Rising Stars: Meet Eric Sanders

Today we’d like to introduce you to Eric Sanders.

Hi Eric, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I had a bit of a circuitous journey toward becoming a professional artist. Painting was my first real passion: my father was a talented amateur artist, and he began to teach me how to paint when I was only five years old. I painted almost constantly throughout my childhood and into high school and then worked at it even more intensively throughout college. After graduation, however, I decided that it was time to enter the working world, and my artistic practice began to fall to the wayside during that time. For the next thirty years, my career became my primary focus.

However, I think that our real passions never truly leave us, and they can re-enter our lives in the strangest ways. One night, around seven years ago, my wife decided that it would be fun to go out to a paint night together at Joe’s Crab Shack. That night was the first time I had picked up a brush in a long time, and it instantly transported me back to the joy that I had felt when I initially discovered painting. My wife must have sensed how happy this made me, as she bought me a set of paints and a brush as a gift shortly after. I can truly say that that gesture was the spark that made me want to return to painting with more focus and dedication than ever.

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?
I don’t know if I’ve ever met an artist who would describe their road as “smooth”: no matter how talented or dedicated you are, there are always challenges, both internal and external, that cause you to question and doubt yourself. On top of that, it’s almost impossible to define what “success” really means in art, so it can be hard to feel totally secure and satisfied with what you’re doing.

The art word is a difficult one to navigate, and it’s always changing. This is, of course, what makes it exciting, but it also means that you are constantly struggling to keep up. There are a lot of practical, financial difficulties that come with art-making as well since materials can get very expensive very quickly, while canvases tend to sell quite slowly. I have personally struggled a lot with trying to maintain the sense of joy and looseness that makes painting so wonderful with the tough calculations that come from trying to make a living at it.

Fortunately, I have been blessed with a wife who wholeheartedly supports my work and is always willing to share her insights with me. I’ve also had the privilege of exhibiting my work at art shows and museums, that have exposed me to the work of other artists who continue to challenge and inspire me. Any time I feel like I’ve hit a wall or gotten stuck, I know where I can turn to find the confidence to keep moving forward.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I am currently in a very exciting place, although that entails having a lot to manage, both on the administrative and artistic side. I am currently spending a good amount of time managing my studio and working on getting my art out there to the public, which involves working with a wide variety of people from all different parts of the art world.

On the artistic side, I’ve always felt myself to be a bit of a polyglot: I have never been comfortable settling down into a single artistic language and making that “my thing.” I’m always looking to keep things exciting, challenging, and new, which involves constantly pushing myself to go beyond my comfort zone and be willing to do something different and surprising.

This June 2023, I will be giving a solo exhibition at the Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, which is a deeply humbling experience. The pieces, which are from a series called Anna, fuse abstraction with figuration and painting with drawing, which I think makes them the perfect expression of the polyglot nature of what I’ve been working on recently. I am really excited to see how they are received.

Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
This memory doesn’t really have anything to do with painting, but it will show you something about my dad, who is, after all, the source of my love for art.

My family used to live near a small commuter airport, and at the end of the runway, there was a small hill that had a little notch near the top that was big enough to sit in. Every so often, my father would drive me down to the airport and take me over to that hill, and I would hunker down in that spot and get to watch planes taking off no more than 10 feet above my head. It was a truly unbelievable experience, one that is almost impossible to describe or replicate, and I think it perfectly represents my dad’s creativity and zest for life.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.studiosanders.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eric_sanders_art/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EricSandersArt/
• Other: https://www.pinterest.com/StudioSandersArt/_created/