Filmmaker Catherine Stratton made this short film about my artistic process. I hope it gives you a sense of why I make what I make and the deep connections between what can seem like my very different bodies of work.
To view the film, please click on the image to the left or on the button below. View FilmAfter the passing of both my parents, I began to use gravestone rubbings in my art to express my grief, explore different traditions around death and dying, and create a visual vocabulary to explore how I might better understand the cycle of life, spirit, and the long now.
The images are starting to emerge in various iconic shapes, such as the kite, shield, mirror, fan, and book, which in turn are created using various materials--wood, paper, metal, and fabric in a variety of techniques including screen printing, cut paper, and collage. View PortfolioThis body of work on metal is an ongoing exploration of my obsession with time, impermanence, fragility, resilience, and memory.
I start each piece by creating a highly layered digital collage made up of my drawings, collaged paper pieces, and found objects and infuse that into brushed metal. I then augment each with various surface treatments such as shellac, oil glazes, drawn metallic pigments, mica, glass glitter, etc. View PortfolioThis series of charcoal drawings weave together weather forecasts from the newspaper with a vocabulary of simple marks and symbols.
The weather reports, belonging to no one and everyone, are instantly recognizable, neutral, and familiar--I was intrigued by the idea of delving into the fraught subject of climate change using the forecasts as my starting point. View PortfolioI have a love of pressed flowers and I’m particularly partial to the delicate and expressive lines and shapes of pressed Queen Anne’s Lace. I have long wanted to create an expansive space that allows them to move beyond their narrowly defined decorative function to also serve as expressive mark making tools in and of themselves.
This image is a detail from a piece called "Transcendence" and is the beginning of a series of what I'm calling Night pieces. View PortfolioI'm very interested in the challenge of expressing ideas or emotions through purely formal elements and I consider the pieces in this portfolio to be successful expressions of this quest--even though they all include more visual information than I initially intended.
Although still just at the beginning of this undertaking, the challenge of "seeking less" has already been a great experience for me as an artist, and these pieces are some of my all-time personal favorites. View Portfolio``Snow Will Continue`` is striking, unique, and heart-warming. I love the element of familiarity within the forecast lines and the sense of comfort that the details evoke. I get a feeling of warmth and coziness every time I look at it. There is a story-like quality created within the bold patterns and subtle details of this piece that I absolutely love. This giclee is beautiful and is the perfect addition to our home.
“Sarah really listened to what we were looking for in a commissioned piece–we wanted something positive and uplifting that also spoke to the profundity of our mission. Her patience and ability to interpret our wishes was amazing. We are thrilled with the final result–it’s a wonderful visual expression of what we’re about and it also blends in beautifully with the overall design aesthetic of the space. Sarah worked hard to exceed our expectations and we couldn’t be happier.”
But I Am The Fire is light, energy, love and healing. The hands open up to embrace light and love and heal me and the dragon fly is my spirit guide. It is fire filled and warm and embracing. I am not alone on my journey. Thank you Sarah.
“It amazes me how the imagery of the piece I chose is so personal to me and my work. I am in love with the vibrant colors – the piece actually seems lit from within and my blood quickens every time I see the colors glow as the sunlight moves across it throughout the day.”
“I went on your website and absolutely fell in love with your work–truly inspiring! The subject matter, tones, and spirit are astounding. I finished a trial last week, came home to find that your wonderful piece (Boletos) had arrived and hung it immediately. It’s in the prime spot in the office. I absolutely love it. Thank you so much.”
I walked into the gallery and was immediately drawn to two pieces. My friend bought one, and I the other. When the afternoon sun shines on the center of my piece, it glows with different colors as I walk around the room and see it from all angles. Sometimes I’m just fascinated by the burning ember sensation; other times, I wonder about the objects that appear as shadows when there is no light. I imagine a horse, a boat, some script, a doll, a map and a blanket, and sense that there are secret messages that will arrive from time to time to guide, warm and move. My piece is called, “Starting Over.”
“Carries Me Along” almost smolders with a sense of mystery, with the solution possibly available if one just keeps looking at it. Just keep looking and maybe unravel the order and chaos which seem to wrestle in the colors and shapes and wisps of words printed in one of the layers of the several apparent depths of the image, among the colors and shapes which sometimes seem almost identifiable as one or another figure in the normal world. It brings to mind Winston Churchill’s famous words, “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” I had to have it.