Title Sometime Sweeter
Artist / Creator Sharon McCartney
Place of Publication Belchertown, MA
Publication Date 2012
Process / Technique Surface design: gel printing, and rusting, solvent transfers, hand embroidery
Image Process Images are transfers of my drawings combined with embroidery and fabric applique and reproductions from vintage botany and zoology books.
Structure / Binding Coptic stitch
Medium / Materials Acrylic, thread, mixed fabrics, waxed linen, beads and twig
Number of Pages 40 pages
Dimensions (WxHxD) 4 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches closed; 4 x 10.10 x 1.5 inches open
Edition Size Unique
Box / Wrapper Stitched fabric protective envelope
Signed & Numbered Yes

Sometime Sweeter by Sharon McCartney

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This book is part of an ongoing exploration of the way that natural fragments and patterns intersect. The artist book, by its very structure, encourages a focusing in, a direct engagement with content. I present these images as collections to replicate moments of discovery for the viewer, and hope to recreate a sense of wonder for forms I consider unique and miraculous. In all of my books the natural details also act as metaphors for larger themes of transformation, vulnerability and survival.

Artist Bio

For Sharon McCartney, art begins with the long time habit of collecting natural objects in forests, fields and meadows and along lake and ocean shores. McCartney was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and has lived in Massachusetts since 1983. In 2005 she relocated to the western part of the state to build her studio in the woods. There she creates fiber collage, sculpture, paintings and artist books.

With a background rooted in the study of art history, McCartney draws from the influences of both Asian and European art with natural themes. Her work has been exhibited throughout United States, and has been included in museum, corporate, university and private collections. It has also been featured in several books, including: Mixed Media Collage, and Altered Books, both by Holly Harrison (Rockport Publishers); One Hundred New England Artists, by E. Ashley Rooney, (Schiffer Publishing), and in the publications American Craft, Fiberart Now, Fiberarts, Somerset Studio, and Surface Design Journal.

Sharon is fascinated by objects with auras of history and stories to tell, and collects vintage textile and ephemera, and lines her shelves with all kinds of feathers, stones, seedpods and other gifts from nature. She lives with her spirited golden retriever, Ruby, and enjoys daily encounters with birds, growing things, seasonal changes, and the occasional bear.