Here it is—installment four in our "Meet the Artist" series. We know you've been waiting eagerly; we appreciate your patience and promise that this will be well worth the wait. Today, you get to meet Sara, see her paintings and learn more about her...her inspirations, colors and subjects she's passionate about, even a fun fact or two.
For instance, Sara totally understands the Mothers Day delay in posting this. After all, she's a mother herself, as you can see in her self-portrait. Doesn't she just capture the essence of motherhood? The gentleness...and the patience as she corrals a wriggling toddler. Interestingly enough, those qualities also serve her well as a painter.
Sara's been painting for nearly 15 years now. However, she came to watercolor with a bit of a head start as she was already proficient in the use of colored pencils.
And right from the beginning, Sara had her own distinctive style. Notice the colors above? The lovely soft greens and the cobalt violet that's become her trademark? Still, she went through all the beginning exercises—and even brought in some of them to prove it. From the color wheels and swatches ....
... to the famous egg, Sara's skill as a colorist was immediately apparent, as was her drawing ability.
Her earliest paintings demonstrate her love for flowers. Notice that she begins with sketches before moving to color. And her skill at combining, choosing and layering color becomes evident quickly.
Sara next developed an interest in portraiture, painting friends and family. She painted her parents....
...her children ...
... and children of friends.
Here, Sara fine tunes her method. She frequently begins with sketches and progresses to studies before moving to the final painting. Each iteration makes her more familiar with the subject so when she begins to paint, things flow effortlessly.
Sara also began a series of self-portraits, doing one series each year near her birthday. Unique to these are the fact that she does several versions of each. Her intention is less about capturing an exact likeness than it is about capturing a mood. Common to all are striking composition and a masterful use of color.
Already known as a painter of flowers, Sara turned her attention to trees, painting trees through all the seasons—winter....
....spring....
...summer....
...and fall. Sara never met a tree she didn't like.
Like Wyeth, Sara finds inspiration close to home. She is a brilliant chronicler of her own neighborhood—the trees, the buildings, the light and the seasons. Yet, she imparts a universality that makes us feel very familiar with these places.
It's fascinating to see progression over time and development of individual style, isn't it? What do we notice about Sara?
- Sara works in series....within series. She returns to subjects that interest her again and again over time and, within those, she does multiple explorations of each image.
- Sara is a prolific sketcher; she draws well and often. She has many sketchbooks full of trees, flowers, and people—all with incredible energy and vitality.
- Perhaps more than any of us, Sara excels at composition. Look at the neighborhood paintings—there are parts of buildings, cropped perfectly to tell her story and direct our eyes. We often see her looking at paintings upside down or on their sides, checking the composition. It works! Check any of her paintings. Every inch is active; something is always going on—yet everything is exactly where it should be and has the perfect amount of weight and balance.
- Sara works in layers. She layers objects; she layers landscape planes; she even layers colors. All of this adds depth and richness, but without creating clutter, busy-ness or muddy colors. Amazing!
- Finally, Sara is a master colorist. She eschews strong value shifts and sharp lines. Instead she relies on clear, bright colors (reminiscent of Wolf Kahn's beautiful pastels)—all in middle ranges, which is not an easy feat at all!
And here, as we promised, is a shot of one of Sara's sketchbooks. Enjoy the flowers, trees, family and the view from her windows. Even without color, there's a light and liveliness that lets you know you're looking at Sara's work.
Join us when we reconvene on June 7. We'll be continuing our "Meet the Artist" series—there are plenty of exciting artists still to meet!
