Daily Inspiration: Meet Robin Jack Sarner

Today we’d like to introduce you to Robin Jack Sarner.

Hi Robin, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
For as long as I can recall, I was creative, whether it be with a camera or crayons. My parents supported my love for drawing and started me with traditional drawing lessons as early as 12, and I ended up studying art education in college. After good intentions to teach art, life had different plans for me, and I worked in corporate America for 20 years until marriage. After raising my children, I rejoined the art community and was immediately drawn to composition and color. Traditional teachings left me unsatisfied emotionally, so I sought out expression in the abstract. I found kindred spirits in the mid-century modern artists and immediately fell into expressing myself with large gestures, lines, and brush strokes. Today I use mixed media, lines and gestures to express my emotion on large surfaces. By listening closely, I continue to evolve into what my art needs to become. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My road to current status has not been the smoothest, but it has not been the worst either. The life of an artist is typically filled with many misunderstandings and plenty of pivots. As a young adult, I wanted deeply to create art for a living but intuitively knew it wasn’t practical. After graduating with an art education degree, I had plans to be an art therapist, an art teacher, or work for a museum. After less than positive atmospheres for art educators in the early 90’s, I ended up working in Finance. As a salesperson for employee benefit plans, it paid the bills and taught me sales skills I still use today. After marriage and getting pregnant, I left the workforce to raise children. In their elementary school years, I was a docent and eventually a presenting artist for the district’s co-op art program, creating curriculum and teaching the lessons county-wide. When they entered high school, I began to create consistently enough that during the COVID-19 lockdown, we built a small studio in the backyard where I continue to create today. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I create to know myself, and my work typically reflects the processing of that emotional journey. In my artistic practice, the crafting of a visual-emotional narrative holds profound significance. Employing an intuitively layered approach, I utilize gesture, color, texture, and a diverse range of mixed media materials. Part of my artistic philosophy is to integrate historical and antiquated materials in effort to highlight the continuity of paper in this technological world. I am particularly drawn to deteriorating objects and ephemeral materials, adding a tactile dimension to my work and serving as a bridge between past and present. 

Each element in my work, from the carefully selected color palette, the size of the substrate, and the choice of mixed media materials, is purposefully chosen to construct contemplative imagery. My aim is to assist viewers in experiencing the emotional dimensions of abstraction, conveying a message of shared human experience and fostering a sense of nostalgia. 

I think what sets me apart from other visual artists is my scale and mixed media range. I sew, paint, layer, and sand my canvases to the point of almost unbearably weighted canvases. 

It is of utmost importance to me to create a cohesive body of work that embodies self-discovery, honors my past, and reflects my deep connections to archival materials. 

Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
1. Be consistent, be consistent, be consistent in creating. No matter how large or small the activity is, keep the brain and soul creating.

2. Attend art events, receptions, artist talks, workshops as much as possible to meet new people in the industry.

3. Apply to art calls, competitions, and exhibit opportunities as much as you can afford to; it’s an exposure that cannot be matched.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.robinjack.com
• Instagram: @robinjackart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinjackart
• Other: linktr.ee/robinjackart

Image Credits
Margie Woods
Jeff Ikemiya