Sarah Lynch • 11.27.08
Sarah Lynch
Welcome to the Artists Blog !!
1stAngel: When did you first become interested in art?
Sarah: I remember doing a drawing when I was three years old. It was of a golden retriever who lived down the street. My mother liked it so much she kept it until the day she died. I still have it somewhere, it was quite good. I have always been able to draw, but I am not sure that that is the same as art.
1stAngel: What style of art do you do and what made you choose it?
Sarah: Style? I am not sure that I have recognizable style. Post impressionist, maybe. Largely representational, sometimes realist. I have always wanted to be able to paint abstract, I have huge respect for good abstract art but whenever I try to do it it really does look like something a five year-old would do.
1stAngel: Has your style changed from when you first began as an artist?
Sarah : Well, yes I should say so. That golden retriever was a bit more expressionistic than my current style.
1stAngel: What medium do you use?
Sarah : Oils, watercolour, pencil, pen-and-ink, pastels, linoprint. About the only thing I almost never use is acrylic, but that could change any day.
1stAngel: What made you choose that medium?
Sarah : Um, I can’t answer that.
1stAngel: Do your ideas come from life or imagination?
Sarah : Almost always from life. When I was younger I was quite into fantasy art, but I am much more inspired by reality these days.
Dragon’s Christmas
1stAngel: How do you choose your images and colours?
Sarah : I am surrounded by things I want to paint. Until I started my Daily Painting routine I despaired of ever managing to get to them all. Now I think that if I can keep it up I may run out in two or three years, but by then I hope to be so much improved that I will want to go back and do them all again, but better.
The colours? Well, I generally strive for something close to realism, although I do exaggerate colours sometimes in order to highlight something or to make it more interesting.
1stAngel: How much time (on average) does it take to complete a work?
Sarah : That depends entirely on the subject and the size. With my daily paintings I try to complete them in an hour or less,
Three Onions
with my larger paintings I sometimes work on them over several weeks.
Golden Section
1stAngel: What do you do to overcome a ‘block’ ?
Sarah : I choose something really hard and set about painting it in a really systematic way, squaring up the paper, doing a detailed drawing, underpainting etc. sometimes I do dozens of studies. All this helps me to feel that I am doing something without actually having to get down to actual painting. Usually by the time that I actually get to the painting I have plenty of Ideas for other things I want to do.
Balboa – San Diego
1stAngel: Who is your favourite artist?
Sarah : Too hard. Living or dead?
Dead artists:
Leonardo, Vermeer, Rembrandt, Constable, Turner, Degas, Tom Thomson, Emily Carr.
Living artists:
Andrew Wyeth (he is still alive isn’t he?), Ken Howard, Edward Gordon
1stAngel: What is your favourite piece of work by yourself?
Sarah : This is very hard as I am rarely completely satisfied with anything I do. This one is quite satisfactory on a number of different levels.
Building for Sale
1stAngel: How well do you take criticism?
Sarah : I run away and cry.
1stAngel: How do you know something is ‘finished’? Is it easy to walk away?
Sarah : Not easy. If I am lucky I reach a point where it snaps into place. Usually shortly after that is when I should stop. Unfortunately I don’t always listen to my own advice.
1stAngel: Have you had exhibits in galleries?
Sarah : No, but to be honest I have never really tried. Until recently I didn’t have a “body of work” that I could put together to promote myself. I have so many different styles and subjects, I never knew where to start.
1stAngel: Have you any exhibits in galleries planned for the future?
Sarah : Only in my dreams.
1stAngel: What are your plans for the future?
Sarah : Kill something and eat it. (to quote Gary Larson). In other words, to survive, to keep my children fed, maybe help them through school. One day I would love to have the leisure to travel and paint, and paint and travel, I am still buying the lottery tickets.
Achray Morning
1stAngel: Looking back, what has been the best part of your work?
Sarah : By that, I guess you mean my artistic endeavours. Well, selling something is always nice.
When I was seven years old I entered a juried show presented by the local town council. It was an annual event and I think that just about every primary school kid in town entered, probably a few hundred. On the day of the exhibition I went down there with my family, terribly excited at the thought of seeing my painting side by side with all the local artists, amateur and professional. We wandered around for a long time and couldn’t find it. My heart was sinking at the thought that maybe my piece had been judged not good enough to exhibit. Finally my sister, who had wandered off on her own, came running back all excited. We followed her to the winners tent where my painting had won best in the under 12 category! I have had a few victories and successes since then, but that was the best.
Sarah, thank you for the interview! I think your images are marvellous! 
Visit Sarah’s Website: www.splynch.com
and www.splynch.blogspot.com
