Sheryl Langdon's Beautiful Balancing Act

Nov. 6, 2015

Over the years, Traverse City artist Sheryl Langdon has displayed her creativity in several media, including botanical painting, printmaking, photography, papermaking, book arts, colored pencils, precious metal, clay and, most recently, jewelry.

“When I’m making jewelry, certain stones literally seem to tell me what to do with them,” she said. “I try to balance the raw with the refined, the heavy with the iridescent, the old with the new, the dull with the sparkle to help them to be seen in a different and elegant way.”

Born in Illinois, Langdon grew up in the Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe. She attended Michigan State University and, later, Wayne State University, where she began her formal education in fine arts, studying drawing and painting under John Haggerty, metalsmithing under Phil Fike, and also photography and sculpture. She later took art classes at Oakland Community College and earned a degree in graphic design at Northwestern Michigan College. Langdon went abroad to study multi-media art during a six-week visit to the Glasgow School of Art through a program affiliated with Central Michigan University. The experience took her to Scotland, England and Paris. She later earned a BFA in illustration and graphic design from Central Michigan University.

Her jewelry displays contrasts and opposition. Heavy stones are offset by light bones. Contrasting textures highlight her pieces. Dark and light are side by side.

“I am fascinated by the contrast between raw organic material like unpolished stones, bones, fossils and interiors of the iridescent, light-infused gems, pearls, shells,” she said. “Each enhances the depth and beauty of its opposite.”

HOW I GOT STARTED

I have loved all things related to art and nature for as long as I can remember. As a small child I could amuse myself for hours sitting in a gravel driveway searching for pretty stones. My mother used to tease me that I would “run away with the gypsies” if they would tempt me with sparkly beads or jewelry. Throughout my life I have continued to work and play in various artistic mediums: drawing, printmaking, photography, sculpture, papermaking and book design, metalsmithing, drawing medical illustrations for Munson Medical Center, product illustrations for the Oryana newsletter, store signage, letterheads, etc. In recent years, I have been designing, making and marketing jewelry as a creative outlet and balance to a very demanding and stressful non-art-related job. Since retiring a year ago, in addition to jewelry, I am beginning to expand my artist pursuits to again include some two-dimensional work.

THE STORY BEHIND MY ART, MY INSPIRATION

I am inspired by everything around me: the everchanging hues and fluidity of the sky and water; the vibrant colors of an autumn tree scape that can literally take your breath away; the warmth of a lover’s touch or smile; a baby’s tiny hand grasping your finger; a pet’s unconditional love; the beauty and majesty, ebb and flow, dark and light of everything around us. I guess, by all of life. ‘Art is life, life is art.’

WORK I’M MOST PROUD OF

I can’t point to one particular piece of art. I was proud of a human service brochure I designed, for which I received first place in a New York graphic design competition, a silver ring for which I received an award in metalsmithing at Wayne State, and the two illustrations for which I received first place and a scholarship award at NMC. Generally, I tend to like best the most recent piece I have completed.

YOU WON’T BELIEVE

That I once was a shoe model. In my 20s I worked in a boutique where we carried a lot of unusual shoes. I was asked to model some and eventually ended up doing local and national shows. Also, I once worked as a labor negotiator, but all the time I was working, I was also doing art.

MY FAVORITE ARTIST

Mother Nature. Among humans I have many favorites: Cezanne, Van Gogh, Gustav Klimt, Wassily Kandinsky, Egon Schiele.

ADVICE FOR ASPIRING YOUNG ARTISTS

It’s easy to say ‘Just do it,’ but I know from personal experience that the reality of life and its obligations to self and others — paying the rent, raising the kids — can often interfere with one’s artistic endeavors and cause frustration and discouragement. When that happens, I think you need to find a small space in your life to pursue some sort of an artistic outlet to keep the juices flowing and the talent alive. Look around you and pay attention to details. Go to art galleries and museums. Read books. Soak in the beauty and the horror. It’s all material that feeds your soul and will influence your art and contribute to your creative expression.

MY WORK CAN BE SEEN/PURCHASED

Live For Art Gallery in Beulah, at the Livingstone Studio on Beaver Island, at the Susan Oliver Art Center in Frankfort and at the Dennos Museum Holiday Art Fair. Also by appointment at shari.langdon64@gmail.com.