We were lucky to catch up with Sharon Albrektsen recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Sharon, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

In 2nd grade. Ist clay experience. Made a hippopotamus. Play-Doh was my favorite item from a toy store.
I love to dance and sing. Someone stole my toeshoes when I was 8 and we could not afford new ones so I made art. Found objects were great cheap medium to recreate with.

Sharon, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was given a potters wheel after moving to Colorado from California. The local college had a ceramics program. I thought I would take just one class and I got hooked. I ended up getting my BA in art. It took a long time because I was a mom and that was most important to me. When my youngest started high school, I began my masters program while teaching art at my kids high school. After getting my MA in mixed-media art, I opened a coffee house/ restaurant/ gift store which I owned for three years. I sold it because I couldn’t get my artwork done too. I made art for a couple years and did an artist in residence in Shigaraki, Japan. Then decided to get my MFA. That was only 8 years ago. Thats is when I began making figures. I love the figure and adding my found objects to tell stories. I have a wild, untamed imagination. Some my call by creations creatures and some my call them whimsical.
My mother was seamstress and a professional clown. I celebrate both of these features in my imagery. I am easily influenced. So, I might create a piecejust from a comment in a conversation, or travel or much of my work is inspired from a fantastical daydream.
I love surrealism. Salvador Dali and Remedios Varo are a couple of my favorite. Hieronymus Bosch is at the top of my list. Film producer like James Cameron and Tim Burton get my excitement up. Dr Seuss taught me to read or memorize as many other dyslexic do.
I love making art. I make art almost everyday and I never run out of ideas..

Have you ever had to pivot?

I have had so many pivotal times in my art career. The biggest change was after being married for 37 years, I divorced and was on my own. I felt as if I had lost my entire identity. I did quit making hardly any work for two years. I only worked on my tiny little home. Then, dove deep and tried to find that person I lost. Through faith, friends, family and focus I found myself and began to love myself again. Then, a guy I knew in high school wished me a happy birthday on Facebook and we began talking. The rest, wel I moved to Scottsdale, AZ. He built me a studio. We married two years ago. Here is Scottsdale I’ve been accepted into the arts community and I am creating artwork again daily. Albeit, the work is not as dark as it used to be. It’s a bit brighter and not as scary.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think artists need a place to create and share their stories.
On the other hand, for the most part, artsits work alone so it’s hard to share and support one another.
Unlike other professions, artist are asked to do things for free or donate to a cause or give a discount on their already low prices. So maybe, the best thing we can do is to educate about the arts as well as cottage industries. Promote value in the handmade instead of the mass made item. Celebrate creatives!

Contact Info:

• Website: https://Www.Sharonclayarts.com
• Instagram: Sharon Albrektsen Arts
• Facebook: https://Sharonclayarts.com

Image Credits

Jules Gallitig
She took the photo of me and my artwork.
I took the rest of them myself.