Nationality
American
Preview
Date of Work
2022
Medium
Oil on canvas
Signature
Lower right
Height
12"
Width
16"
Collection/Provenance
Division of Research & Economic Development Collection
Status
Displayed: Division of Research & Economic Development
Location
Division of Research & Economic Development
Artist Bio
Sharon France paints rural Midwestern landscapes drawn from memory and imagination, seeking to capture the peaceful, quiet isolation of the countryside. Her work centers on a recurring fascination with old farmsteads, particularly the farmhouses and barns of the region, an interest rooted in childhood visits to her grandparents' remote Midwestern farm. Stylistically, France works primarily in Realism while incorporating elements of Tonalism and Minimalism, building her acrylic paintings on stretched canvas through layered applications using both wet and dry brush techniques. Her artistic influences include the Tonalists, the Hudson River School, and Minimalist and Realist traditions, and her work has been noted for its quiet simplicity and intriguing sense of peace.
France holds a Bachelor of Fine Art with an emphasis in Illustration from Northern Illinois University. Her paintings have been featured in numerous juried and group exhibitions, including the Freeport Art Museum's Regional Juried Exhibition, the Bedford Gallery's Peaceable Kingdom: Animals, Real and Imagined in Walnut Creek, California, the 26th International Exhibition on Animals in Art in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and shows at the Springfield Art Association and New Visions Gallery in Marshfield, Wisconsin. In 2015, two of her paintings were featured in This Old House magazine's Cloudland Cottage Show House on Lookout Mountain, Georgia, and were highlighted in the publication's November–December 2015 issue.
Additional Information
Prairie Surrealism:
Along a Misty Country Road transforms the familiar North Dakota prairie into a contemplative, dreamlike space. Through soft atmospheric light, simplified forms, and an ambiguous sense of distance, the work reflects the Prairie Surrealism theme by revealing the quiet mystery and psychological depth that can exist within ordinary rural landscapes. The veiled horizon and solitary structures evoke a sense of longing and imagined memory, inviting viewers to experience an emotional connection to a place that may feel deeply familiar, even if they have never traveled its roads. Drawing on the idea of collective memory, the painting suggests that landscapes can carry shared emotional meaning, where perception, memory, and imagination converge to shape our sense of place.