Sharon Myers is using her affinity for drawing to do some good.
Myers, a Waltonville resident, sells her drawings of birds and abstract art and then donates the funds she raised to help terminal cancer patients and others in need, she said.
“I’ve loved to do art ever since I was a small child,” she said. “I went back to school in 1992, where I learned pointillism.”
Myers said she prefers to draw in the methods of stippling or pointillism, using small dots to create an image, rather than line drawing.
“I don’t know if you’d consider me an artist yet,” she said. “I’ve always loved art. It calms me down, especially the stippling. I started drawing when I was five years old.”
Myers said she has dedicated her life to God and helping others.
“I’ve seen people preach, sing and teach, and my gift from God is art,” Myers said.
Myers sells her drawings and then signs the checks over to several different community ministers, who make sure the money goes to someone who needs it, she said.
“I want to help people who have been through any kind of tragedy,” she said. “If I sell one, I write a check and contact Human Services. I like to help someone who might have a terminal illness, someone who’s needy. I give the money to three different ministers, and they take care of it. It’s in God’s hands.”
Myers said the loss of her best friend to cancer has raised in her a special affection for people with terminal illnesses.
“My best friend was 87 and she had cancer, and she set a prize example, a learning experience in life,” she said. “She died a horrible, horrible death. She called me in Sept. 2009 and said she was in so much pain and didn’t want to live that way.”
Myers said she gave her friend a drawing of a cardinal, and looking at the drawing was something she enjoyed doing before she died. Myers said her friend had her husband move her chair so she could look at the drawing.
“She taught me it was better to give than receive ... she brought me back to God and needing people,” Myers said. “When I moved here 27 years ago, all I had was a dining room table. If it weren’t for people helping me, I wouldn’t be here.”
Myers said the Bible and art have helped to get through life.
“They taught me about myself, the dark light that’s inside all of us, the multiple personalities,” she said, “and that you get out of life what you put into it.”
Myers has had hard times herself. She said she had to drop out of college after being diagnosed with vestibular neuronitis, a swelling of the inner ear. She is a survivor of kidney cancer and is estranged from her daughter.
“I hope to someday have a relationship with my daughter,” she sighed. “But if I hadn’t been where I’ve been, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I like it just like it is.”
She has decorated her home with pictures of birds — both birds she has owned and wild birds.
“I have an affinity for birds,” she said. “I can communicate with them.” She said she learned how to understand birds’ body language from her pet bird Lemon Drop, who lived for 17 and a half years.
Myers said selling her drawings can often be difficult for her.
“Letting go of my art is like letting go of a child I gave birth to,” she said. “If you can’t give back, what have you got?”
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Sharon Myers, a Waltonville resident, poses with her drawings. Myers said she sells her drawings and then donates the funds to terminal cancer patients. RORYE O’CONNOR/REGISTER-NEWS
Waltonville artist uses her talent for drawing to help others
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