Artist Spotlight - Shari Beaubien Part I

September Artist Spotlight: Shari Beaubien, Part I

Our September artist is mixed media and altered art artist, Shari Beaubien. Shari is a beautiful person who sees beauty and is inspired by life and the world around her. Her life is truly inspiring and she has courageously followed the path that was in her heart. At the age of 19, Shari moved across country from Michigan to California. Against the wishes of her parents who forbade her to go, she ventured forth alone because as she says, “It is so important to be true to yourself. Life is too short for anything else.”

Shari says that she has never regretted her decision to move across country to follow her dreams. Her greatest success was the day she sold her first piece of art to a complete stranger. She says that this was her “full circle moment” and confirmed for her that this is where she was meant to be. Her heart and skills brought her to art and gave her the courage to pursue her dreams.

When asked about how she creates that “magic” that is her art, Shari responded that she is inspired by what she calls the “mundane.” She is typical of many artists who see beauty in the world around us. I love the way Shari describes how her work and the how world “sings” to her… She tries to be aware of the world around her and absorb as much of it as possible so that she can capture those details that ultimately inspire her. As she says she can be walking in the grocery store and see a color combination that she really likes, or she might catch part of a conversation that rings true, or she will see something in the clouds as they pass by. When she sees or hears something that “sings” to her, she grabs her ever present sketchbook and captures it by pencil sketching her ideas. This allows her to have something to start from when she begins a new piece.

Shari says that she tries to work “fast and loose” her husband, Steve, lovingly calls it “messy”. This is the stage where the magic happens, where she spends her alone time and creates her art. This is where she tries to stay true to her original design while allowing herself the freedom to allow spontaneity to occur. Sometimes the end result is what she had envisioned and sometimes it is a total surprise. Whatever the result, Shari has the confidence in her work to know that what she has produced is something that her “heart needed to express”.

Artist Spotlight: Shari Beaubien Introduction, Part I, Part II