Photo: filmdigital//MEGA
Sharon Stoneis sharing her love for painting.
TheBasic Instinctactress, 65, discussed rediscovering her passion for the art withThe Art Newspaperahead of the opening of her first solo gallery exhibition called “Shedding.”
She toldthe outlet that art had been a part of her lifesince she was a child, as she had received painting lessons from her Aunt Vonne, who had studied it in college. Stone followed in her footsteps, taking up painting while at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania, which enabled her to visit “museums all over the world when they’re closed.”
She recalled it had been “an extraordinary experience” at the time, but ultimately had to put painting to the side as her acting career took off. Painting was something that she wouldn’t return to for decades until the COVID pandemic happened.
“I bought real brushes and I started to regain my control, my brush movements,” Stone said. “I painted and painted and painted, and I re-found myself. I re-found my heart. I re-found my center.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
She said she would often be told to “stay in her lane” throughout her life, but this time to any naysayers, she would tell them, “How do you know this isn’t my lane? How do you know that painting isn’t my real lane?”
She said she decided on the name “Shedding” for her gallery, which opens April 7, to symbolize shedding different kinds of things like her Hollywood persona or even loss.
"I lost my family — my film family — I lost my personal family, many members of my family died," she said. “My brother had a heart attackandhis 11-month-old son diedof crib death; my godmother died, and my grandmother died.”
Earlier this month, while being honored at the An Unforgettable Evening benefit gala for the Women’s Cancer Research Fund, she revealed that she was dealing with several challenges in her life.
“I justlost half my money to this banking thing, and that doesn’t mean that I’m not here. My brother just died, and that doesn’t mean that I’m not here. This is not an easy time for any of us,” she said while encouraging people to donate.
“This is a hard time in the world, but I’m telling you what, I’m not having some politician tell me what I can and cannot do, tell me I can and cannot live and what the value of my life is and is not,” Stone added, referring to women’s rights. “So stand up. Stand up and say what you’re worth, I dare you. That’s what courage is.”
source: people.com
