Yesterday, Sunday, March 24, 2019, I journeyed to Williamston Michigan to Sharon Griffes Tarr’s studio in her home to buy a painting. I was amazed at all the lovely paintings on the walls and in a drawer. She is a prolific plein air painter of landscapes. There were several paintings that I wanted, but price was an issue and I’d only brought so much cash with me. As it was, I chose a lovely small painting of a winter scene by a small creek. The moment I saw it I knew I wanted it. So I bought it.
As I dug through a drawer filled with paintings on board, I found other smaller paintings that I wanted, but here again price was an issue. There were even some portraits in a basket. If you follow this link: Sharon Griffes Tarr’s Paintings
You can see some of the work I saw on the walls, in the drawer and in the basket.
We had a wonderful visit. I asked her when she started painting. She said when she was eleven. She told me the story about a couple who rented the upstairs in her parent’s home. The wife was an avid painter and spent time out in the garden painting her mother’s flowers. One day, the woman gave her a set of paints and a small canvas and told her it was time for her to start learning to paint. So, Sharon did.
I was hoping that Sharon had not learned to paint until she was older because I learned to paint when I was older. I wanted to relate to her story more. As she spoke, I thought back to my life at age eleven. It was at that age that I was writing some very short plays as in two to four pages long. I knew I wanted to be a writer when I was nine because my eldest sister, Sandra Picklesimer Aldrich , had published her first article in a magazine. I wanted to follow in her footsteps. The desire to paint and create with color on paper came much later.
As our visit drew to a close, I asked about taking classes from her. She said I could sign up with the City of East Lansing and take a class in the fall. Her classes run from 3-5PM. I told her I work until 4PM. If I were to take her class, I would need to leave work at 2 p.m. every Thursday during the class sessions, which isn’t feasible. I don’t like missing work. She mentioned that she might have a two day workshop on plein air painting in the summer. I perked up at this. I could miss two days of work to take a class.
I left shortly after we talked about classes. Sharon told me to take a certain road, which I did. I cannot remember the name of the road, but it was a lovely drive taking the back roads home.