting on it way to San Jose, California, and two to the Midwest while another remains in Kent County. When Owl Pen faced their first anniversary, our hope was to have Hardin return which she promised to do. Owl Pen is fortunate to have such a talented artist on hand.
At the end of May, Hardin leaves for her annual tour with the South Coast Artists Studio Tour.