Sharolyn Schofield

Medium: Woodworking/Metals

CREATIVE BEGINNINGS: Sharolyn’s first encounter with metalwork was in a 6th grade shop class full of boys in Flint, Michigan, where she soldered and riveted together a little tin box. She was proud of it and her mother kept it. Many years later, a metalsmithing class she took just for fun at an Idaho university solidified how much she enjoyed melting metal into functional objects, and from there her life expanded into the world of art.

ARTISTIC PATH: Several years before Chris became Sharolyn’s lifelong partner, he completed his BFA in sculpture, and had created multiple public arts in various metals, stone, marble, concrete and other mediums. The only thing missing he said, was the female balance.

“He was right,” she said.

Only a few weeks after they met, Chris handed a welding torch to Sharolyn and she said, “Yes”. Their first big (of many big) sculptures was a city entrance — a 72-foot steel arch over a four lane underpass. Sharolyn had her structural welding certification by then, which sounds impressive, but really it just means welding thick metal to thick metal and having it pass while the inspector is looking over your shoulder.

Over the last 18 years, this dynamic duo raised four incredible kids AND somehow kept the bills paid with mostly art. A mix of residential and commercial, architectural and extraneous, they fabricated multiple children’s museum exhibits, headstones, intricate railings, entrances, and accents. They built huge Idaho potatoes that have become iconic; one that travels around the country on tour, one that became an Airbnb, and one that glows from inside and drops every New Year’s Eve in Boise. A recent project was a giant, realistic peanut that will soon become an Airbnb in Texas. Usually Bart — a giant pear — makes an appearance in their local Parkdale Pumpkin Parade. They’ve found that BIG art is fun art. 

INSPIRATION AND PROCESS: To supplement the unpredictable income of dual artists, Sharolyn and Chris ran a tree service up until they moved to the Gorge in 2020. The collection of logs and slabs came with them where, today, they find use in Sharolyn’s bespoke table builds. Her creations of aesthetically gratifying but amply functional furnishings have become her jam. While they have mostly been made-to-order custom builds, she’s looking forward to exploring the concept of making things she dreams up before they even have a buyer. Ah, the dreams of an artist! 

Typically, the wood piece Sharolyn chooses to work with helps determine the style of base it will have. She lays out various sized metal parts on the welding table, arranging them until they catch her eye, and the geometric structure makes sense. How and where the different pieces come together and line up are all little details she finds significant. She enjoys the little imbalances, like leaving a bit of steel corner exposed by the natural shape of the wood edges, or the organic way the metal responds to an acidic patina. Sharolyn’s life and work are both fluid and curious, imperfectly perfect.

LIFE AS A GORGE ARTIST: Sharolyn and Chris live in Parkdale and still work together almost every day, dreaming, designing, bantering, and building who-knows-what. For the last few years, in between projects, they’ve been building a sculpture of their own - Straw Zen: a modern, strawbale home that feels like a welcoming sanctuary for their busy family to have a place of rest and calm. While Sharolyn and Chris thrive in all of the year-round, outdoor adventures Mt. Hood has to offer, they really look forward to a day off to lay in the backyard meadow and do absolutely nothing but breathe.

HOW TO LEARN MORE:

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