Sarah is a contemporary painter based in Brighton. Preferring to feel a part of the landscape, Sarah paints, draws and sketches en plein air. She loves to be immersed in nature and connected to the environment around her. Nurturing her relationship with a space by revisiting it in all seasons, she is then able to experience and observe the changes in light, colour and sound. Her evocative, dreamlike paintings capture not just a sense of light and place, but her own experience within the space. They have an underlying emotional intensity and sense of nostalgia, as if these are places and skies which are familiar to us all.

We enjoyed snuggling up with Sarah to learn more about her, the inspiration behind her latest dreamy “Sky Glow” series of oil paintings as well as which artists’ work makes her own heart skip a beat…

Please tell us a bit about yourself and the journey you have taken to becoming an artist.

Initially I trained at Camberwell College of Arts in London studying Graphics and Illustration. Sadly, after graduation I didn’t have the confidence in myself to commit to being a fine artist. Instead, I freelanced for a while and then landed my dream job as Art Director at Artist and Illustrators magazine. Back then I spent as much time reading it than designing it and it is this that cemented my love for landscape painting. I also learnt loads about techniques and materials which aren’t particularly taught today in art schools

What helped you to get to where you are today? Are there any people, events, or experiences which shaped your practice?

With working full time and having children I felt creatively desperate and deeply unfulfilled. This led to me to enrol in a landscape painting course at West Dean college in Sussex, and it was there that I first met my tutor Christopher Baker. This meeting turned out to be life changing – after the course ended, I contacted Christopher and he offered me a place on his School of Landscape Painting. I still have the tutorials from back then! I think it’s so important to have something to lean into, no matter what stage of your career you are at. You must always keep on learning.

Tell us about your studio practice. How do you create your artworks and what does a day in the life of Sarah look like?

I have a studio at home so I try and have a strict daily routine. I usually start with a small painting that I had painted en plein air and then work on a collection of bigger paintings based on this in the studio. I always work from my own onsite sketches, never photographs. It is my reaction to the landscape that I want to paint.

For you, what is the most important part of being an artist?

I’m always grateful that I have the opportunity and privilege to have the time to paint, to keep learning, and, to be honest most importantly, “stay in your own lane”. 

What is your je ne sais quoi, that special something that makes your artwork unique?

Buyers often remark on the sense of joy and optimism that my work conveys.  When painting, I always go for a place that I personally connect with and then try to strip back to what it was that triggered this connection. React, distill, and interpret are the three words I use when I’m struggling to find what it is that I’m searching for in a painting.

Which other styles, artists or artworks have influenced you?

Joan Eardley is a massive influence on my work - there is a raw energy and deep connection to the landscape within her work. I flew to Edinburgh to see her solo show a while ago and ended up nearly fainting when I saw her work – it literally took my breath away!  I also love the American Abstract expressionists Diebenkorn and Mitchell.  And when I feel “stuck”, I go to the Clore Gallery at the Tate to see the Turner collection there.

What are your current obsessions, fascinations or favourite things?

I try to observe the sky every day. I just go to the same place on the Sussex Downs and look up - it’s that simple.

Have the challenges of the last few years had any impact on your practice?

Weirdly the lockdown was the most productive time for me. I had more time to work, and it was then when I started my Sky Dance series of work. The sky became a vehicle for freedom, and I particularly loved it at dusk when the colour changes so quickly. I live on top of one of the highest hills in Brighton and I would hang out of my top window sketching at dusk. Looking back this was also a coping mechanism against the constraints of having to stay indoors with 3 teenagers, as lovely as they are!

What was the first piece of art that moved you? What was it about it that grabbed you?

It was probably the Rothko collection at the Tate Modern. The scale, colour and presence were massively impactful. I still visit this collection every year.

If you could choose three pieces of work from Artsnug to “Snuggle up With” which would they be?’

I would choose “Siesta” by Emma Kirby for its warmth and stillness, “Point of View” by Carrie Jean Goldsmith and “Patchwork 1” by Jonathan Lewes for its punchy juxtaposed colour.

What is your current favourite piece in your own body of work? Why does it hold a special place in your heart?

It’s a small oil I painted in Ramatuelle, Provence, on the edge of a vineyard that rolls down to the sea. It was a beautiful hot August evening and the light threw up an amazing moment of limes and pinks. I didn’t have much time to get it down and it was a struggle as the colour was so intense, quite unlike our British colour palette. While the painting wasn’t hugely successful, I learnt a great deal from it.

You have the chance to hop into a time machine and join any historical art movement.  Which do you go back to and why?

I would have liked to have lived in St Tropez around 1890 and have observed the post-impressionist artists such as Matisse who lived and worked around there.

Do you have any advice for people just starting their art collection?  

Always choose work that resonates or changes how you feel. Go for the connection.

Where would you like the future to take you as an artist?

To travel more and perhaps do some residencies. I like to paint places that I know and have a strong connection with.

Is there anything else you would like admirers of your work to know?

Painting and its process is a solitary practice. All decisions and reasoning have come from one source - the artist. When your work is admired, it really is the highest compliment ever as often it has been a frustrating and complex journey to get to where you are happy to show it.

SHOP SARAH’S WORK