The Art Buyer gallery are thrilled to be showing the works of talented artist Sarah Lees. Joining our Winter Collection are three pieces by Sarah Lees; ‘The Walk Up Sugar Loaf’, ‘Ridgeway’, and ‘On the Black Mountain VI’. We interview Wales-based artist Sarah Lees on her creative practice, relationship to nature, and signature colour palette.
Pictured: Sarah Lees
Pictured: Sarah Lees
Have you always been a practicing artist, or did an alternative career come before your current one?
I have always been a practicing artist but it took me a long time to develop a mature style. In the meantime I paid my way by being first a designer, then an illustrator, then an art tutor.
How were you introduced to the medium of paint; do you have any specific memories of making your first painting or piece of art?
I have always painted and it didn’t particularly matter what medium – I remember even mud was interesting. Now I’ve progressed onto oils, I love that there’s a delay before they dry.
Take us through the journey of starting to finishing a piece; do you work from photographs, memory, or en plein air? Are the colour pairings planned out before hand, or do you occasionally stray away from your palette?
I work from memory, prompted by work done en plein air. My sketchbooks are a record of moments but I also carry certain places in my mind’s eye and they work themselves out through the paintings. There’s very little planning. The palette does vary according to the seasons, I find.
Would you say your paintings are influenced by the Welsh landscapes you reside by?
Absolutely. The most humble Carmarthenshire hedge can support the most exciting information, and it is my job to interpret it.
How strongly does your relationship to nature tie in to your creative practice?
I couldn’t cope without access to nature: it’s essential. Some of the most potent times in my life have been the still moments surrounded by wild places. I love the sea best.
Aside from painting, what do you do to fuel your creative thinking?
It sounds absolutely pretentious but everything in my life is driven by art. Music, poetry, drama, all of these feed into my creative life. I’m reading Tom Hirons Sometimes a Wild God at the moment. Also the life of Charlemagne, who was surprisingly modern in his thinking.. I enjoy Instagram very much, I have lots of wonderful artist friends on there and sometimes a quick browse of what they’re up to can start my day off in the right frame of mind!
What would you like viewers to take home with them after seeing your work for the first time?
Mutual pleasure in a love of landscape, with perhaps a slightly unsettled sense of place – a good landscape asks questions. I hope they like the colour palette too.
View Sarah Lees’ collection
‘The Ridgeway’ by Sarah Lees. £1750.
The Ridgeway by Sarah Lees. Oil on panel, 50 x 60 cm, £1750.
My Life In Art ~ Sarah Lees
First piece of art you bought?
A little signed print of The Owl and the Pussycat by Peter Blake from his Tate show in 1983. I couldn’t go so my friend Tom Thompson brought me back the catalogue and the print was included with it.
‘The Owl and the Pussycat’ Peter Blake. Tate Exhibition 1983. Photo courtesy of Sarah Lees.
‘Pictured: The Owl and the Pussycat’ Peter Blake. Tate Exhibition 1983. Photo courtesy of Sarah Lees.
Favourite Artist?
Too many to name but right at this moment probably Stefan Orlowski. His beautiful landscapes have the floaty, mythical feeling of Carel Weight. Also the painter printmaker Gareth Hugh Davies – and not just because I’m married to him.
If you could own any piece of art (even if you have to rob a bank or museum!), what would it be and why?
Oh, nightmare but I would make room for Botticelli’s Primavera (Uffizi, Florence) or Leonardo’s Annunciation (Uffizi,Florence).
Primavera by Botticelli. (Uffizi, Florence). Image credit: Florence Inferno.
Pictured: Primavera by Botticelli. (Uffizi, Florence). Image credit: Florence Inferno.
So modern, so visionary. Or A Bar at the Folies-Bergère which is sublime. (Courtauld Gallery London)
Or anything by Bellini. Or Auerbach. Or Eduord Manet. Sorry, how much money did you say we’d got..?
A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet. Image credit: Courtauld.
Pictured: A Bar at the Folies-Bergère by Édouard Manet. Image credit: Courtauld.
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