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A new Frontier

sharon

South Woodford artist Sharon Quinton explains her journey from office work to a whole new world of creativity, community and craft

I am a self-taught artist living in South Woodford. In 2022, after spending over 40 years in various administration and managerial roles, I left behind that career to pursue my passion for art and crafts full-time.

I take inspiration from a variety of sources, including various social media platforms, popular fiction, fantasy and nature.

When something I see particularly piques my interest, I use the skills and experience I’ve gained over the years as both a hobbyist and in a semi-professional capacity to create something brand new. This allows me to explore different mediums, creating artwork that invokes interest and intrigue in others, with my own personal flair.

I have been able to creatively curate various immersive, themed events for birthdays, weddings and other gatherings, providing everything from decor to props and costumes. Examples of my work include two life-sized trees that currently reside in the classrooms of a school in Romford, various Victorian bonnets and festival hats that were commissioned pieces and some costume accessories for an aerial artist.

Additionally, I took on a role as creative designer for Chilled in a Field, a small family festival, working alongside the production and decor team. This involved creating immersive concepts, putting together storyboards for specific public areas and managing several volunteer workshops making sets, backdrops and props. I will always be grateful to the festival for giving me the opportunity to explore different artistic avenues and for the positive impact it had on working with other like-minded people. Sadly, however, the pandemic brought an end to the festival and so I sought new ways to be creative, express my inner visions and keep producing artworks that are both inclusive and thought-provoking. Being part of a group of creative people was pivotal and I wanted to find an art group that was local. And just like that, Art Group Wanstead appeared in one of my newsfeeds. Algorithms can be useful sometimes!

I joined the group in February 2024 and went straight on to do my first exhibition. The art group members are lovely. There’s lots of knowledge, support and guidance within the group.

Recently, I have been experimenting with acrylic paint, creating contemporary, three-dimensional pieces of artwork – like the one shown here – using die-cast models from Star Trek’s Deep Space Nine series. I used specific models – a Nightingale, a Swarm Ship and a Bird of Prey – that tied in with a Winged Wonders-themed exhibition at Wanstead Library in December.

Every piece of art I create is an original and although inspiration can be drawn from other works, both my own and from others, no two pieces are the same.


To view more of Sharon’s artwork, visit swvg.co.uk/quinton. For more information, email SQArt13@gmail.com