Introducing Artist Sarah Cowling
Introducing Artist Sarah Cowling
Am Ageless Collage Artist
I have been thinking about ways we can create community and solidarity online for the Ageless Artist who is working continuously to grow and make art to sell or because its their lifeblood. We are situated worldwide and our commonality is our love and creation of art. My intention always has been to encourage the artist of my vintage-a little younger or older perhaps - to share their stories and challenges as an artist in this place in time. We understand the world has shifted and changed since our early artist days and how could it not? How we navigate these times as an artist is personal -but often requires a shift and perhaps new opportunities to try out new skills and approaches to our profession . Growth is possible and imminent. Here at “Get your Artist Jetpack On” we will be learning from artists who continue to forge new paths in their art practise!
In this post we learn about Artist Sarah Cowling currently making her art in London, Ontario ,Canada!
Introducing Sarah Cowling ..
I have been working seriously in the arts for more than 20 years. I have a degree in History and Classical studies and a Bachelor of Education. I did teach for a few years in primary schools but chose to stay at home with my three children when they were young. When we moved to London, Ontario from Whitby I had trouble getting back into teaching so I began volunteering at Museum London , doing art tours. This led to a job as a historical interpreter at Eldon House Historical site. I am an avid reader and a busy traveller. Travel definitely influences my art work.
I am currently focusing on my collage art but also paint with acrylics. I keep a weekly collage sketchbook, doing fast, meditative small collage and then posting the weeks efforts on instagram and facebook(@sarahcowlingartist). In the summer months, I often take my collage on location for creating, and then I am really working with the landscape.
“Crazy Cornfield”
The Kolaj Institute has been a big influence over the last few years. I attended collage residencies with that organization in Scotland and Knoxville as well as Kolajfest in New Orleans. Take a look at this article to learn more about her art and process!
En plein air (French for “outdoors” or “in the open”) has a long association with painting. In Kolaj 35, Sarah Cowling from London, Ontario, Canada writes about the experience of joining fellow en plein air painters outside to make collage. “I quickly realized that collage outdoors had to be approached in a completely different way from collage indoors. In the studio, I could select and layout colours and themes on my table. Then I would sort, reject and create a layout, usually responding to a core piece. En plein air requires a response to the landscape and the careful choosing of papers. Papers have to be brought out and tried one at a time and glued down quickly to avoid wind gusts. I find that working outside forces me to abstract more and work in blocks of colour.
Sarah’s studio
Social media and the internet has introduced me to a world wide club of fellow collage artists for networking. I don’t do sales on the internet and often am frustrated with learning curves!
My most successful event of the year for sales and building a customer base ( and some of my favourite experiences) is with the London Artists Studio Tour.
Some of my favourite subjects are fantasy, women’s issues and abstracted landscapes.
Words of wisdom- keep working, don’t worry about masterpieces and try lots of media to find your thing.
“medieval thoughts”
To discover more about Sarah and her art :
Thank you so much Sarah!
Thank you Heather!