sarah Clarke
Hey there! Thanks for making your way to my little corner of the internet. If you’ve made it this far you probably already know I’m a Canadian oil painter who specializes in landscape painting. I am primarily known for the way I render light in my paintings but like everything in life it’s a both and situation, the light does not come alive without the shadows and as a result I am very tuned into both! I earned a Bachelor of Art in Fine Art from the University of Waterloo and I live in rural Southern Ontario with my husband and our two beautiful young kiddos who keep both my hands and heart full as a work from home artist & stay at home mama.
I’ve always been an old soul, I love deep conversations, good food, good books and pretty pottery. My favourite colour is green (in every shade) and I enjoy eating potato (in any of its forms). I love spending time with my family exploring nature trails and taking way too many reference photos and at the same time I would like to spend all my free time alone in my studio if I could… another “both and” situation. I listen to a handful of podcasts every week, enjoy rainy weather, and drink coffee in the am and tea in the pm (though my husband would tell you I only make tea in order to hold it, not drink it).
I know no one asked me but I think we need more connection and less distraction, our attention is one of the most valuable tools we have to connect with others and far too much of it is being directed towards our screens where the bulk of what we’re absorbing is negative. I aim to use my art to draw attention to beauty and light.
artist statement
I’ve always struggled to write my artists statements in a way that’s felt authentic to me, until one day when I heard Martha Beck (author, coach, artist) say, “really there’s only one message in every painting or drawing I’ve ever done in my life and that message is ‘look, look- pretty! That’s pretty. I’m kind of like a crow with shiny objects (…) they just want pretty and I’m that kind of painter.”
I’m that kind of painter too. I think what really clicked for me is the part where she says “look, look”… it’s what toddlers say when they’re discovering the world for the first time, there’s an awe and sense of connection in noticing something and sharing it with someone else. I believe that drive to say “look, look” is a large part of what makes an artist. When I’m in the right headspace I can see beauty easily and everywhere and the thing that makes me want to create art is my desire to say “look, look”, notice this, take the time to really see this thing that I think is worthy of your attention and maybe your admiration too.
And it’s just been in these past few years especially that I’ve come to realize why I so desperately want to bring attention to beauty, to say “look, look…. Pretty”. I haven’t always felt like beauty for the sake of beauty has been a valid reason for me to create, but now I’m fairly certain in my knowing that there is worthiness there. I feel as if so much of our collective societal focus and energy is being directed towards negativity, darkness, ugliness and fear and it’s non-stop from the time we wake up in the morning to the time we close our eyes. As a result of this I believe I’ve sensed a collective heaviness, a weariness, a dis-ease among us. So if, as an artist and creator, I can say to someone through my work, “hey you… it’s okay, look at this beauty I saw in the world still …breathe easy for a minute, take in the way the light plays in the trees- it’s still there… just notice; there’s still light, there’s still hope, there’s still good, there’s still beauty”. If I can turn someone else’s focus away from the gloom and they can share in my awe, I’ll have succeeded…heck it’s even a success if I’m just reminding myself while I paint.