NEWS
Lions and tigers and…well, no bears
Feb. 16, 2011 — Africa is on display in the halls of Abram Lansing
Elementary School, where an exhibition of works by talented, local
artist Mark Joseph Sharer can be viewed through the month of March.
At the request of Principal Cliff Bird, the artist has loaned a
number of his natural history paintings and items from his collection to
the school as they continue their studies of African history and
culture.
The artist, an Albany native, has traveled to Africa, where he sketches and takes photographs of wildlife in their natural habitats. From there, with painstaking detail, he creates paintings that have twice earned him entrance to a renowned international art exhibition. In 2008 and again in 2010, his works were entered into The Art of the Animal Kingdom XV at the Bennington Center for the Arts.
In a recent interview in the weekly newspaper, Metroland, Mr. Sharer, credits his time taking private lessons with natural history painting masters John Seerey-Lester and Robert Bateman, as having spurred his progress and success as a painter. He also holds an art degree from Russell Sage College and has taken art courses at the University of South Florida.
