C O L L A B O R A T I O N
I am excited to announce my recent collaboration with leather jacket designer Rosa who creates gorgeous custom leather jackets. Her company, BYTHENAMESAKE, selected artists across North America who were given the opportunity to paint one of her jackets to raise money for charity. These jackets were presented at Lumas gallery in Yorkville for Toronto Fashion Week, and are available for purchase.
abstract paintings
Artist Videos
Watch me paint in a forest! Inspired by creation.
Video by Adam Zivo.
Get to know me! Artist interview.
Interview by Adam Zivo.
Sarah Phelps - Inspired by Creation
What inspires me when I paint? I am inspired by creation. Video by Adam Zivo.
Watch me paint!
Watch my timelapse painting video!
Gallery Opening - first solo show.
Watch my collectors unveil their new painting!
This is what it's all about! I'm am truly honoured that my new collectors took a series of photos and videos during the unveiling/installation of their newly acquired paintings. A very rare and special experience for me. A huge thank you to this lovely lovely Italian family from the greater Seattle area, for allowing me to experience this special moment. Below the video you’ll see the two paintings they acquired.
Artist Blog
Black and White Abstract Art Experience
Abstract art has a reputation for being maximalist, but that is not all it has the capacity to be. Alongside bright and artfully cluttered pieces, abstract art can also be done in simple black and white. Popularized during the abstract expressionist movement, by such artists as Franz Kline, black and white abstract art has the ability to be every bit as affecting as colour filled abstraction does. However, with black and white art, the effectiveness of the pieces rests solely with the talent of the artist-- not with the psychological effects of the colours. Black and white abstraction simplifies all of the movement and energy of abstract art into plain simple colours.
Black and white, as colours, also have the opposite effects on light-- this is perhaps why they work so good together. Black is the presence of all colours, and so it absorbs light. White is the absence of all colours and so it reflects light. When the two are combined, they create the perfect balance between presence and absence, of darkness and lightness. When two colours or shades that exist on opposite sides of the colour wheel come together their opposing features help emphasize the subject matter of the art piece with perfect clarity.
And there are benefits to hanging a black and white painting in a space. First and foremost, black and white are versatile colours, so no matter how you redecorate a space, a black and white painting will fit the colour scheme. Black and white paintings can be mixed easily with other art pieces because of this same reason. A painting of this type can also cut through a cluttered room with some welcome minimalism. Black and white are colours perhaps not typically thought of together with abstract art, but a black and white painting can air out a space, and communicate artistic ideas with perfect clarity, all with a simple and striking two colour palette.
The Art of Abstract Art
The key to what abstract art is, lies in the literal meaning of the word. To abstract is to pull something out of another something. In the case of abstract art, this refers to pulling the objective reality out of art. And when you pull all of the objective reality out of a piece, what you are left with is pure subjectivity. Abstract art, whether it be gestural, geometric, or line based, is the expression of a pure emotional experience. And this subjectivity has a distinct psychological effect upon those who view it. It is thought that looking at and thinking about abstract art can open up new processes in the brain-- reality is, in many ways, a prison from which abstract art can free the brain. Abstract art has the possibility to open up processes and functions in our brains that do not get used on a day to day basis. And since the beginning of the marriage between abstraction and art, spiritual practices have influenced the way abstract artists view their work. If spirituality is the search for a universal human experience through the combination of all religious and higher ideas, then abstract art aligns itself well with spirituality. Abstract art is, afterall, universally accessible. And somewhat contradictory to abstract art’s roots in spiritual focus on “oneness” is the vast amount of interpretations available to the viewer of such art. To own a piece of abstract art puts one into constant discourse with a subjectivity, and allows you to forever keep open the parts of your brain that do not get frequent use. Abstraction is art’s doorway to rejecting the moors of reality in the search of something higher.
