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Thursday 12pm - 5pm Friday 12pm - 5pm Saturday 12pm - 5pm Sunday 11am - 4pm

The Ordinary Art Gallery & Studio

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Leesburg, VA
The Ordinary Art Gallery & Studio

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The Ordinary Art Gallery & Studio is an art retailer and studio in downtown Leesburg Virginia. Offering oil paintings, sketches, prints, and commissions.

Classes are also available. Artists include Sharon Virts and her sons Luke Mason and James Mason.

10/02/2026

What color is grief? What shape is fear? And somewhere in all that darkness, where is the light?

Those questions are guiding my new Reflectionism series, "Answering Poe in Paint." Edgar Allan Poe’s stories and poems are the starting point, but the paintings are my response to what I feel when I read them. Through layered oils, texture, and light, I’m exploring love, loss, memory, and the choices we make when darkness closes in.

In Annabel’s Sea, inspired by “Annabel Lee,” love pulls us toward someone we cannot relinquish. In Pluto, inspired by “The Black Cat,” a doorway offers a possible escape, provided we can face what stands between us and the way out.

These two paintings are getting their window time at The Ordinary Art Gallery in downtown Leesburg as they dry. You can see Annabel’s Sea now, with Pluto joining it soon. Stop by or take a moment to gaze through the window.

I’m still working on Raven’s Shadow, pictured here in progress. Its enormous raven embodies the shadow grief casts, but the light hasn’t disappeared. I’m still finding my way through that painting, and I wanted you to see it taking shape.

09/11/2026

I have stood at Great Falls more times than I can count, and the river has never once looked the same way twice. The photograph above catches it beautifully—the granite, the Potomac shouldering through the gorge, the mist lifting into a soft morning sky. Every detail is true. And yet, something was missing: The color.

The water runs blue and turquoise and green all at once; the rock warms to gold and rust in the light; the far hills go lavender, and the mist turns nearly luminous where the sun finds it. So I never set out to copy the photograph. I set out to paint what my mind sees--the part a lens leaves out.

That is the heart of Reflectionism. We don't take in the world the way a camera does; we bring light and motion and feeling and ourselves to all of it. My palette knife lets me press those impressions further—hard stone against restless water, reflected light, the raw force of a river carving its way through rock.

This piece won't travel with me to Dallas tomorrow. It is bound for the Loudoun Museum's charity auction on September 22, where it will find a new owner while helping preserve the history of the county that raised me.

Which feels exactly right. Great Falls is a landscape I know by heart; Dallas is the adventure ahead. And somewhere between the two is what I hope every canvas reflects—not simply how a scene looked, but how it feels to live within it.

08/27/2026

My grandmother always told me to NEVER ever eat oysters in a month without an “R.” Apparently, I wasn't listening. I had oysters last night, in August, and lived to tell the tale. 😂

But like so many bits of wisdom passed down through families, there was actually some sense behind her warning. Long before refrigeration, the warm summer months weren't necessarily the best time to eat shellfish. And oysters have been part of Virginia's story for centuries—from the Chesapeake and its tributaries to the tables of ordinary Virginians.

I thought about that old family saying this summer while walking the beach with my grandson. We spent much of August there, and along the way we gathered these oyster shells that were scattered along the shore. I couldn't bear to throw them away. So I brought them home and started playing.

A little paint. A little paper. A little gold. A lot of whimsy. And those shells we picked up became tiny ring dishes and trinket trays—each one completely different from the next.

That's one of my favorite things about making art: taking something ordinary, something with a story already embedded in it, and giving it another life. They're now at The Ordinary Art Gallery—small, affordable, one-of-a-kind pieces that make rather charming little gifts.

And every one began with a walk on the beach with my grandson.

Now tell me: Did your mother or grandmother teach you the “R” rule, too? And do you still follow it?

08/07/2026

When I stood on the Barboursville estate in Virginia, the June ditch lilies were blazing along an old country lane. The flowers last only a few days, but the road itself has endured for centuries. Every wagon, every carriage, every traveler pressed its story a little deeper into the earth.

That moment became my painting, Ditch Lily Lane, which will be featured this September in the https://hubs.ly/Q04sdpx30 exhibition in Dallas.

What drew me to this place wasn't just its beauty—it was the history beneath my feet.

Barboursville was the home of James Barbour, Governor of Virginia during the War of 1812, later a U.S. Senator, and eventually Secretary of War. History remembers him as a statesman, but as a novelist, I find myself wondering about the conversations he had, the decisions he carried, and the roads he traveled. So I invited him into my fiction.

In MASQUE OF HONOR, Barbour appears as the Virginia senator and trusted friend of Thomas Jefferson, offering counsel to Armistead as the young nation struggles to define itself.

In my upcoming book SWAMP OF LIES, he returns as Secretary of War, overseeing the turbulent Florida Territory where politics, ambition, and hidden loyalties collide.

Standing on that lane, it wasn't difficult to imagine him passing nearby. The same sky. The same rolling countryside. Perhaps even the same summer lilies blooming along the roadside.

Like all my paintings, Ditch Lily Lane has a story—a painting inspired by a place where history is embedded in the landscape.

03/30/2026

🎉📚 Join me for First Friday!

I’ll be signing books at The Ordinary Art Gallery in downtown Leesburg from 5–7 PM.

Whether you’ve read the books or are just stopping in, I’d love to meet you. Come enjoy the evening, explore the gallery, and take home a signed copy.

11/11/2025

We got a new phone! Actually, it’s an old phone. I picked it up at an antique store in LA a couple of years ago and thought “why not?”
And now I’m obsessed with buying old phones. (Too bad I don’t have landlines in my house to use them!)

But I do have a land line at the gallery so this one is getting good use. Give us a call sometime for your next commissioned piece!

Or to find out what we have new in inventory!!

(571) 707-8913

We’ll answer if we’re open (or here working)
Otherwise, you can leave us a message!

10/21/2025

Stop by during the parade to watch the art come alive in glowing layers! 🎨
Enjoy a fun, spooky atmosphere 👻
Sip, mingle, and celebrate the season 🥂
Join us for art that transforms when the lights go out!

10/10/2025

Step into the glow this spooky season!

Join us for Dimensions in the Darkness; an unforgettable night of glowing art, good vibes, and a little Halloween magic.

Sip, mingle, and watch images and texture transform when the lights go out.

🗓 Friday, October 24 | 5:30–7:30 PM
📍 The Ordinary Art Gallery
🎟 Free to attend!

10/02/2025

Get ready for a spook-tacular First Friday! Join us tomorrow, 10/03, until 7:00 PM for a mini pumpkin painting extravaganza! We can’t wait to see your designs! 🎃🎨🖌️

09/04/2025

Waterlily enthusiasts, this one’s for you! Check out our new arrivals! 🌊☀️

Address

18 S King Street
Leesburg, VA
20175

Opening Hours

Thursday	12pm - 5pm
Friday	12pm - 5pm
Saturday	12pm - 5pm
Sunday	11am - 4pm

Telephone

+15717078913

Website

http://TheOrdinaryArt.com/

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