We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Hunter a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, so excited to have you with us today. So much we can chat about, but one of the questions we are most interested in is how you have managed to keep your creativity alive.
This is a fabulous question and honestly, one I don’t feel is asked often enough. It can feel that people believe creatives have an endless well that we draw from. . .that is simply not true. We have to refill that well again and again. To refill mine I practice spending quality time with the topics my work is focused on. I love painting flowers and bees and often include it on my pottery as well as the canvas. Year after year I expand my garden adding more flowers and devoting as much time as possible to it and in it. I’ve also recently taken up beekeeping because, well, the world needs more bees! Truly, I am always inspired while being outside and I am so grateful for that.
I also love painting people. Human beings are fascinating and beautiful. I spend as much quality time with others as I can. If I get sucked into “workaholic” mode and don’t have time for walks with friends or coffee dates I just end up feeling empty. Which is literally counterproductive to my work. I love to create but my relationships will always be more important than my career to me. Fortunately, this outlook has fostered my work.
I also teach private art lessons. Watching others’ creativity grow is exceptionally inspirational. They continuously amaze me! I am so grateful that my creativity grows alongside my students.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I create and sell unique paintings and pottery and teach those topics in the form of small group and private lessons. In addition to this, I serve as a volunteer at my local art center, and curate art exhibitions. For me creating is a therapeutic means of expression. Minoring in psychology in college has greatly impacted my paintings. My portraits are often focused on a singular strong emotion or topic. Whether that is aging, getting lost in technology, overcoming abuse, or experiencing joy. I often infuse writing or nature motifs into my portraits as well. We cannot ignore our relationship with nature. I try to emphasis the beauty of nature and humanity in hopes that it will inspire others to take that relationship seriously. I feel very passionately that we need to be more acutely aware of our impact on the environment and consider how we can live in harmony and foster thriving ecosystems. My husband and I live on a quarter acre in the suburbs but we are determined to set an example of growth and environmental support no matter how much space you have. We are working on becoming a certified pollinator garden as well as growing more of our own food. I am starting beekeeping this spring, and I am planning a new series focused on them. I am hoping to bring awareness to the fact that we must support our pollinators. Look to find some of those pieces in my solo exhibition at the Monroeville Library this coming September.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
#1 Networking: I was homeschooled K-12 and this has greatly impacted my ability to be a self-starter and work independently. Thank you, Mom and Dad! It also taught me to be intentional about making connections with others and how to foster those relationships. It’s much harder as a child to build relationships when you don’t get to see the same people every day at school. However, when you do build those relationships, they are powerful. I am still friends today with those same people, I don’t know what I’d do without them! This taught me at an early age how to build community even when it’s not convenient. This has been everything. Being an artist, you find yourself working alone a lot. Knowing that if I feel lost or stuck with my work, I can pick up the phone or attend a meeting and find support from other artists is so valuable.
#2 Be Genuine: The quote from President Theodore Roosevelt “Comparison is the thief of Joy” sums up a daily struggle in the arts. I cannot emphasis enough that your uniqueness is your power. We are daily becoming who we are so don’t wait until you “have your voice figured out” or you are “perfect” to start creating. In the process of creating you will find your voice, there is no such thing as perfect so don’t waste time striving for it. The only “perfect” that exists is genuineness. The temptation to constantly look at art posted on social media and compare one’s self is death to creativity. Give yourself limits on those things. Go for a walk, have tea with yourself, and most importantly stop lamenting that you are not someone else.
#3 Embrace the Journey: Try treating creativity as your friend. We’ve all experienced the negative emotions when a piece doesn’t go as planned. It’s easy to fall into a dark place and want to quit. Don’t quit. Walk away and be kind to yourself. Imagine a friend called you and said “I can’t create anything good today”, what would you say? Would you insult and berate them? No! You’d show them love and support so do the same for yourself. This is a journey and every journey has a twisted ankle and wounded ego here and there. The important part is that you heal those things and continue. If you are a reader pick up “Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear” by Elizabeth Gilbert or/and “Art Matters” by Neil Gaiman. I promise you what you do matters. Your creative spirit was born for a reason. Take the journey for all that it is and know that you do make a difference.
What was the most impactful thing your parents did for you?
My parents are artistic souls through and through. My home was always full of fantastic and inventive homecooked food, beautiful gardens, artwork of all kinds, and so much music. This unique type of experience can be taken for granted until you are literally not in it. Suddenly the apartment or dorms are absent of music, art is put under a microscope, and frozen food is all that anyone has time for in a rushed society.
My parents always fostered my creativity. They supported me in any interest yet they did not put pressure on me. They drove me to choir practice, play practice, bought me a guitar, and took me to art club. I mentioned earlier that I was homeschooled, these activities were not an afterschool convenience. They were sometimes a distance away but they took me anyway because they believe in the power of the arts. I am the youngest out of six children there could easily not have been time for these things but they made sure there was.
Everything was a bit old fashioned about my upbringing and for that I am so grateful. It has taught me to find solutions creatively, tend to the earth, and be capable of taking care of others with a simple meal or surprise bouquet.
Above all else my parents trusted me. This has impacted me greatly as it has taught me how to trust myself.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.thecensoredartist.com
- Instagram: @thecensoredartist
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheCensoredArtist/
Image Credits
All photos of pottery and artist working are credited to BridgePerspective. All photos of paintings are credited to the artist, Sarah Hunter.
