After two marriages, and raising four children, 50-year-old Sharon Somerville did something brave. She revisited a path she always wanted to explore but never had the time. She enrolled in art school. After studying drawing close to home in Indianapolis, Somerville chose to study abroad in Ireland, where she produced this series of woodcut lithographs. Somerville’s story is one of sacrifice, undying creativity, and a feeling of liberation for finally being able to put herself first. Now in her late-80s, Somerville takes as much pride in her talent as she does in her family, her other legacy. Her story is a true testament that it is never too late to make a change, learn new things, and forge a better and happier life for oneself.
Listen to Somerville’s story in her own words.
This object is part of the “Personal Growth” section of the Artifacts of Experience exhibition designed by University of Cincinnati students in the “Introduction to Public History” course in 2023.
We encourage you to explore the other objects in our collection.
Transcript
Sharon Somerville: My name is Sharon Hall-Somerville. I was born in 1936, and that makes me 87, I think. These were done when I was in Ireland for summer school, and we took our own professor with us [for this project]. My school was on the far side of Galway Bay from Galway. We could see Galway lights coming on in the evening from our front porch. We were two miles from that little town, so to get groceries or fast food, which they had very little of in the countryside, we had a two mile walk [each way]. I started art school when I was 50-something, and graduated when I was 57, I believe. When I was little, if I had to stay in because of weather or a bad cold or something like that, they gave me a pencil & pad, and I drew whatever I saw. Which is kind of bizarre, I wasn’t interested in what little kids drew. I wanted to see things in the room, or in my bedroom . I might have been five or six [when] I drew the pattern on my quilt. Always, always loved art. I went to two little high schools, they didn’t offer art at that time, but we’re talkin’ a long, long time ago . When my kids were raised, and I had enough money, I went to the Arts Center in Broad Ripple. I took drawing first, and then painting, and I knew immediately that I was not a painter. And so my teacher suggested that I present some things to John Herron Art, and they suggested I go into Art History and Printmaking, and that’s what I continued with all the time. Oh, we still do art. Four of us, we’re old ladies, we go out to lunch and we go to the art museum. We see what’s new and what’s old that they collect. We’re still all doing art. I can’t do the woodcuts anymore because of my hands, but I’m going to buy some linocuts. They’re made on linoleum. My friends said they are easier on your hands, so I’m gonna try a couple. Well, I got to go to school old. I started at Herron when I was like 50, and that was because my kids were raised, out on their own, and I had some money.