Sherril Barnes was born in Ankara, Turkey during the time her father, career Army, was stationed there. After returning to the United States with her family, Sherril’s life was still full of moves and travels as her father was stationed in different areas of the country. After her father retired, the traveling continued in a 27-foot travel trailer; Sherril and her siblings spending one semester in a certain area and then moving to another. This traveling showed Sherril the beauty in the world around her — no matter where she is at.
Art was always a strong part of Sherril’s family life. She grew up watching her father paint in oils, watercolors and pastels while her mother introlduced her to various types of needlecrafts. “Everything from art to crafts to music was constantly being reviewed and discussed in my home. I learned about artists from Dali to Picasso and Mozart to Elvis. Many weekends and evenings were spent discussing the appreciation of all forms of art.”
“While my parents gave me a strong background in the fine arts, I never considered myself to be a creative person. While working with my children one day I drew a silly picture to explore shading and highlights with them.
Shortly after drawing that sketch dipicting an old forest drawn with trees appearing as though they had faces, Sherril became hooked and her house was filled with art instruction books, sketch pads, airbrushes and paints. “I keep that one drawing because I fell in love with the artistic process while working it.”
Beginning in 2000, Sherril began working with pencel and with the airbrush. This moved to oils in 2004. Today, while she still draws and paints, she has found a new appreciation of nature and art through photography. “I know I need to settle into one medium, but I find that there are so many ways to express my creativity and photography is also feeding my love of the outdoors.”
We will continue to watch and see how Sherril’s art exploration continues to grow ….
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