About Sarah

I paint landscapes to express my fascination with the personalities and gestures of trees and their environments. I take in the layers and textures, the light coming through leaves, motion from wind and water. Painting allows me to explore my responses to the endless complexity of nature.

I use my own photographs for reference. Once I have sketched in the larger shapes, I begin a painting using many analogous colors that continuously shift and change. I use glazes to create patterns with rich and subtle colors. Eventually a scene appears out of the chaos. Finishing a painting involves simplifying and connecting the many small shapes to bring the image into focus. It is an exciting challenge to get the various textures and patterns working as a unified whole.

I have previously worked as a graphic designer, calligrapher, and illustrator in Berkeley CA, Madison WI and Austin TX. When I moved to Portland OR with my husband and two sons in 1993 I became a full-time painter. I have a bachelor's degree in fine art from UW Madison, and three years of study at California College of Arts and Crafts. More recently I have taken workshops with Eric Wiegardt, Mark Mehaffey, Christopher Schink, and Cheng-Khee Chee.

A member of the Watercolor Society of Oregon and North West Watercolor Society, I show my work in Oregon and Washington. Beginning in 2010, I now exhibit my work every April as a member of Lake Area Artists, a group of 40 painters who have a show and sale at the Lakewood Center for the Arts in Lake Oswego, OR.

sarah_bouwsma at neuhengen.net
(503) 644-3659