Featured Artist of the Month : Sara Carli Feb. 2016 | TheArtList - Art & Photo Calls for Visual Artists and Photographers.

Sara Carli

Sebastopol, CA

How and when did you start creating art?

Entirely self-taught, I had only discovered my talents some two short years ago.

Always searching for excellence, I investigated my each and every interest, working in an array of fields throughout my twenties. But when my best work wasn’t the excellence I had envisioned, I hopped right on to the next interest and tried again. However, at 28, after following so many different career paths, even working for a short time at Vogue magazine in New York City, I fell into an abysmal depression upon realizing that none were my true life calling.

Initially begun in aims to heal, I subconsciously presented the experimenting with oils as an insurmountable challenge, a project deemed to fail and thereby validating my depression. Little did I know the possessive power in which it would soon have over me. As by a seemingly unexplainable force, each painting session carried me into a trancelike state, idle hands becoming intimate with each stroke and marrying of colors. There became no separation of Painter and project; they united on some cosmic metaphysical level. I could remember the beginning, but would lose the time in between that and the finishing, when upon backing up from the canvas to observe, a bewildered “Holy sh*t. What did I just do?!” would escape.

I rode this wave of fervor and put myself through an intensive self-guided study of technique, color theory, art history and more.

What media and genres do you work in?

I am a Contemporary Realist Painter, working in the oil medium.

Who or what are your influences?

I have always been awestruck and deeply fascinated by nature and the human body. These two subjects were what my university studies were centered upon. They always seemed something like magic to me, even after intensive study and an understanding of the science behind all their incredible processes.

While still being a science-backing person, I wholly embrace the mystical aspect of nature and find it as the source of my faith and spirituality. With my background of knowing what the human body is, I use my spiritual energy while I paint in aims of discovering the body on a level unexplainable by science.

Also, I must say that Seth Armstrong and David Kassan are my two painting Gods. Seeing their work continually fuels my need for challenge and growth.

What was your inspiration for The Walls?

Miami Beach is my home and I simply cannot get enough of her beauty. The landscape of richly saturated hues, thick shiny textures, and vibrant seductive walking life are unfathomable to me. I sometimes have to pinch myself so I am reminded that, yes, your eyes do not deceive; this place is real.

‘The Walls’ is set in Miami’s Wynwood district, an arty section of town brimming with fantastic street art and bright culture from the area’s former Haitian community. This painting aims to give you a punch of the vitality from there. It wakes up all of your senses letting you not only see it, but you hear its Latin beat, you smell its ubiquitous ocean aura, you taste its intoxication and you feel its steamy sexy dew.

Describe your creative process?

I like to work from photographs for my paintings. I will often do impromptu photo shoots with friends just for fun or when in a moment of spontaneous creativity. This pastime began several years before I had any clue that I would someday paint them, and so I have an ever-growing heaping collection of photographs.

I can’t really say why or how I choose particular images to paint. For I often spend hours to days reviewing photos, decide on the ones I will paint, only to discard it for another image later. It’s an unexplainable feeling that comes about very suddenly, in which I am jolted into saying, “Yes, this one! It’s this one that I must paint!” I don’t know why the image speaks to me; it just does. And when I trust that feeling, the painting always turns out great. What can I say? I’m a gal that truly follows her heart. This may get me into trouble elsewhere, but I can always rely on my heart when it comes to painting.

What are you working on currently?

I left my day job March 2015 to put my first ever collection as a professional artist together. Originally from Miami, Florida, I packed up my car and drove cross-country to live in the woods of northern California. Here, isolated from society, I am able to work with tremendous focus on my current collection, The Miami Collection.

What are your near/long term goals as an artist?

My personal goal is towards progression and growth. I am left unsettled and unsatisfied until I’m certain that each painting outshines the previous. I am only happy with my absolute excellence.

However, my foremost goal is to share my art and my story of self-discovery with the world in hopes of inspiring every human being to never stop asking questions, try many different things, stop using fear as an excuse and instead become exhilarated by it. I know it sucks to give your all towards something, only to be disappointed by failure in it. I know this because I have sucked at so many different things. But the beautiful thing about all that sucking, is that you learn a little more about yourself through each try. And it is so incredibly worth it in the end when you find that one thing that you are destined to do. I wish for everyone to never give up on that search until their magic is found. I think then we will find ourselves living in a much happier place!