Sharon Puddester (1952- )
When I begin to work there is an energy and excitement in the making of each new image. It is always an extremely physical process - whether drawing, painting or cutting a woodblock. I build and reduce, draw and redraw until I find that single image that creates the tension and movement I am looking for in my work. When it is resolved I feel that I have been a part of a process that has taken and given me energy.- Sharon Puddester, 1995
From Sharon Puddester: A Part of the Landscape, A Part of the Energy exhibition publication, organized by the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador, 1995 (now The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery).
Personal Life, Education and Career
Sharon Puddester was born in St. John's, NL, in 1952. She holds three degrees from Memorial University: a Bachelor of Arts, with a major in English and philosophy, a Bachelor of Education, and a Master of Philosophy.
During the 1970s, Puddester worked as a producer for Memorial University's Educational Television Centre. From 1975 to 1980, she also created pottery for The Salt Box, a craft store in downtown St. John's, which she opened with three other Newfoundland artists.
Oil and Acrylic on Paper
76 x 55.7 cm
In 1981, Puddester moved to British Columbia to attend the Fine Arts program at Capilano College. In 1988, she moved to Australia to study Fine Arts at the University of Sydney for a year. She then returned to St. John's, where she worked as an art teacher for Memorial University's Extension Service and at the Memorial University Art Gallery (now The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery). From 1989-1997, she was also the director of St. Michael's Printshop. In 2000, she became a visual arts instructor at the College of the North Atlantic's Bay St. George Campus. She teaches painting, printmaking, and art history.
A Part of the Energy
Woodblock (3 sections)
76 x 56.5 cm per section
Exhibitions and Collections
Puddester's paintings and woodcuts have been shown in numerous solo and group exhibitions that have toured nationally and internationally. They have been shown in such places as Ireland, Japan, and Poland. Her first solo show was A Part of the Landscape, A Part of the Energy, which the Art Gallery of Newfoundland and Labrador mounted in 1995. Her paintings and woodcuts in that exhibition were based on her exploration of the connections - physical, emotional, and spiritual - that individuals have with the landscape.
Lithograph
21 x 27 cm
More recent shows have included the group exhibitions Wood: A Sculptural Investigation, which toured the province and Ireland in 2000, and The Power of Place, which toured the country from 2003-2006. She was also an artist in residence at Soulignonne, France in 1994.
In addition to being part of The Rooms Provincial Art Gallery's Permanent Collection, Puddester's artwork is in in private and public collections, including The Canada Council Art Bank, the St. John's Municipal Council, and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
