I’m sharon mcDaniel. i hope that you’ll enjoy my colorful, expressionistic art!

Background: As a child, like most artists, I always loved to draw, color and paint. When I got into school, art was my favorite subject. In high school I really got busy!! I realized how much I loved art, and I found myself painting all of the time.

Through the years, I’ve painted sporadically, most often using acrylic mediums on traditional stretched canvases and panels. When I reached my mid 60’s, I discovered my first “Tarahumara” hand crafted, primitive drum.

The Tarahumara, or Rarámuri (meaning “light-footed ones”), are and Indigenous Group of about 50,000 to 70,000 people living in the rugged canyons and highlands of the sierra madre occidental in Chihuahua, Mexico. They are globally renowned for their semi-nomadic farming lifestyle, unique spiritual beliefs, and superhuman long-distance endurance running capabilities. (Google) 

“Black Crow Sojourn” was the first painting I created on a “Tarahumara”, goat hide drum. to the finished drum, I added multi-color cord, leather, feathers, and beads.  That first drum really ignited something in me, as I’m sure I’ve painted, and sold, more than 50-75 drums of numerous sizes since that time!

Today, my favorite canvas continues to be rawhide; rawhide drums, drum sticks, rattles, in addition to leather medicine bags and more. Now, I frequently craft my own drums, drum sticks, rattles, and leather medicine bags. I paint a lot of expressionistic and colorful, whimsical art, but I also enjoy the challenge of painting animals. Southwestern and Native American designs have also become my painting subjects; after 40+ years, the desert has become a place of quiet beauty for me.

In addition, I enjoy teaching and encouraging others. I love to see the spark in an art maker’s eyes when they feel accomplished and proud, even amazed, as they hold up their finished art.