This article appeared in the Fall 2008 issue of Texoma Living!.
Linda Schaar has called many places home, living here, there, and back again. When she moved to Sherman— for the second time— she discovered an artistic bent that she hadn’t recognized before. She explained why. “Sherman and Denison are full of art, so the opportunity is here. I might not have made the step, had I lived in another area.”
The Sherman grandmother started painting seven years ago when the country club recruited her, along with friend Marion Hunt, to provide door prizes for the women’s golf tournament. “Marion said I had to provide the art. I took my first art class and have been painting ever since.”
As her artistic interests grew, Schaar took classes at Grayson County College, attended workshops, and collaborated with other artists to improve her skills. From watercolor to pastels to collage, and most recently to oils, Schaar has experimented with a variety of mediums. Her style is impressionistic, with a tendency toward traditional subjects, still life, and landscape. She has tried other styles and said she admires the abstract composition of artist Wassily Kandinsky. “There is so much vulnerability in non-objective art. It comes from the inside and is all you,” says Schaar. “Had I started at a younger age, I might be more experimental.”
Raising a family, moving from state to state, and working as an office manager for many different businesses (including, ironically, an art gallery) consumed her time. Until now, she never placed priority on artistic expression. Her advice to others: “It may be difficult, but if you want to do it, don’t wait. Find just thirty minutes a day and a medium that will allow you to work with limited time. In the beginning, I worked with watercolor because it was fast. I did all my work at the kitchen table. Now I have a studio. It’s small, a converted bedroom, but, in there, it is my world!”
Schaar’s canvases reflect a world of vibrant colors, fluid forms, and unexpected contrasts. She rejects the tenets of realism and shies away from commissioned pieces so she can maintain full creative authority. “In art, like in life, you can’t please everyone,” she said. “Do what you want to do.”
Schaar is doing what she wants to do and pleasing many in the art community. Art-show recognition opened the door to exposure through galleries. Currently, Images Gallery in Denison counts her as a member, and the appeal of her work continues to spread. “My husband worked in Australia for a year. He showed some people pictures of my work, and they wanted to buy it,” she said, adding with a laugh, “I am an international artist.”
—Andrea Crowl
See Linda Schaar’s work at Images Gallery, “Cloves of Garlic,” “Spring Tulips.” 408 W. Main St., Denison, TX 75020 (903) 463-0408. Hours: Tue-Sat 10 a.m.-5 p.m. or visit online at www.smalltownbigart.com.