Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Wahl.
Hi Sarah, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Art has always been a part of my life, I’ve painted since I was a kid, painting on things my mom probably wasn’t always happy about, but as I grew up it’s a passion that got pushed down. I pursued other dreams, getting involved with acting and stunt fighting, traveling and experiencing living in LA. I felt a little lost in what my purpose was and then I started teaching yoga. Built-up an amazing community and found peace and health in yoga. Art came back to me when I was going through heartbreak. I wish I had the exact moment it happened but it really felt out of my control, art just came back to me. It’s as if art was like “I’m here for you, I will get you through this.” Once I picked up the brush again I couldn’t put it down. I’d go to work and come home and paint into the early hours of the morning. Something lit up in me again, a dream and passion that I had brushed aside. A dear friend encouraged me to share my art online and honestly, I was very shy in the beginning. I didn’t even put my name on my first pieces or advertise that I was the artist.
Now I have clients making sure I’ve signed it and they’re posting and sharing my art! My first art show was at a client’s home, we made it look like a gallery, all the art light up, music in the background. I got to see my community come together celebrating art and raising money for Sierra Leone Rising foundation, it brought me so much joy I felt like I was in a dream. I couldn’t believe I was hosting an art show for my art! It’s truly been a journey, through COVID I’ve really put the brush to the canvas and created and thrived in such a confusing time. Due to this pandemic the yoga studio I worked at closed, and again here is an art to lift me up. My art sales and business really started to thrive and kept me going. We go through dark times in life but if I hadn’t experienced some of those challenges, I might not have come back to art. My creative journey has truly saved my life.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I think my biggest challenges have been in my own head. Self-doubt or negative thoughts, even with a love for art and knowing it’s my passion, I think the imposter syndrome is very real. I’m a firm believer in affirmations and right now mine is “Everything I need is coming to me easily and effortlessly” When I’m in a low energy state or I’m doubting myself, I come back to my affirmation. I trust in the universe and that it will guide me. I also meditate before painting sending my energy to the canvas to help in trusting the creative process. My heart swells with the love and support of my community, it’s almost unreal the people cheering me along. The amount of people that have reached out telling me my art has encouraged them to paint again is crazy and I love hearing that. I still feel like I’m at the beginning of this art journey, I’m a self-taught artist and have been selling professionally for about two years. I’m excited to see what I’ll learn the mistakes that will lead to growth.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an abstract and figurative artist, which to me, means you’ll find works that let you swim in your own imagination and then you’ll find a pieces with a clearer image that guides your eye and emotions more thoroughly. I love bright colors to help people feel joy and light. A sense of pride in my work would be the reaction people have when they’ve commissioned a piece. The smile of a client’s face when they see the artwork in person, and the pictures I receive of where clients hang them. That means a lot. It’s something made just for them, I work very closely with clients and want to get a feel for their personality and bring it into the piece. I work with a variety of materials, alcohol ink to acrylic paint, to charcoal and resin. I sprinkle in gold leaf wherever I can. Each piece has its own energy and personality. I paint from the heart and from my imagination. Following what I’m inspired to bring out on the canvas each time. I’m also known for my splatter art, I splash color over the canvas, rather Jackson Pollack inspired. I hope my art fills people with love in their home and that the whole art experience leaves them lifted up and feeling good.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
I don’t know that I’d use the word luck, I believe in law of attraction and energy. I have had major support from my community in helping me with shows, offering donations, and spreading the word about my art without me even asking. I work hard on my mindfulness and what I attract into my life. I would say yes, I feel very lucky for the community I have and the support from them as friends and in business. I think some people could look at traumas that have happened to me and call it unlucky or see it has something that could’ve ruined me, but I look at them as the experiences that led me to where I am. The woman I’ve become is because of the growth from past hurts, trusting myself, and leading from a place of gratitude.
Pricing:
- 175-1200
Contact Info:
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: wahlartdesign.com
- Instagram: @wahlartdesign
- Facebook: WahlArt Design
Image Credits
Photographer Katie McGhie with Rad Pine Creative
