Christmas 2012

This Christmas we had LOTS to be thankful for. For one, this will always be remembered as the first Christmas for Santa Clause to come down our chimney ;). I have never been so excited for Christmas to come!

 We were hit by a tornado the evening of Christmas day. We were fortunate to get away with minor damage, but we missed major destruction by about 100 ft. Some of our best friends are left with inhabitable homes. This Christmas was a huge reminder of how fortunate we are to have each other, and grateful that no lives were lost. Please say a prayer for fast clean up and recovery for the people most effected.

concept journal entry #1

I said I was using this blog to discuss my reasons for painting. I haven't gotten around to actually doing that until now :) Busy couple of months.

The process I use to develop new art involves thinking and writing almost more than painting. I enjoy painting with some kind of idea or feeling involved. It is great to be able to sell the work, too, though. So... it's important to keep in mind what people are drawn towards, aesthetically.  I'm pretty sure painting to match the wallpaper is considered a faux pas by the great artists of the world. I actually really like it, though! That's the decorator in me I guess. However, the contemporary artist in me wants to break ground with the next great body of work that will really get notice. And so, this is where I am now;

Southern Grace and Lace?

Now that I have a daughter of my own, I am thinking about the way we raise girls down here in the south. There is a standard (among some people) of how to dress your child, which happens to be the same way many of us were dressed as children and the generation before that and on and on. This is just one example of how traditional southern women approach the decisions in life.  In some cases it's a "keeping up with the Joneses" affect and for others it's a choice people make for the time-honored style. I am a huge fan of tradition and carrying on a family heritage and local customs (and hand sewn lace and smocked dresses for that matter), but sometimes it's okay to embrace change and new ideas that you aren't comfortable with or used to seeing. I can't keep up, or is it that I can't hold back from embracing newness? It's just that it seems like nothing changes here, and sometimes I feel like I am forcing myself into the standard, not just with my child and how she is dressed, but myself in many other aspects.  Anyway, this all boils down to maintaining your originality and unique qualities and priorities despite what is expected of you.

So, with my paintings, I have been exploring alternative surfaces to paint on while still maintaining my recognizable style of painting. It's a way to throw unexpected flare onto something that has become somewhat of a standard for me. Words like grace and beauty, dainty and feminine are rolling around in my head as I paint. With these paintings, I am exploring an alternative to whats some might consider "good-lookin'" (as we'd say 'round here). I am excited to see where this new approach takes me. Stay tuned :)

"Grace" 16x20

"Dainty"12x16

Unbound Perspectives

Last week was my group exhibit, Unbound Perspectives, at Agora Gallery in New York. It was a great excuse to take off to NYC with the girls (14 to be exact) for three days. Can't wait to do it again.

The paintings in the exhibit are available online. Click here to view paintings:
Agora Gallery, Sarah Otts

Hotel Chandler was a great choice! Highly recommend it. 

@ Agora Gallery in Chelsea 

My sweet college friends flew up and surprised me!! 

What a fun week! Thanks to my mom who did all the planning! Great trip :)

**Here is a affordable opportunity to give the gift of art.**

 I am having prints made of the three paintings shown below.
All are 8"x10" prints, $50 each. 
Email me to place your order.  SarahOtts2@gmail.com

scroll down for more info.

  print of Faithful 8x10, $50                                     

print of Delta Cypress 8x10, $50

print of Chapel 8x10, $50

Place your order via email. The prints will be ready to be picked up the week of December 17th. They will be on heavy stock "art" paper and protected in a plastic sleeve. They will not be matted or mounted. The original versions of these oil paintings on canvas will be for sale at Ashland Gallery during the month of December. You may also purchase the limited prints at Ashland Gallery and Lyons Share Gallery while they last.  Place an order before they run out! Merry Christmas! 

Cypress Trees

If you are already familiar with my paintings, you know that I like to paint more than one subject matter. Painting abstractly is my number one love. That's worth underlining because I devote more creative energy and concept into those paintings. 

However, my other favorite thing to paint is the beautiful scenery in the Mobile delta. It's comfortable, the tried and true. There is not a lot of thinking behind it for me other than discovering new ways to interpret the same serene, abandoned, predictable state of the delta (and that's a good thing). 

The cypress trees have the most interesting forms. I always notice the way the water washes away the base and darkens the bark right where the tree meets the water. The roots that rise above the surface are a convenient compositional tool, as well as, the distant tall pine trees. From far away, a pine tree is so thin and dainty with a top-heavy little bloom on top. And then there is the moss on the tress, palmetto bushes on the bank, water lilies. It's a beautiful place that doesn't get a lot of credit around here!

AND..... I'll admit..... these paintings tend to be a great way to get the hunting and fishing men in your life interested in buying a piece of original art. Wait... isn't there a holiday coming up next month? 

Opening Reception at Lyons Share

Last night was the preview party for my exhibit at Lyons Share Gallery in Fairhope. I am so appreciative of my supportive friends, family and clients who came to the reception. Thanks to Mike, Kelley and Pat for putting together a top-notch party to kick off the exhibit! The work will be on display all month. Please, stop in anytime. First Friday is tonight, November 2nd and the Lighting of the trees will be on the 15th.

Lyons Share Exhibit Opening Next Week!

Artist’s Statement

The series of paintings for The Lighting of the Trees exhibit have taken a whimsical turn from my usual coastal abstracts. Like most artists, my creative process has a direct line to personal conflicts. In the past, my inspiration has played off of the beautiful surroundings here on the coast. However, my recent role as a mother has taken highest rank in my life which in turn affects my art, like it or not. These days, juggling my one year old and my work as a painter, feel like a circus act. There are endless comparisons to parenthood and a circus show which I explore through each painting. The circus is full of vivid color, drama, and amusement, but the production also comes with filth, muck and dirt. The paintings reveal these circus characteristics through the colors and textures of the paint and the incorporated textiles and line quality. Walking a tightrope with a baby on one hip and a career on the other is something so many parents relate to. It is a wonder how these days can feel both wildly erratic and impossibly joyful at once. 

Welcome!

Thanks for your interest in my work! In addition to being a mother and a wife, I take my work as an artist very seriously. I decided to write a blog to give me the opportunity to share what is "behind the paint"with the people who follow my work. There is so much more to developing a painting than the act of painting. I look forward to sharing my conceptual process and my most recent work with you!  

 -Sarah

"I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way- things I had no words for."

-Georgia O’Keeffe