1999–2006 Artist Expands
into New Career

White bedsheets - Artist canvas
Sitting in my recovery bed, staring at
white sheets; I imagined my white sheets
as art canvas to be painted. The direction
of my artist life would be changed forever
by entering the world of quilted fiber arts.

It would be a medium that I could focus on, while managing a painful recovery. It was the beginning of the mural sized Healing Buddha quilt created by envisioning a peaceful temple atmosphere.

Website designer
I continued to expand and apply my talents to web design and development. By the year 2000,
I was AMTP certified putting myself on the cutting edge of technology and continuing to promote my own artwork.

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Arriving in Chicago, USA in 1987,
I worked on projects utilizing my talents in multiple fields. My client list included Sears, National Dairy Corp., Rubicon Films, Amway and Hyatt Travel etc. I was publicly visible as a principal actress on TV (Unsolved Mysteries) and as well as commercials for Krafts, Motorola, Citicorp, Kohler Corporation and others.

Fine Art defined as Fiber
At a time when quilts were still being perceived as grandma’s crafts, I completed mural sized textiles each requiring 2,000+ hours to create and exhibited them along side contemporary renown fine artists, resisting against the tide of how Fine art was then, being defined.

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By 1999, I exhibited at a major Chicago gallery displaying my fiber art quilts with 68 other contemporary Fine Artists, including David Abed, Ed Paschke and Michele Mitchell causing controversy while challenged by the struggle to be seen publicly with Fiber arts, a medium that had not yet been totally embraced by society as an acceptable art form.

In the 1970’s, I continued my art studies in Sweden for eight years with Tjeerd Ackema, (Sweden’s leading artist & book illustrator, a favored student of M. C. Escher). I studied with renowned artists in Europe, including Erte and Lebadang–exhibiting my FineArt work in European and local galleries.

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After 5 decades of art & design
experience--I encourage color awareness.
All colors, even the ugly colors,
can be beautiful–when used elegantly.
Sharon DeLaCruz

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IKEA an educational opportunity
My living experience in Almhult,Sweden
brought me into company and exposure
to some of the top artists, illustrators
and designers working for the Art Agency
who's client list included one of Sweden's
leading home furnishings, IKEA. In it's
infancy stage, I was able to see the gradual development of their business as it spread
national, and three decades later how IKEA
spread internationally. Observing the
1,000s of drawings being prepared for
pre-press, the IKEA catalog was an invaluable
artist experience; which grounded me in
the basics of display and good design sense.
It taught me how to sell and promote an
entire lifestyle, rather than just a single
product. I learned that I could transform
my world around me by small measurable
acts, which would eventually grow into
my dreams come true.
2-19-2009 

I traveled to Sweden to continue my post college graduate program. While studying with one of Sweden’s reknown Illustators, Tjeerd Ackema;
I attended Medbargarskolan art academy in Malmo. I had the opportunity to research
at Lund University while socializing
with (art admirers) the Baroness & Baron
Carl G. Bekfriis of Le Harg
personal friends of the Swedish King
and Queen Sylvia.

My Fiber Art wall hangings reflect Swedish influence, which combine unique techniques of imaginary Ink line drawings, contemporary stencil paintings, and traditional bead working learned from a native Swedish instructor, Eliza Halvagaard. In my work, I use familiar color schemes, popularly loved, that match the elegant Scandinavian home and personal taste of many.

I studied, traveled, received awards, working in Central European countries, the Middle East and the Mediterranean; and later traveling throughout Japan, Indonesia, Nepal, Mexico, South America – I integrated the richness of world cultures into my art.   

Contact Information
Sharon DeLaCruz
www.mycreativemoments.com
Email the artist 

My Project is
to choose success and
never give-up.

My Project is
to find a solution to any
given circumstance.

My Project is
to continue exploring WHO I am
so I can inspire others.

My Project is
to continue developing my skills
at Legal art / Trial graphics.

My Project is
to inspire others to live their
dreams.

My Project is
to bring eco-awareness through
developing a line of 100% cotton
canvas, fabric material products.
Aprons, tote bags handpainted.


My Project is
Create and design unique wool
scarves for special people
who want to express their power of individuality.

My Project is
to encourage well-being through
the beauty of my art and gallery exhibits.

My Project is
to re-design original ink drawings
through a silk screen process
to bring quality at affordable pricing.

My Project is
to let my imagination create
for stage, theater plays,
children books and eventually
a film of my life.

Childhood memories--Artist, Sharon DeLaCruz, November 2008

Travel influence
I was born 1953 in Honolulu, Hawaii, traveling to the mainland USA, then off to Paris, France, Mannheim, Germany, London, UK, immigrating to Malmo, Sweden etc... My father a doctor, had a military assignment and my mother a U.S. agency position, so we lived in several very nice places throughout Europe in my formative years. I had my own time and felt freedom. Living in such a colorful journey in life and extracting from the sights and sounds of childhood has influenced the artmaking of my current work.

Living with passion
In my childhood adults were strict, but generally kind to children, and I could use buses and walk freely in the apple orchards and vineyards on my own, I felt very safe. I loved the garlic cuisine foods and the smell of freshly baked breads. My teenage idol was Joan of Arc of Orleans, France. At a young age, I wanted to be passionate about life and "live my life with a cause". I was part of the flower children epic of the 1970's revolution not by choice, it merely happened the world unfolding around me.

Cultural exposure
My best memories of the 1960's were of the tropical island beach sunshine to the Parisian art museums, high-end fashion boutiques, the youthful Foursome Beatles playing at my high school lunch cafeteria for $1.00 (u.s.dollar) and ballet. There were many ballets, especially the Russian ballet companies who came to visit. Besides having full cultural exposure at a very young age, there were the high Alpine ski mountains in France. There were the waterways, fiords and fresh air of Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The bright lights canvassing the skies, the Aurora Borealis made me feel the vastness of the universe. It was a beautiful place to be out in nature, winter or summer or to walk on cobblestones to a nearby cafe with the sounds of accordion playing throughout the alley ways of intricate winding streets.

The Garden
To me, I imagined the world to be a wonderful garden! To look through the eyes of an innocent child, even the stones in the cemetary blocks were beautiful works of art and plenty of unknown people to "converse with" in mental communication with the past. Today the world is smaller, because technology connects everyone in a special way and nothing is hidden any longer.

Inner resources
As a visual Artist, I appreciate architecture everywhere. At an earlier time when there was no email technology available, we wrote letters and patiently awaited for a reply. Absent of television, computers or cellular or home telephones, was a very good way for me to develop creatively and social skills by daily visits from neighboring children. The passage of "time" felt endless and went on forever, there was so much of it! Eternity was bliss. I relaxed and held onto my dreams. I lived isolated in my artist world that was timeless. I created art from the earliest times in my life; drawing in the sandy beaches or digging in the mud holes, scraping designs with needles on floor tiles of our home, braided designs out of my own hair.

Hand work place "handverkergaaten" brings abundance in life
Why are hands so important to an artist? For me, I work with my hands on many projects: carving soap sculptures, bead jewelry, sew clothes, seam-up boots, shoes, crochet scarves, draw, paint, sculpt and completed many "how to make" kits or paint-by-numbers. I meticulously decorated food on my plate. Life has always been full of artful activities, a common thread that has never ceased to permeate my life. There exists an abundance in my life, because what ever I did not have, I created it. There are always possibilities to exchange, to give generously and observe the returns.