We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sarah Shepherd. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sarah below.
Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I’ve always had a real interest in the arts, and from a young age have been taking different art classes, participating in theatre, and all sorts of other creative things. When I was in college, I majored in theatre and minored in studio art. I was always painting and drawing, but college was the first time I truly had enough access and instruction in the art world. My senior year of college I was taking one of the final drawing classes and in this class, we had to develop an entire artist series that we would work on through the whole semester. During this time, I was in a rough spot mentally, so I allowed my series to reflect that. We would have guest artists come in and participate in critiques and we were able to show them our pieces. During one of the visits, one of the artists that came through told me how drawn she was to my pieces and how I used my art to work through what I was dealing with. The conversation I had with her definitely gave me the positive feedback I needed to know that not only was I doing something good, but it could also actually turn into a career or something else! Having a complete outsider who isn’t participating in classes with you and isn’t your friends or family, telling you they connect with the work you’re putting out there and that you have talent is one of the most rewarding feelings.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
After graduating college, I was lucky enough to get a job immediately work on a wardrobe crew for a theatre company. While it was a fantastic experience and I met some of the greatest people, something didn’t feel quite right about pursuing a career in theatre. I really wanted to dedicate my time more to my art. When I moved back home, I started serving and bartending. Great money, but of course not even remotely what I wanted to dedicate my life to. In the meantime, I was still creating art, but had no clue how to make it into a career. Finally I found a job working in a pottery painting studio and it really gave me the push I needed, but not in the way I was expecting. Being in a more artistic environment really pushed me to create more and it was there that I met one of my closest friends and now booth partner. Having access to ceramics supplies reminded me how much I loved being in that element and how much I wanted to make art my career. We began selling at art markets and that was it! I discovered how to get my art there and was also surrounded by people doing the same thing. I am mostly a ceramicist and a painter, but have also been dabbling in some jewelry and printmaking. Most of my work is trippy and quirky, often involving frogs and mushrooms. I’ve always loved making things that are a bit silly along with works that dig a bit deeper on an emotional level. Recently I’ve been able to have a few different pieces in gallery exhibitions as well as being able to take part in several art shows at Arches Brewing. It’s a great feeling being able to look back and see how much I’ve grown and my business has grown, even though I often have to remind myself that it’s all only been in the last year!
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
There has always been several different goals driving my artistic journey, but the one that has been with me the longest is the idea of pursuing an Art Therapy degree and one day opening my own studio space that is not only a place for me to work out of, but where I can also offer lessons and classes that are geared to help those that struggle with mental health, or fall somewhere on the spectrum, or even those coping with stress. Through my own personal journey, I’ve found that being able to express myself on paper or through clay is way easier than discussing certain things out loud. Using art or any creative skill allows a person to re-focus their mind and often helps with problem solving, increase insight, and even just allows them to look at things in a different way. Being able to offer a safe, creative environment that welcomes those that need help has always been important to me.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Choosing to take a creative career path is extremely time consuming and makes you very vulnerable. Between having to work multiple jobs to sustain basic life, organizing supplies, setting up market stands, creating artwork, and the other million things that go in to the creative journey, it feels like there needs to be 48 hours in one day! Often at markets we have encountered non-creatives who don’t recognize the time that goes into these things as well as how completely vulnerable it feels standing there watching people look at essentially parts of you on display. As a non-creative, if you don’t connect with a piece, understand it, or just plain don’t like it, you don’t have to make your opinions widely known. Just because you don’t care for it doesn’t mean someone else can’t and don’t forget these are people you’re also talking about. It takes a lot to keep putting yourself out there, especially with how much everyone is struggling now a days.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.shep-arts.com
- Instagram: @sheparts1223