Hollywood legend Sharon Stone has revealed a deeply personal and spiritual approach to her artistic endeavours, explaining how communication with spirits and a belief in universal consciousness inspires her painting. The 67-year-old actress, who survived a life-threatening stroke in 2001, describes undergoing a profound artistic journey that bridges her acting career with her visual art practice.
A Channel Opened by Loss
In a candid interview with Extra, Stone disclosed that her ability to connect with a higher consciousness emerged following a series of devastating family losses. "I think this channel really opened because so many members of my family died, and they died really rapidly in these last maybe three and a half years," she revealed. The Basic Instinct star explained that she genuinely hears this higher consciousness speaking to her, particularly when creating portraits that seem to communicate directly with her.
Emotional Connection to the Unknown
Stone becomes visibly emotional when discussing her need to thank spirits after completing her paintings. "I think it's really special when they... when they allowed me to see their soul," she expressed. Her belief in universal consciousness forms the foundation of this creative process, with Stone convinced that individuals allow her access to their consciousness so she can paint portraits of people she has never met. "I feel so blessed," she added, describing this spiritual connection as central to her artistic output.
Traumatic Spiritual Encounters
One particularly powerful piece from her Rogues Gallery series, titled Him, proved especially challenging to create. Stone described how the spirit inspiring this work took considerable time to open up to her. "Eventually, when he started talking to me, it was so traumatic," she recalled. "He started telling me that he drowned in a ship where he was chained in the hull."
The actress explained that painting this subject required her to experience the trauma of his drowning while chained, making the creative process intensely upsetting. She later revealed this spirit was an enslaved person who drowned in the East China Sea on a slave ship, explaining his initial reluctance to communicate freely reflected his historical circumstances.
Processing Personal Grief Through Art
Stone's artistic journey coincides with her private processing of significant personal loss. The actress kept her mother Dorothy's death secret for four months before publicly acknowledging the passing in July 2025. Dorothy Stone died in March at age 91, with Sharon explaining she needed time to process her complex feelings privately before sharing the news.
"Mom wasn't of a sunny disposition. She was hilarious, but she said terrible things to me," Stone told the Guardian, describing her mother's challenging final days battling delirium. Despite their difficult relationship, Stone came to appreciate her mother's tough love approach to parenting, which she now views as "the most loving, the most concerted thing a mother can give another woman."
From Screen to Studio
While best known for iconic film roles in Basic Instinct, Casino, and television series including Ratched, Stone has increasingly devoted time to her painting practice. She maintains a substantial studio within her Beverly Hills mansion, regularly sharing her artistic process on social media platforms.
The actress has experimented with various techniques, including using makeup brushes for watercolour works and creating pieces with titles like Blue, Music, and Mother Earth. Her artistic documentation throughout 2021 and 2022 reveals a dedicated practitioner exploring colour, scale, and emotional expression through visual media.
Stone's spiritual art practice represents a significant evolution in her creative life, blending personal grief processing with metaphysical exploration and artistic production. Her willingness to discuss these intimate experiences provides rare insight into how major life events can transform artistic expression and personal belief systems.
