Sharon Ascherl is a self-taught artist who has been drawing and painting as far back as her memories take her. She grew up and still lives near the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland.
Many of her inspirations for her work come from this land that is steeped in history and beauty. Ascherl draws a lot of her ideas for her paintings from her rich German-French heritage. When she was a little girl she loved listening to the stories that her grandparents, great aunts, great uncles, and her parents would tell of the old times. Stories such as her paternal great grandparents who had eighteen children, seventeen boys and the last to be born was a girl! They raised this large family on their farm in Maryland. Her maternal great grandfather was a "jack of all trades." Among his many jobs were farmer and oysterman on the Chesapeake Bay.
Each one of Sharon’s paintings tells a story. One that she hopes will transport you back to a simpler time—a time when daily chores, family, church, and community wove the rich tapestry of everyday life.
In addition to being selected for the Directory of Traditional American Crafts several times, Ascherl was recognized as an emerging artist by the 2009 Ann Marie Garden Artfest in Solomons, Maryland. Her painting, "A Maryland Crabfeast," was chosen for the 2009 AARP calendar. All of Sharon’s giclee’ prints are titled, signed, and numbered by her personally.
The entry deadline for the 2023 Directory of
Traditional American Crafts has passed. We are now processing entries and submitting
them to our jurors. We will contract entrants after the jurors have made ther decisions.