Artist Statement

The challenge for me is always to capture what a place looks like and feels like but also to have a relationship with the painting as I am making it.  To be open to what may happen in the studio.   I don’t start with an exact idea of what the painting will be when I am finished.  All I know is what I want it to feel like- and I never really know how that will come about.

I almost always do my paintings in one go- one session in the studio.  This is to allow for clarity in purpose, but also to give the work a sense of immediacy.  I want the paintings to be direct and fluid.   There is a fine line between overworked, unfinished, and resolved paintings, and I am always trying to find that balance.

I waste a lot of paint, and have many frustrating days where I scrape off a whole day’s work onto the floor, only to start over the next day.  But in each attempt, I become clearer about what I am painting, so that in the end, the work is more concise. I want the paint to be allowed to be paint.  Sometimes there are drips or imperfections, but I leave them because sometimes it is those “mistakes” that anchor the work for me.

Sara MacCulloch 2012