Sharon Quirke – BA MA
Sharon Quirke is committed to exploring the relationship between Canadian landscape and Canadian culture. Her quest to record the beauty and mysteries of her vast homeland is as dogged and passionate as any pioneer’s.
Sharon Quirke’s work is recognized as unique and vibrant. Canvases are swept with fresh air, and present images, colours and emotions that are layered and fluid. Warm golden light and bold brushstrokes make the work inviting and dramatic.
Sharon Quirke’s work is represented in galleries, private and corporate collections, exclusive resorts and provincial and territorial museums. Exhibitions have been held from coast to coast to coast – including New York City, Toronto, the Rockies, Yellowknife, Inuvik, Whistler and Vancouver. Locally, her paintings are installed in the Fairmont Waterfront, 1000 Beach and Peoples Group. National and western art magazines have featured and reviewed her work.
Sharon is delighted to announce that the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa recently added her work to their registry of Canadian artists. She’s also thrilled to have received a FANS grant (Funding for the Arts on the North Shore) this past year to pursue a new multi-media series called “Needlepoint”. She is looking forward to travelling once again to the “Land of the Midnight Sun” this summer, July 2022, to exhibit a new northern series and run workshops for the Gwich’in, Inuvialuit and visiting peoples for the GNAF (Great Northern Arts Festival) in Inuvik, NWT. She was honoured with the People’s Choice and Mentorship Awards at the festival in past years. Sharon’s most recent solo show in March 2022 was a tulip festival and fundraiser for the Ukrainian Refugee Fund.
Sharon Quirke was born in Vancouver. She grew up on the Canadian north coast in Prince Rupert, and later on the American east coast in New York City. She has studied and taught in schools and universities across Canada. After completing a BA at UBC and a Teacher’s Certificate at SFU, she taught in BC’s Okanagan Valley. She then studied in Montreal at Concordia University with artists Irene Whittome, Guido Molinari and Charles Gagnon. She completed an MA in Art Education and Fine Arts while teaching at the university. In the early 80’s she returned to the Lower Mainland and began her painting career. She has been represented by her home gallery, Artworks Gallery, since 1988. She lives in West Vancouver where, with the support of her husband and three sons and their families, she paints and teaches, and continues to be involved in local and national community art projects.
