About Sarah

 

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HOW SHE WORKS

 

Process

“My work is about expressing in colour a transitory moment, a flash of the visual world that resonates with me as a seeing, feeling person.”

Sarah’s method of painting is energetic, fast-paced and spontaneous. She draws with her brushes, capturing snapshots of life as and when they appear, and often feels she can’t mix the colours on her palette fast enough. Her preferred medium is gouache, which lends itself to the immediacy of her technique.

 

Travel

“It's the joy of the unexpected that I embrace with a new found energy and passion.”

Sarah’s quest for inspiration has led her across Europe, to Spain, Greece, Italy, France, Croatia and beyond.

 

Immersion

“The difference between painting from memory and painting from life is like the difference between seeing a cake and eating it.”

Complete immersion in the subject is vital to Sarah’s work. Whether braving the rain on a ship in the North Sea or perching on an ancient wall beside an olive grove, she must be able to fully experience what she’s painting.

 

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WHY SHE WORKS

 

Passion

“I live colour. It’s like oxygen. Without it, I would be completely lost.”

It’s difficult to overstate Sarah Gillard’s passion for colour. She is constantly amazed by its ability to excite, surprise and captivate. A quick glance inside one of her sketchbooks reveals that this passion manifests itself across all her work, with stunningly beautiful results.

 

Universality

“Colour is universal. It sidesteps barriers of language and culture and touches people in a palpable, powerful way.”

Sarah sees colour as something that transcends normal communication. It is at once broadly accessible and intensely personal, capable of evoking emotional responses and triggering memories unlike any other sensory experience.

 

Precision

“I was sitting on the tube once, and recognised the tie of the man sitting opposite as one of colourways. My work seems to pop up in the most surprising places.”

As a professional colourist at Liberty’s, Sarah honed her ability to select, match and apply colours to designs in a commercial context. The hours she spent mixing led to a deep knowledge of – and sensitivity to – colour, which is reflected in the confident palettes in her paintings.

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