“I drew a tree that had purple and pink leaves. I knew leaves weren’t supposed to be pink and purple, I was five. I’d made something that looked so beautiful to my little eyes while catching the essence of a tree. But in that moment, I realized that being inside the creating moment felt even more important. I’ve been chasing that moment ever since”.
My Story
When I first heard the sentiment that everything we make is an extension of ourselves, I was in Art school researching a paper on Artist Jean Michael Basquiet. I got a D on that paper when I focused mostly on his life, (he freaking dated Madonna and had stacks of money lying around his house that friend’s would steal. He collaborated with Andy Warhol and died of a heroin overdose at 27). My prof mercifully allowed me to rewrite the paper, now focusing on his Art instead of his life, and how the lines, the marks, and the meanings connected the two. My teacher regarded me, and I got a B. I was still learning. And I never want to stop. I love art and I love learning. I love creating something from nothing but tubes of paint, pencils and an idea. My favorite strokes, puddles, layers and line’s happen when my desire to make things look a particular way stops and intuitive play leads me instead. My art has become a meditative practice where I am (still) learning that my instincts are good, and my desire to control every outcome can be silenced when I trust the process. Basquiet was right. Art is a mirror. Inside my work you will always find things that are beautiful and alive, as well as our human attempts to connect to them; flower’s in a vase, tiny homes across a yellow field, blue sky over buildings. My art is an homage to all the hard and wonderful ways we get to be alive inside this world. My process of creating this world represents my experience lived inside of it.
Artist Bio
Sarah was told once that becoming an Artist was a pipe dream and she shouldn’t waste her time in case it didn’t work out. She is doing it anyway. Working outside when she can, Sarah gathers inspiration from the life around her to create from. Relying heavily on intuition, colors, patterns, lines and puddles are layered onto canvas or paper boldly. Sarah sees Art as 1000’s of little decisions, filled with resurrected mistakes and playful experimentation. Sarah completed her BFA in 2008 at the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada. She moved to Alberta and began working with persons who have disabilities to create their own beautiful Art work and sell it. Sarah then paused this work as well as her own commission-based Art practice, to raise her most precious creation - her three boys. Nowadays, while her boys are at school, the messy house gets ignored, laundry piles up while Sarah satisfies her need to be inside the process of creating.