Living Free in Art and in Life — Age of Authenticity
“I had so much freedom to express myself. As I learned to let go and be free in my art, the magic began to happen,” smiles Hope.
Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Sheri Hope is an artist living in The Woodlands. She works out of her home studio in the Village of Panther Creek and sells her work every first Saturday of the month at The Market at Sawyer Yards in Houston.
Hope moved to The Woodlands 10 years ago after many years in Kingwood where she was married and worked as a part-time graphic designer while raising two children. As a mother, she enjoyed channeling her creative energy into art projects with her kids and the planning and producing of elaborate birthday and holiday parties for her family members. Hope enjoyed being creative, but never considered herself an artist. This radically changed when she and her husband of many years divorced and she moved into her own home. Soon, she found herself filling this new abode with found objects, power tools and all types of paint in which she’d pour, splatter, wipe, throw all over anything in her view: art canvases, old doors, fence pieces, her own boots, leather jackets, phone cases, dresses, purses. She also began to see things differently like a piece of wood with a pointed end — she would visualize a witch’s nose or a dog’s tail or angel wings and then would use a variety of kitchen and garage items (whatever she had on hand) to realize her vision. This type of unconventional art was very appealing to Hope as she had previously led such a conventional life. It was as if her true self was being revealed through her art — like the metamorphosis of a butterfly.
“I had so much freedom to express myself. As I learned to let go and be free in my art, the magic began to happen,” smiles Hope. “That calm spills over into the rest of your life too. It’s an incredible gift to oneself to break free.”
She really liked experimenting with the paints themselves, seeing how thick they were, how they looked layered on top of each other and what colors worked best together.
With a handful of old water bottle tops, a potato masher and a small piece of wood, she would begin to create art with something nearby in her view — like a screw from an old box from the hardware store. After she finished the artwork, she felt odd removing the implement she used to create the work (in this case the actual screw) and decided instead to embed it into the work itself. This soon became her signature and a private way to tell herself “this piece is finished…leave it alone, Sheri!”
“I paint with screws, screwdrivers, palette knives, and other random objects which can be found hidden within most of my recent paintings. To me, it feels as if the objects belong within the beauty that they helped to create, while also representing leaving the past behind — something I strive to do daily.”
Hope paints emotion and experiences. The “oops” moments are always her favorite parts of the artistic process. In the past, she would get upset when she made a “mistake.” Hope, now, however, believes there are no mistakes in art or life.
“I like the accidents. They give me a new point of view on everything,” she laughs. “I call myself an unconventional artist, because I do things differently.”
Kindness, hugs, nature, passion and mercy are inspirational touchpoints for Hope in all her works. Hope’s favorite artists include Jackson Pollock, one of the most famous American abstract expressionist painters and local artists Lenora Palacios and Edgar Medina. She was recently commissioned to paint a young teen’s beloved pet on her Louis Vuitton purse.
Over the past year Hope exhibited two shows at The Crush Wine Lounge, “Spinning Train Wreck” and “A Flawed System.” You can view more of Hope’s work at sherihope.com or on Facebook @sherihopeart and @sherihopeartexperience and locally White Linen Nights in The Heights in Houston.