Sharon Whitby

Sharon Whitby is a watercolor painter based in Madison, Wisconsin, who came to art after years as a dental hygienist. That first career taught her a steady hand, patience with small details, and the habit of looking closely at what is right in front of her. After training at Madison Area Technical College, she went on to take continuing studies in watercolor at UW–Madison. She has painted flowers ever since, and she waits all year for one season in particular. In July the prairie plantings around Madison’s lakes turn pale purple with wild bergamot. The mornings are damp, and the paper stays wet as long as she needs it to.

Sharon works in transparent watercolor on soft-sized cotton paper, letting pigment bloom and pool so each petal keeps its light. She paints flowers through every month, though she’ll tell you that her January pieces are really memories of July. Her loose, airy florals have an easy boho warmth. They feel at home in sunlit living rooms, calm bedrooms, and breakfast nooks, and in any entryway that could use a breath of summer prairie. Below are Whitby’s canvases in our shop, ready to hang.