Renaissance Woman Sharon L. Safran

Sharon L. Safran is constantly evolving as an artist. The Annandale resident has dabbled in drawing, watercolors, weaving, stone sculpture, ceramics, jewelry and most recently, silk painting. She felt inspired to explore different medium because of her strong connection to nature. “I just see so much beauty around me that other people don’t see,” said Safran. “I’m always searching and looking for new answers. I’m very perceptive.”

Safran was able to learn so many crafts because she taught each of them. The Massachusetts native was an art teacher for more than 30 years. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts from Boston University and a Master of Art Education from the Rhode Island School of Design. “I wanted to be a painter but it wasn’t feasible with a young daughter,” Safran said. “I have always taught art and loved it and it’s always been a big part of my life.” 

She taught elementary school, junior high and high school students in Lawrence Township public schools for 25 years. She also worked at Trenton State College and even taught the late Christopher Reeve when he was seven years old at the Princeton Art Association. The artist has also written articles for The National Art Education Journal and School Arts Magazine.

Safran and her husband moved to Annandale in 1994 when he was offered a job with Alexandria Hospital. She began teaching children at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Northern Virginia on Little River Turnpike. She also held weaving classes for JCC children in her home for a few years. Then she got into silk dying and stopped teaching completely. Since 1998, she has focused solely on her own work.

She dyes and paints scarves, neckties and blouses. “I have always been very interested in texture and because my beginnings were in painting, I started using paper and different materials on top of my oil paints when I was younger because I felt the need for texture,” she said. “As I’ve matured and gone though different phases of my life, I’ve become more interested in pattern design and layers of color on top of each other and how they interact with each other. That for me has been a fascination.”

One of Safran’s oldest friends and fellow artist Bobbi Gorban described one of her favorite scarves made by the silk painter. “I asked Sharon if she could embellish one of her painted scarves with the stamp of a woman’s face, which is something I use in my own art,” Gorban said. “She agreed to embellish the scarf with that motif which made it very special to me.”

Safran works with batik, a cloth used with a multiple wax-resist dyeing technique. “I am intrigued by the intensity of the colors and the way they flow together,” she said. “It’s just very exciting - the emerging of colors, new colors connecting with other colors and primary colors becoming secondary colors. When you remove the wax, you can see all the colors and it’s very interesting.”

Customer Lisa Hylton said Safran creates the most magnificent designs with this technique. “I’m always amazed at people who have this sense of creativity and the ability to see something before it’s formed,” Hylton said. “That is what I’ve noticed in the years that I’ve known Sharon. Her work evolves every time she creates a piece. I’m just fascinated and admire what she creates.” 

Safran sells her work at Artisans United’s craft gallery in Annandale and at other galleries in the area including Artisphere in Arlington. Her work can also be purchased on her Artisan’s Street website.

This mother of four and grandmother of eight is in no hurry to slow down. This May, the JCC will present Safran’s exhibit A Colorful Life: A Retrospective Of Sharon L. Safran’s Multidimensional Art. The retrospective will include work spanning her entire career, from watercolors to scarves. “I’ve had many exhibits in my lifetime, but I’m really excited about this one,” she said.

Editor's Note: A previous version of this article indicated Safran used a batik cloth with a "manual wax-resist dyeing technique". The article has been amended to change that to "multiple wax-resist dyeing technique".  Actor Christopher Reeve's last name was mispelled "Reeves" and has been corrected.