Artist Profile: Sara Anderson

Inspired by artists such as Munch, Van Gogh, and Picasso, I have always seen beauty in movement, abstract figures, and vivid colors. As a young girl, I remember watching my mother sit at her easel with endless patience, creating intricate masterpieces with a steady hand and pen. Growing up in an extremely creative household (my mother is an artist and my father is a musician), I was introduced to art and music at a very early age. I began painting as early as my memory serves, learned to play the guitar and viola by age 6, and began writing music by the time I was 12 years old.

I grew up in Northern Michigan, where I spent most of my childhood years. I attended Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, MI where I obtained my degree in Psychology. After college, I decided that my life needed a major change. My boyfriend returned home from his 4th and final tour to Iraq and we decided to move to paradise, St. Pete! Prior to his return, we spent nearly 8 months apart. Those months were filled with fear, sadness, and longing. You can see a lot of that longing and sadness expressed in my artwork. My work is full of love, but there are also elements of rage. I pour my emotion into every single piece I create. I do not hold back and see my artwork as an extension of myself.

As far as the future is concerned, I hope that my work is someday displayed in galleries across the Tampa Bay area. My advice to other artists? I can only reiterate the words of Rainer Maria Rilke which have inspired me to become the woman and artist I am today;

"Go into yourself and test the deeps in which your life takes rise; at its source you will find the answer to the question whether you must create. Accept it, just as it sounds, without inquiring into it. Perhaps it will turn out that you are called to be an artist. Then take that destiny upon yourself and bear it, its burden and its greatness, without ever asking what recompense might come from outside."

You can contact Sara at andersoncreatv@gmail.com or view more of her work at:

http://www.andersoncreatv.com/