Sharon Forthofer grew up in northern Indiana on a farm.  She has always loved being outdoors and drawing.  Her sister, Susan Ring is also an artist.  Sharon earned a masters degree in education and taught for 23 years in Indiana before moving to Sikeston, Missouri in 1998.

Having retired from teaching and with time to focus on art, Sharon joined the Bootheel Regional Art Guild in Sikeston.   She studied oil painting with Cleda Curtis-Neal for several years and plein air painting with Billyo O'Donnell of Missouri.  Sharon participated in many painting workshops throughout the country and in Europe to improve her skills.  She now enjoys painting the beauty of still life set-ups and landscapes with oils. 

Living in the temperate weather of Austin, Texas for two years, Sharon enjoyed many opportunities for plein air painting.  She was a member of Plein Air Austin, the Texas Watercolor Society, and the Outdoor Painters Society.  She also joined the New Braunfels Art League and the Wimberley Valley Art League.

Sharon and her husband, Jerry, now reside in Rockwell, North Carolina which is near Charlotte.  She is a member of  Plein Air Carolina and Oil Painters of America.  Her studio is at the Rail Walk Studios and Gallery in Salisbury, North Carolina. 

Tanglewood Brushstrokes is a fine art business that Sharon began in Missouri.  Sharon sells her artwork through this website.  She also has paintings available at Rail Walk Gallery and Fine Frame Gallery in Salisbury, NC, Coffey & Thompson Art Gallery in Charlotte, NC, and Gallery Zella in Bryson City, NC.