Conversations with Sarah Stevenson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Stevenson.

Hi Sarah, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was born and raised in Australia and moved to the US when I was 10. I grew up in a family that valued art, design and education and I was always encouraged to pursue artistic endeavors. As a senior in high school (many many years ago!) I participated in an executive high school internship program with a local interior design and architectural firm. I loved it so much that I went on and got a degree in interior design. I spent most of my design career in Chicago which was a captivating city for someone in my industry.

In 2000, I moved west with my family and started pursuing my photography and art on a more regular basis. Because of my background, I became even more interested by the ways that art design, architecture, photography and other creative disciplines related to each other and began sharing this fascination through teaching, mentoring and creative endeavors.

I am now the Principal and Creative Director of Red Line Design, a creative art, photography and interior design studio based in Silverlake where I offer full-service interior design. I also am an interiors collaborator with Aaron Neubert Architects (where you can see my interior work), keep a strong painting and fine art photography practice and teach artists how to reach out to interior designers through Art for Interiors an online membership founded in 2020.

My photography and artwork have been featured in numerous books and magazines including: Building Your Business the Right-Brain Way by Jennifer Lee, The Uppercase Compendium of Craft and Creativity and Mingle Magazine.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There are always obstacles and challenges with any practice or profession. I see these as opportunities and lessons to guide you as you grow.

I am 55 and basically starting my life over in LA after a 30+ year relationship. I helped build a life for my family but somewhere along the way, I forgot who I was in the process. It took me a long time, a huge amount of burnout from my design career and lots of kind support from friends and family to guide me to where my art practice is today.

I was told once to “put down my crayons and get a real job” Art and design have been my career since I was 17 years old. I’ll never put down my crayons and I would encourage anyone out there that’s been told something like that in their lives to pick up your crayons and make ART! and don’t ever stop!

I can happily say that I am coming back to myself now and re-learning about my strengths and weaknesses.

You are never too young to begin again and your age should not be a hindrance to your dreams. With that said though, we all need to make a living and it’s not a bad thing to make money and make your art until it can sustain you financially.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I create fine art black and white photography and mixed media art pieces. My black and white photography includes a lot of landscape, architecture, flowers and shadow work. I like to strip down to black and white to see shape, form and shadow and to see life forms in their simplicity.

With my mixed media pieces, I use a lot of ink sketching which I learned in design school and use acrylic, gouache and watercolor in my pieces. I have multiple sketchbooks that I work in at the same time. This gives me a way to play with color, think about composition and develop ideas before I put them down on the canvas.

Much of my photographic work is actually taken with my iPhone camera. Most people don’t know this. I was asked once by a friend’s husband about my photography and he wondered if I was shooting with a Leica camera. I appreciated that comment. It made me feel legit! It is my dream to own a Leica M-system Camera one day, until then I am a Canon and iPhone girl all the way.

If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
As a young girl, I was surrounded by strong female role models and was very shy. I enjoyed coloring and have photos of me outlining coloring pages with a marker and coloring with a matching pencil. I was introduced to art museums by my mum and aunts and was taught all about the contemporary art world by them. I was also into running and designing interior spaces for my dolls.

I was lucky enough to have a mum that was into design and she let me design my own bedroom. I remember selecting really cool 1970’s Marimekko pattern for curtains, a Componbili Storage Unit and round floral rug. I think I was 8 or 9 at the time.

Pricing:

• From $45.00
• $175.00

Contact Info:

• Website: red-line-design.com
• Instagram: redlinedesign

Image Credits
All images ©Sarah G Stevenson All rights reserved Headshot – Nick Holmes Photography