Featured Maker // Sarah Roberts
Sarah Roberts
Artist
Sarah Roberts is an abstract painter working from her garden studio at her Worcester home.
Sarah began drawing at a young age. As a child, she remembers making her own notebooks out of scraps of paper and a stapler. She would write a story and illustrate it – and she still has some of those very early works! Sarah also fondly remembers the colouring books at her Nan’s house, the ones where you added water to them, and a picture would emerge.
Sarah’s Dad loved to draw and used to create some amazing pen and ink drawings which is where she gets her artistic and creative talents from. Sarah remembers her Dad giving her a book of Gustave Doré prints during her teenage years and how she was fascinated by the intricate details.
At school Sarah studied art, but was not encouraged by her teachers and therefore didn’t realise art could be a career choice. It was not until her twenties when she went to art college and had the most amazing tutors who saw her potential. Sarah studied painting and went on to explore printed textiles and surface pattern. They were the best years; she loved the freedom of art college.
Sarah now has over thirty years experience of working in the arts, creating both her own work and also as a community artist. She has been involved in various visual art workshops, working with all age groups from children to adults. Some recent projects have been painting a giant elephant, creating concertina books with a community group and painting a mural for a Glastonbury Festival stall which Sarah was delighted won ‘best dressed stall’.
Sarah’s garden studio is a wonderful creative environment which provides her with both space and light for her painting to develop. Paint and print are a strong influence. She often combines these with other mixed media; photography, layered textures, balanced shapes and energetic brush marks. Her aim is to create balance, good composition, contrast and texture in her work.
Every maker has their favourite tools and techniques. Which are your favourites?
I have quite a collection of paintbrushes. Nothing fancy, but I do have some favourites. They tend to be on the larger size – bigger the better for creating lovely inky marks.
Do you have a favourite colour or colour palette you like to work with?
I use quite a limited colour palette. My partner keeps saying use more colour! But I always struggle, and instead tend to steer more to monochromes with maybe just a splash of colour, usually yellow – I love a bit of yellow.
“I feel very lucky to have a dedicated space to create ... if I have had a painterly, messy day, I can just close the door on the mess, come back the next day and start where I left off. ”
Often my surroundings steer the colours I use. For example, when I was exhibiting in St Ives, Cornwall I started using lots of sea blues and when I had a holiday to the Northwest of America, we visited lots of Canyons and when I came home the colours turned to rusty, earthy browns.
Do you find having a dedicated studio gives you a more focussed approach?
When we moved home 3 years ago, on our wish list was to have a garage for my partner and a studio space for me. We found a lovely house and garden with a perfect outbuilding which we renovated into a studio. Unfortunately, no garage though!
I feel very lucky to have a dedicated space to create and it gives me a more focussed approach – I’m in my own little world when I’m in there. What I also love is if I have had a painterly, messy day, I can just close the door on the mess, come back the next day and start where I left off.
Are there any new ideas or collections you've been working on during lockdown?
Throughout lockdown I have needed to adapt my way of working. Creating a visual diary helps me deal with my emotions in a positive way, taking care of my health and wellbeing. I began using a book format to create narratives to deal with covid times.
Since January 2021 I have implemented a daily routine which helped me deal with the day to day. Part of this routine was to take a daily photograph, perhaps whilst walking or sometimes in my home or garden. It can be the simplest of images, a leaf, a tree, all sorts of things. I then combine the photo with mixed media, eg; inks, crayons, paint, pencils into a small artwork. At the end of the week, I have a 7 page concertina book.
I like the idea of displaying the books all together at the end of lockdown, who knows how many books I may have, but they will tell a collective story. This self-expression through creativity is a very therapeutic process and works well for me at this time.
Visit Sarah’s online shop: sarahroberts.bigcartel.com
Follow Sarah on Instagram: @sarahrobertsstudio
