Artist Profile: Sharon Payne Bolton

In 2008, Sharon Payne Bolton moved here from Ketchum, Idaho, with her two sons and husband, Capt. Harry Bolton, who had landed a job at the Maritime Academy.

Not thrilled about leaving the Idaho mountains, Payne Bolton enrolled in art school to soothe her soul. Balancing two young boys with her full-time school schedule wasn't easy, but she had her eye on a fine arts degree. One month in, Payne Bolton discovered she was pregnant but finished the semester. “So I was making something else,” she says, grinning.

While checking out the arsenal art community, Payne Bolton met artists and Bill Harsh. Luckily, a studio had just become available, so she moved into it in March 2008. Neighboring artists told her about in May and she signed up, not knowing what she'd exhibit. Payne Bolton retrieved some of her artwork for the event while on a trip back to Idaho and just like that, she was a Benicia artist.

Payne Bolton's work is mostly assemblage shadow boxes, handmade books and jewelry. She takes mixed media to a whole new level with found objects such as rusty wire and tiny bottles and encaustic beeswax medium. “My mind is always creating even if I'm not using my hands. Some of my pieces are designed unconsciously while I'm asleep, some just show up one day.”

She makes the boxes out of reclaimed wood then fills them with treasures such as rusty skeleton keys, old electronics, typewriter keys, vintage jewelery, spotted bird eggs, old black and white photographs and book pages. “When people look at my art, I want them to see something unique, something they've never seen before, something undiscovered, yet, possibly vaguely familiar.”

The found-object obsession began while living in France. Some materials are rescued, others come to her as gifts. One art piece features a pocket watch that belonged to Ben Alexander when he played officer Frank Smith on Dragnet. Payne Bolton's tiny books are filled with images, scraps of old text and dainty objects. The book she made for her 14-year old son has photos of him in Europe, made to look like vintage black and whites.

Payne Bolton recently took a jewelry class and learned to crochet beads within fiber, make cocoon-wrapped beads and tiny books made of resin. She refashioned a vintage sewing-notion box for her jewelry supplies. “I love it. I was practically sleeping with it. It was right next to my bed.”

For fun, Payne Bolton plays basketball and softball. She played basketball in Idaho, and being the only girl, was the ed on the co-ed team. She played in France on an all-girls national team. Last summer she took all three boys in a motor-home to Idaho for the Sun Valley Art Festival. She immediately got onto two sports teams and played 14 games within her first two weeks. The 5-foot-10 super-mom is not slowing down, either: “I just got on a basketball team here with mostly men. Our first game is Sunday.”

So is she an athlete who does art or an artist who plays sports? It depends on whom you ask. “People I play softball with think that's all I do. Some Benicia people think I'm just an artist. Actually, I'm a student, an art student, a basketball student ...”

With boys ages 14, 10 and 21 months, it's a wonder how Payne Bolton does it all. “With three kids, you have to manage your time. It does just keep getting better,” she explains. “Life has rough times in the road. Its almost crippling at times. It's really amazing to pull through it and be able to come through the other side... to be able to say, 'Ah, I had to go through that to get here.' ”

This 44-year old Renaissance women exudes passion for everything she does. She make tags that say bon fortune, which means good luck. “I am really lucky. I have three incredible children, a great, wonderful, loving, supportive husband, and I get to come here every day. I consider it a privilege to be able to create.”

What's next for the artsy-athletic-mom? “I really want to start teaching classes,” she says. On Saturday and Sunday, Payne Bolton's work will be on exhibit in Colors of Carquinez at the Desmond Victorian, 204 Bay St., Crockett.