Local Artist Inspired by Magic of Nature

Sharon Jo Serbin is creating magical worlds filled with childlike wonder through woodcarvings, glass art and fairy houses all designed to help people hold onto the innocence found in life and nature.

“You have to hold onto innocence, the mystery, the magic and the mermaids,” Serbin said. “It’s not being childish – it’s childlike. There’s a difference. We need that.”

Serbin, who calls her own work, “Wild Woman Creations,” is inspired by the peace, calm and love she finds in nature. Her work is on display at the until the end of February.

Serbin, who is hard of hearing, joked that she is inspired by nature and surrounding herself with animals because she “doesn’t have to read their lips.”

She said each piece she creates captures the magic she finds while hiking or camping.

“When you look at something, it’s not just a green leaf,” Serbin said. “There are colors behind it, and behind it, and behind it. There’s a story.”

Serbin of Highland Park started working in glass art about 11 years ago with her sister,

“She started doing stained glass and I went over one day and we started making them together,” Serbin said. “We have very different styles but we work in the same medium. She is like my muse.”

Davis said her own respect for her sister has no bounds.

"When I would bring boys home with my undeveloped self, she'd curve into the room and ask if anyone wanted to wrestle her," Davis said. "She is my hero. She is better at everything."

Serbin’s pieces of art inspire an escape into a story inspired by the beauty of nature. A small fox rests in a picture, while a young girl is seen walking in the woods in another. A mermaid sits on a rock while a waterfall is created from blue glass.

In addition to mosaics, Serbin also creates woodcarvings and combines the two art forms. Presently, she is working on a piece created from walnut wood. A door is opened to reveal a mosaic of glass – a “secret garden,” Serbin said.

“There’s beauty. There’s love. And too often people nowadays get so focused on their jobs and they don’t see the beauty in life. They don’t think of the beauty that surrounds them,” Serbin said. “Everything in life is art. Spiders make their webs. I want my art to make people feel things.”

Serbin also creates fairy houses from wood, along with tiny figurines in a series called, “A Wee Bit of Magic.”

“I would find pieces of furniture or a log and liked the shapes of them and thought, if I were a fairy or a wood nymph, I would live there,” Serbin said. “I cut open a door and cut it out and make floors and tiny furniture.”

Serbin works at Interplay on South Braddock Avenue as a supervisor for babies. She also is a massage therapist, reiki practitioner and fitness instructor. For more information on her art, e-mail sjserbin@msn.com.