I started my painting journey in 2021, just before I turned fifty. It wasn’t anything to do with Covid, it was just that it was time.
I have always been creative; my background is in fashion, so becoming an artist was a natural progression.
I wanted to paint. Not people; I had done my time with bodies, so landscapes felt logical. But I had no idea where or how to start.
In 2019 I signed up to do a pastel course – and it was love at first touch! I will never forget the feeling of painting with pastels that first day. The following year, I did another course. Pastels were my medium. In 2021, I made the decision to stop sewing and paint.
I am interested in all forms of creativity, and rather than limit myself, I try it all. I feel like one informs the other, and I never stop learning. I have met such lovely people through this change in direction, and I feel so lucky to have found my place in life.
I feel like knowledge is something to be shared, not hoarded. In August I am doing an Artist Residency with the City of Melville. They ask that you engage with the community, so I am taking the opportunity to begin my next phase of teaching by facilitating four pastel workshops called Painting the Wetlands. I will be sharing all the things I wanted to know when I started out.
All details on my Instagram @sarah_pondevie_art