Village Artists

 

Sharon Cote - Village Artist

"Art is a journey of discovery and self-expression."

Sharon is a self taught artist from Manitoba's Interlake who is inspired by social events, natural surroundings and the animal life in her area. Her love of her homeland and its history has led her to record it through her art.

For the past twenty two years she has managed to preserve on canvas a large number of local buildings that have long since passed. In the year 2000 she was sponsored by the local R.M of Grahamdale and the Millenium Bureau of Canada to do a series of historical paintings of the local area. The series consisted of twelve paintings and texts that focussed on locations that existand some that are no more. This series was on exhibit at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg for eight months.

Since the completion of the series, Sharon has created "Sonoa" - the first of an Aboriginal culture series. Due to her previous exposure to the Native history in the Millenium Series, she was led to feel that the Native story should be told from a female perspective. The series focusses on Sonoa, a young Native maiden and will follow her through the various stages in her life.

Sharon is one of the founding members of the Village Artists which has been in exisance for 19 years. She has written for the 'Spectator' newspaper focussing on artists in the Interlake area. She has presented in schools to encourage the arts with children and has generally provided a positive air in the community toward the arts.

Sharon is a lover of life in general and finds that her art is an expression of this. She believes that history must be preserved for future generations. Her spirituality concerning Mother Earth and its inhabitants lead her towrd this historical approach.