Discovering artist, Sara-J

It must have been in about 1997 that I first discovered artist, Sara-J.

I was working at the time as marketing manager for a newly formed firm of consulting actuaries and our offices were in the popular V&A Waterfront and directly opposite the Red Shed, a vast warehouse space housing a variety of crafters and artists.

I trundled off one lunch time, on the hunt for lunch, and found a small stall in the Red Shed selling the most vivid, witty and wildly delicious etchings I’d ever seen. They were created by Sara-J - and I came home with two.

Indulgence

Tropical Adventure

I was at an interesting crossroad in my life and Sara-J's work really spoke to me - and since that time I’ve acquired several more etchings...

Decadent Duck

Lemon Drops

Last year, I finally commissioned Sara-J, to do an oil painting for me. At the same time I asked her a little more about herself and why she paints what she does.

“I paint because I am an artist. I'm inspired by where my life takes me every day and the people I meet and care about. I see the world differently, and feel passionately about aspects of the human condition. I hope that my paintings bring courage and humour to women seeking to express themselves freely, without censorship or oppression. I tend to use humour and colour as tools to mask inhibition and painful experiences, and to reflect pleasure, the joy of life, sexuality, relationships, and family life. My commissioned work often does the same for my collectors. The actual core of my work hinges on the human form. Drawing live models and reflecting real people, and myself, in the images of my work. Of course, if I could express myself in words as I can on canvas, I'd be a writer.”

Favourite Reflection

Hat Box

“Each of my paintings, like the one I've done for you, can be broken down into different elements including the characters, objects, events, etc., depicted.”

Of Madames De Die, a painting I quietly covet, Sara-J says, “Madames de Die – like your commission - can be broken down into different elements including the characters, objects, events, etc., depicted. The two ladies on the left - the jewellery shop owner and the notary. Me, the artist, on the right, admiring the scorpion we caught on the way to Xmas dinner, the glasses noted and enjoyed by all. The wine, local and delicious. The rest speaks for itself. But that's the idea. You may also notice other emotional elements. The artist still something of a glamorous outsider, the Madames vaguely unimpressed but nonetheless comfortable, reflecting my own sense of exclusion rather than their warmness, for example.”

Madames De Die

An exhibition of Sara-J's work in Die, France

I observed that over the years her work has changed as she’s moved from etchings to working in rich and vibrant oils.

Sara-J says, “Since coming to the Netherlands to be reunited with my childhood sweetheart, my career has taken on a very different form. I've moved away from mass producing etchings with master printers to focus on working with oils and more intimate viewings and solo exhibitions.”

I noted that one seldom sees her work in galleries to which she responded, “Apart from contacts with a limited number of galleries, my main outlet has been my website.”

To all my female blog readers, I urge you to hurry over there and take a look around. You will be delighted, amused and inspired because Sara-J knows how to touch the core of a woman, she knows and understands the full experience of being a woman - from the pain and sadness, to the vibrancy and the bodacious, succulent wildness. And oh go on, buy a picture – you know you want to!

My newly commissioned painting...

Gratitude Meme

Karen over at Border Town Notes tagged me for a thankfulness meme the other day – I think it was actually a thanksgiving meme, but across the blogosphere it seems to have morphed into different forms, yet all about the things and experiences we are thankful and grateful for in our lives. I think one is supposed to list seven “thankfulnesses” and then tag x number of people. We-ell, I think I’ll just run with this and see how it turns out. As for tagging, feel free to do this one yourself if you want, I know a lot of you have already done it.


I am thankful for the illness and near death experiences I have had in my life – they have taught me so much, given me insight, wisdom and awareness – and they have wiped away so much fear.

I am thankful for the abuse I’ve experienced in my life because it has shaped me, taught me and helped me to become the person I am today – and I like me, a lot.

I am thankful for two special furry angels who came into my life when I needed them most and taught me the meaning of love, particularly unconditional love.

My Golden Angels, always with me, yet resting in peace

I am thankful for the special human angels who have come into my life at times when I’ve needed them most.

I am thankful to my most wonderful, loving and caring husband, who knows how to love me, support me, give me space – and who is also my very best friend.

I am thankful for my talents, my creativity, my intellect and a good brain.

Two of my abstract "dabblings"...
above Tempus Fugit, below, Sublime Cosmic Fusion

I am thankful for the opportunities I've had to travel and live in other parts of the world, those experiences have shaped me and helped me grow. They've taught me that we are far more alike than we are different.

I am thankful for all that I have materially, for the food on my plate, the clothes in my wardrobe, my home, my garden and my little treasures.

A corner of my garden

I am thankful for the beauty and majesty that surrounds me – and I am thankful too for all that is not beautiful, for I learn from that and it informs me and helps me grow as a person.

My little corner of the world, for now, anyway...

I am thankful for all the unseen forces and angels who are constantly with me, who have guided, strengthened and saved me.

I am thankful for my intuition, my instincts, my awareness and my inner wisdom which help me walk every step of the way.

And I am thankful to you, my dear blog readers, who visit with me, share your views, teach me, support and embrace me. Being with you is like traveling; I learn, I grow and I know, more than ever, that we are all connected, all far more alike than we are different. Yet our differences create colour and interest and mutual respect. Thank you.

Tay Dall at the Tay Modern

“Beauty is not a need,
But an ecstasy.
It is not the image you would see
Solely with your eyes,
But rather the image you see
Through the doorways of your soul.”
Tay Dall

A short while ago I wrote a post about creative forces and inspiration and mentioned a local artist called Tay Dall. It was a couple of years ago when I first encountered Tay’s work. Out on a gentle Sunday ramble to a nearby seaside suburb, we wandered into a small art gallery. Its walls were hung with the usual stuff - landscapes, seascapes, bowls of fruit and flowers - but over to one side where two small paintings that immediately caught my eye. In some way they reminded me of two of my favourite artists – Klee and Kandinsky. Never one to buy things from a gallery – you can rest assured that in trendy olde-worlde seaside suburbs they are ridiculously overpriced - I jotted down the artist’s name and rushed home to do an online search. What I found enthralled me and captivated – and set my soul soaring. I felt as though I had met a kindred spirit which took its form on colourful, evocative canvases and made my heart sing. Okay, so maybe that sounds a little clichéd or over the top. But that was the effect Tay Dall’s art had on me. I simply fell in love and set out to break the bank. I just had to have some of Tay’s paintings. Does that ever happen to you - when someone’s work – be it music, art, poetry, writing - just grabs you by the nose and you can’t get enough? I’d fill my entire house with Tay’s work if I had the money - and enough walls. I heartily confess to being entirely smitten.

For the last two years I’ve watched Tay’s website, returned to her art time and again and I’ve never been disappointed. I can always find something new, something magical and spellbinding in her paintings. And here’s the thing: Tay is a prolific artist and her work, whilst always abstract, falls into so many different styles, different artistic genres, so to speak. Some of it is colourful, vibrant and sensuous. Other work is thought-provoking and lyrical, while still other paintings talk of memories, dreams and personal journeying. It’s as though Tay puts her life, her feelings and her thoughts into her art and then out into the world.

Tay Dall’s art is striking – you can’t help but notice it. It calls to you, inviting you to join in its soaring, questing song. She describes her art by saying – and apologises for doing so - ‘it’s for me to know and you to find out’. Perhaps that’s what gives her art its special appeal. It tantalises, lures and entices. And as Tay says of her art, “If I had to describe my work in one sentence, I would say it is pure-raw-genuine soul. My soul.”

Tay’s soul then is clearly one which rejoices in the striking use of colour. It flies within the movement and motion that flows and swirls through her work. It dances in the drifting light that spirals within her paintings. It expresses itself in poetic forms and hints of story and ultimately envelopes her viewers in a unique blend of magic

Given all this admiration on my part, you’d think I’d met Tay and know her. I don’t. We’ve emailed, spoken on the phone once or twice but have yet to meet in person. I don’t suppose you’d believe me if I said I felt a little shy…? Well, I am but perhaps next time I go off to see the whales I’ll arrange to meet her… This time I only got as far as her newly opened gallery – called Tay Modern… - where these photos (remembering phoktober, of course) were taken.

I hope you’ll take a look around Tay’s site. Perhaps her work will touch you as it has touched me. I hope so, because there’s something special about sharing magic!

Tay's work in her new gallery, the Tay Modern (let it not be said she is without a sense of humour!)

Some of Tay's prolific outpourings for her new exhibition, stacked ready in the storeroom of Tay Modern.

And oh yes, I succumbed, I'm in the throes of buying some more paintings...