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Written by DANIELLA BRODSKY Photography by CAROL MILLER Only artists with a storehouse of integrity can remain as true to their visions as Denver native Sharon Shuster Anhorn of Designata has to hers. Incredibly, a single word has made all the difference in her tack. "I discovered the root of 'enthusiasm,' which in Greek is 'en theos,' or 'the gods within,' explains Shuster Anhorn. "This idea made it easy for me to make decisions about my artwork: if I'm not enthusiastic about the direction I'm taking, then I'm not listening to my true self." For something to be art, she believes, it has to be personal in some way. One look at her dramatic metal ceilings, wall friezes, stained glass work or paintings, and the profound effect of this viewpoint is clear. Shuster Anhorn lives and works in the artist community of Loveland, known for its dual show-Sculpture in the Park and the Loveland Sculpture Invitational. "I knew I'd be a fish out of water here, because I'm not a bronze sculptor," says Shuster Anhorn of her move nine years ago to the town known and equipped mainly for that type of work. "But now the scene is growing. More and more artists here are working in other media," which is good news for Shuster Anhorn, who often contracts artists for the hand-rendered relief work her metal pieces require. Educated as an interior designer at the University of Denver, Shuster Anhorn started in that profession at the Mission Viejo showroom in 1971. But a visit to a crafts fair changed her artistic fate: "I saw some stained glass booths, and impulsively signed up for a class." In two weeks she'd quit her "very well-paying job;" after several kyboshed pay raise offers, her employer caught on. It wasn't about the money. "I had really, truly found my passion." |
 Glass was the focus of Shuster Anhorn's work for 20 years, when she was presented with a challenge: to hang glass on walls, and still achieve a reflective, window-light effect. The quest took her to New Mexico to study tinwork, and she began making her frames in the Mexican-inspired way, eventually integrating the metal into the glass. Embossed metal became her trademark; commissions rolled in, and the rest is art history. With passionate, personal research that takes Shuster Anhorn from Ute reservations to wildflower hikes, you never know what she'll create next. designata.net; 970.278.1804 |