Artist Sarah Aagesen

 I am unusual as a painter and uncommon as someone who draws. I paint with chalk and use canvas to draw on. I have a background in figure drawing. I drew realistically for four years and used only an eraser and charcoal. Now, I have embraced color and abstraction, and still use my figurative line that is easily seen throughout my work. Even though the majority of my paintings are abstract landscapes, they are about the relationships between lovers, enemies, family, friends, past, present, male, and female. They show connection.  I love abstract landscapes. Color fields so big you feel like you belong in them and so close you feel like you could dip your feet in. I want the viewer to feel as if they are standing in my paintings. I want everything to go away and for them to only take in the purity and innocence of the colors and shapes. I want them to feel like I do when I’m painting; vulnerable, but solid.. Like all the evil has gone away and all you have left is the brilliance of nature.  I draw out a composition and cover the canvas in chalk pastel. When you draw with chalk on canvas, or any other surface, it’s powder builds on that surface and once I feel I have enough powder to work with, I apply a medium called Polycrylic. It is a protective sealant you usually use on wood surfaces and can purchase at any hardware store. Once I get it onto the canvas, I use a pallet knife to mix the colored powder with the medium, and then paint over the drawing. Once the medium dries, I go back in and repeat the first step. I add to the drawing with the pastel, pour the medium onto the canvas, and paint. I get to keep the characteristics of drawing and use the technique of painting to build depth. When a canvas is finished it could have anywhere from thirty to fifty layers. I consider the layers sedimentation of my life. They will never go away, but I can always make them beautiful, cure the sickness, and bring the color back.When I work, everything goes away. I turn on music that suits the moment and work. All the negative energy leaves, and it’s just me and my canvas. I search for colors that feel good and work on forms and shapes that give suggestion. I don’t create to influence. I willingly confess.I live in a place where stimulation is easy to come by, and the seasons give me time. I’ve had this theory about this place in which I live. There are few days that are different than most. The sun sits in the most comfortable place in the sky and the air is just right. The water and sun have a relationship that together give a reflection that lights up the island. The colors are brighter and act like they came straight from a kindergarten text book. The sky is blue, the grass is green. I am lucky enough to live here and feel as if my paintings show it.-SarahAagesen  

 I live on Washington Island, Wisconsin and am the Manager at The Washington Hotel, Restaurant & Culinary School.  I do all my painting in the winters, because summer is the time to make your money to survive the winter months.  I started my own business, Near Water Arts, last year and have been busy finishing up the Colorado project I started last winter.  I hope to have a few shows this winter and will post when I decide.  With The Hotel, our season slows down in November.  So, I would like to have a show beginning December and another in February or March.Last winter was a hard one.  I went into the winter with three grandparents and came out of it with one.  Needless to say, it changed me and the way I look at things today.  Never take anyone for granted and always laugh when you have the chance. 

Create when you can and create when you can’t.