ARTIST PROFILE

Daune Sheri is a self-taught portrait artist who describes her work as 'Emotive Realism' – a style of art that evokes an emotional response from the viewer by subtly stimulating a memory or mood. Her studies are executed with the use of the traditional medium pastel, colored pencil,  graphite pencil and ink.

Daune's passion for art began early in life. Although born in Connecticut, being a daughter to a career military father and a stay-at-home mother, she was subjected to seven household moves around the country during her first ten years of life. Influenced by a father's expectations and a mother's acceptance, she found a sense of wholeness somewhere in the middle. The foundation of her work is inspired by childhood memories, traditional values and spiritual beliefs.

Her earliest memories are of her father composing visual stories with his poetic words. Following his creative lead, she found her own path, her own way to speak her emotions… through art. Her sensitive nature opened her eyes to others and she was able to recreate mood, emotion and character in portrait work. As an emerging artist, her portraits were created only in monochrome. She admits to initially feeling overwhelmed with the use of color that it might distract from the intricate detail and dramatic interpretation of black and white. However the artist soon discovered a natural affinity for color and implements color to represent tone and sentiment. Through her compositional simplicity and strength of purpose, she quickly developed her own unique and identifiable style.

Her first professional commissioned portrait was at the age of fourteen. As an amateur photographer, Daune found enrichment in the use of photographs as reference for her artwork. This soon became more and more convenient for commissioned portrait work, as there is no travel time and no sitting fee or session. Since 1996, she has created custom realistic portraits on commission with the use of photographs clients send as a reference.

With no formal training, her art is marked by exceptional talent. Her hallmark is precise detail and dramatic portrayal of her subjects, based primarily on the emotion and sensitivity of the faces of children and pets. Intensely personal, the portrait images that define Daune Sheri's body of work directly depict the importance of 'being'. Through self-expression, she identifies a fundamental truth that all things are parallel. "With unconditional honesty, I interpret what I see through a filter of what I know by hand and what I feel by heart.  My expectation is to do more than just imitate what I see but rather, if chance is on my side, be witness to that unspoken voice…"

Daune is an active member of the International Guild of Realism, Colored Pencil Society of America, Connecticut Society of Portrait Artists and the Northeastern Connecticut Art Guild. She currently resides in Brooklyn, Connecticut with her husband, where she has established an in-house working art studio and works full-time as a portrait artist.

ARTIST STATEMENT

In a moment of weakness, it is often said words are left unspoken.  I believe the same can be said in respect to portrait art. If one were to look beyond the brush strokes and hue, beyond what the mind's eye regards as acceptable, one might observe a vulnerable instant arrested by brush on paper - this defines "art left unspoken"…

By this account, I am influenced by the underlying truth of the soul.  Certainly, countless physical and emotional observations factor in impressing on me the complex nature of portraiture. 

As a portrait artist being receptive to the subject, I hope to depict an image that is unfaltering to the viewer.  I try to be as objective as one can be without binding myself to limitations.  My observations allow me to interpret what is perceived real and what is perceived unremarkable.  Both however, are essential in portraying a raw likeness and a strong composition. 

With unconditional honesty, I interpret what I see through a filter of what I know by hand and what I feel by heart.  My expectation is to do more than just imitate what I see but rather, if chance is on my side, be witness to that unspoken voice…

 --Daune Sheri

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