Sheryl Grise Larsen's art has been influenced by the western landscape since she moved west after college.  However, her childhood introduced her to the world of art.  She grew up in Englewood, Ohio, with 2 sisters.  Sheryl's mother and father both contributed to her art skills.  Her mother, Susan Howell Grise,  studied interior design and painted.  Her father, Richard Grise designed machines for manufacturing and also made sculptures. She has fond memories of going to classes and visiting the Dayton Art Institute with her family. She was introduced to drawing people by her high school teacher, Mr. Skrupka.

 

In college, Sheryl studied art at Kent State University, Kent, Ohio.  She received a BFA in sculpture, with a minor in printmaking. She looked forward to her figure drawing classes. Joseph Konzal, her sculpture teacher, encouraged her to weld with found pieces of steel. She continued her education later in her life at Metro State College in Denver, Colorado, leading to a K-12 Teacher License in Art Education.

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Some of the artists that inspire her include Van Gogh, Monet, Kandinsky, Klee, Klimt, Matisse, Calder, Brancusi,  Motherwell, Smith (David), Bearden, Kahlo, Chicago, Hepworth, O’Keefe, Nevelson, Bourgeois, Smith (Quick-to-See), Butterfield, Sprick, Bradford, Neel, Casteel, and Whitten.

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Included in Sheryl’s art portfolio are several medias.  She has done abstract sculptures of steel, stone, and sticks.  Making silk screen prints in Wyoming, led her to cut pastel papers with an exacto and make collage landscape.  Recently, she is expressing spiritual observations from her life using mixed media with collage and acrylic paint on canvas that include figures and landscape. She believes that art is a way to communicate with others to share our deepest feelings using a language that includes images rather than words. Her spiritual journey is evolving and she hopes to help others by giving them visual images as they travel along their own path.

 

Exhibitions of her work include several galleries and shows in Wyoming in the towns of Sheridan, Gillette, Buffalo, Casper, Cheyenne and Jackson Hole.  She had a two person show at the Sheridan Inn. The city of Gillette bought a piece for their city government building. A bank in Gillette commissioned work including a Plexiglas relief, soft sculpture wall hanging and several landscape collages.  A gallery in Buffalo displayed her art.  In Cheyenne, she had another 2 person show at the Wyoming State Art Museum (which purchased 3 pieces).  In Colorado, her work has been previously shown in two galleries in Denver.  She has  also been part of the Jefferson County Spring Art Teacher's Show at the Arvada Center for 2 years.

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Art education has been a rewarding part of Sheryl’s life. Teaching art began in Wyoming. In Sheridan and Riverton, she taught printmaking to adults, and drawing and crafts to children.  In Riverton, she was an Artist in Residence for the Wyoming Council on the Arts program.  In Wright, she taught printmaking and drawing for a community college and worked as a substitute art teacher at the local elementary school.  Utah helped her step into a her own classroom where, she taught art to elementary students at a private school. Then, Colorado brought her to a full time position as an elementary art teacher in Jefferson County for 19 years.

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Sheryl now lives in Littleton, Colorado.  She is grateful for her family life which includes her husband, two daughters and son-in-laws, and a grandson. Along with her time in the art studio, she finds joy in hiking, skiing and traveling.