During the pandemic, a friend sent Sharon Stone a paint-by-numbers kit to keep her busy, a gesture that opened up a new avenue of creative expression.
NEW YORK — During the pandemic, a friend sent Sharon Stone a paint-by-numbers kit to keep her busy, a gesture that opened up a new avenue of creative expression for the actor.
Known for her roles in films such as Casino and Basic Instinct, Stone discovered her love of painting and this week launched an exhibition of her giant canvases at the K. Parker Gallery in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Stone became frustrated with sticking to the lines and colors in her first set of paints and began creating her own abstract paintings using acrylic on canvas.
Over the past few years, she has set up a studio in her home where she works both inside and outside, and says she loves it because she always needs to be moving.
The exhibition, titled “Welcome to My Garden,” is only her second outing and features 19 of her striking works. Stone, 65, a mother of three sons, recently spoke with The Associated Press about creative inspiration, battling health problems and whether she would act again. Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
AP: How did you come to the idea of becoming an artist?
STONE: Museums allowed me to come when they were closed, so on Mondays I went to museums all over the world. That was incredible. I have lived and worked all over the world, both as an actress and as a peace activist and human rights activist. So, I saw so much outstanding art that it was almost like I got sort of an extra degree in art and art history, and it was just great. And this inspired me incredibly.
AP: Did this passion for painting start with paint-by-numbers and then quickly move to 6-by-8-foot canvases?
STONE: I like big ones. It just sends me painting on a big canvas. If I could get more… (laughs) I love drawing on a large scale, and this unlocked something in me. It touched something inside me. My first show was called Deliverance because I started to realize that I was getting rid of a lot of oppression. There’s a lot of “You have to do it this way.” You’re allowed to be creative, but that’s the way it has to be.”
AP: How do you know when a painting is finished?
STONE: This is the biggest discipline. Because in the beginning you can’t stop. Because you never feel, “This is it.” When I was preparing all this for this show, I put it all outside so I could see it all together. And then I ran around with this pallet. ‘Oh! Oh my God! (gesture, brush strokes) But then I thought: “You need to cool down.” Because you might ruin everything, and you might just ruin your art if you don’t stop. You may be past the point of no return.
AP: How do you feel when you paint?
STONE: I feel valued. Disciplined. I like working. And I like the goal. Art is purposeful. Art has a greater purpose for me. And we know that when we teach young people the arts, there is less recidivism in the prison system, and yet we take the arts out of schools.
AP: Do you still want to act?
STONE: I don’t have a lot of work as an actress. And the system didn’t really support me. At 41, I had a massive stroke and left alive. My chances of survival were from 1 to 5%. Everyone thought I was going to die. So many, many, many bad things happened to me because people thought I was dead. My bank account somehow went to zero while I was in the hospital, my money disappeared. I lost custody of my child. My career is over. All this happened. I am having a very serious brain attack. And I tried to hide it for years because I wanted to get back into business. And if you have a disability, that doesn’t work in my industry. And so I hid in my condition for many, many, many years. And that’s who I am. I am a woman with a brain attack. I have a disability and drawing helped me get rid of the anxiety I had. I was just so worried… that I wouldn’t be okay and that I wouldn’t be accepted. And I was able to let go of all that fear and trauma of not being accepted, not being able to work in my community. And guess what? They didn’t really want me anyway. They weren’t going to let me back in and I’m okay with that.
AP: You draw almost every day, what motivates you?
STONE: I love it, and I love that it brings so much joy to people. It’s just like that. It brings such pleasure. And I love it when people come into the studio and say, “Wow, we didn’t know!”