Jill Shuford

Bio

The visual effects of Light and Dark have always fascinated me. Playing with an interior space with direct sunlight raking across figures and objects allows me to create an environment that is pushing and pulling for attention. There is a beauty in the light and there is a thrill to push the darks to the max. As a Christian I also am drawn to the Gospel of John's writings about Jesus as the Light of the World, "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." That is always on my mind as I labor over images literally trying to keep the shadows from overpowering the lightest values. For me as the artist, the lighter scale of values is not as forgiving as the darker but much more enjoyable as a challenge to replicate their drama and beauty -- falling on a page, a stand of hair, a finger, a flower petal. I enjoy working with color in oil paint but my absolute passion is drawing with charcoal or pencil and to punch holes in the dark to let the lights shine. I am a retired Art Educator - 19 years as a Museum Educator and 15 years as a public school Art Teacher in the Charlotte, NC area. I have my Masters in Fine Arts from UNC-Greensboro and earned National Board Certification in Arts Education. I currently teach on-line Art Appreciation classes for a local community college. In 2016, I took early retirement and returned home to care for an aging parent. With my mom's passing 3 years ago, I begin to focus more on my personal artwork. I have remained in my small hometown and built a studio that looks across fields to the distant Blue Ridge Mountains.