A resident artist
Oil Painting for Pub
As I visited the Prudential Network Realty’s Sawgrass office last month for a photo page, one of the agents, Sharon Leahy, pulled me into her office to show me something I thought everyone else should see her paintings.
Leahy has been doing watercolor painting for approximately 25 years and has taken her talent to work with her by painting houses that other Realtors have sold.
“I also work in oil and acrylics,” said Leahy, who has done pencil drawings since childhood. “I started painting watercolor homes for Realtors about three years ago. However, I did paintings of homes prior to that as commissioned work while living in Key West.”
Key West house
When Leahy finishes a watercolor for her or clients of other Realtors, she has the painting scanned and creates 20 note cards with their home on the front.
“They like the idea of being able to share their new home with family and friends,” said Leahy. “I’ve painted some watercolors for people who were leaving their long-time home to move into a retirement or nursing home. They especially like having these images to take with them of the home where they lived with their children and grandchildren.”
Leahy said she enjoys art because she likes seeing a blank canvas or paper and watching it come to life.
“The most difficult paintings I did were for (fellow Prudential agent) Rosemary Kristoff,” she said. “She commissioned me to do paintings of several Greek altars as gifts for her priest.”
House in snow scene.
Leahy usually takes photos of houses before she paints them.
“I do some paintings from photographs, especially when someone wants me to do a painting of their parents’ or grandparents’ homes,” she said. “I prefer to take my own photos when possible so I can make sure the colors and details are correct.”
Other than her office and home, Leahy is not currently showing her art anywhere, although her work is in private collections in Germany, France, England and the U.S.
“We lived in Saudi Arabia and I did paintings there which were quite different than what I do presently,” she said. “My first note cards were from paintings I did there [and] were purchased by the U.S. Consulate.”
Leahy is a veteran of the U. S. Marine Corps and has been a Realtor with Prudential Network Realty for almost six years.
A Realtor needs your support
Lori Stephens of Watson Realty’s Intracoastal office has a daughter with autism.
The Autism Society of Greater Jacksonville Autism Awareness Walk will be held at the Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens on Sept. 29, and Stephens is hoping to see many Realtors there. Donations from the event will benefit the chapter programs and annual operational costs. You can register for the walk at www.firstgiving.com/ASGJ.
“The walk will proceed through Africa, the Giraffe Loop and Savanna Blooms,” said Stephens. “After winding through the South America Loop, the walk will end at center stage in the Jaguar area and enjoy music from Radio Disney. At this time, you may remain at the zoo all day if you like.”
Stephens said she already has a huge group from several Watson Realty offices participating, along with members of the public defenders office and various groups around town, but she could always use more participants.
“Our team is called Rally for Reilly in Stamping out Autism One Step at A Time,” said Stephens. “My daughter has an autism-related disability, therefore the cause is dear to my heart. One out of every 150 babies is born with autism or a related disability, so the chances of you knowing someone affected by this disease are possible if not probable.”
We’re moving in!
Before
After
Our house is finally done. It’s been a long nine months, but it’s done. I sure have learned a lot about the construction of a home. Its takes a lot of patience and flexibility because things definitely don’t always go according to plan.