Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Fitzgerald.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I knew from a young age that I loved art. My parents also knew this as I once drew a life-size Christmas tree mural on our living room wall! My love for art continued as I grew, but alas I took a roundabout way into painting as many artists do. I felt pressure to have a “real job” so I earned a degree in Science of Design and did the responsible thing of working as a graphic designer for over a decade. This wasn’t all bad, I appreciated getting to use color, composition, photography, and typography, but still longed to get out from behind the computer and get my hands dirty. After my husband and I had our first child it seemed like a good transition time to step away from the day job, so I finally came full circle and began painting and illustrating. Finding the time to create can be challenging, but I now pursue painting and growing as an artist as close to full-time as I can.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Is there such thing as a smooth road? I definitely have faced turbulence along the way sometimes with my own self-doubt or lack of motivation, but finding a way to carve out time to create has been my biggest obstacle. Inspiration may hit and I may be in a groove and then just as soon as I have paints mixed it’s time to grab a kid from school or get another one to a dentist appointment. Juggling the running of the home with 3 active kids and 1 active husband leaves small windows for focused work time. But the cliche phrase that “everything in its season” has rang true. Sometimes there are seasons of abundance and I am super productive and then there are other times where painting has to take a bit of a back burner while I focus on the other good things in my life. I am thankful painting has given me the flexibility to rearrange priorities depending on what “season” the family is in.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I generally work in a few categories; Foundations, Flora and Fauna. I tried to be clever there and continue the theme of my brand name “Fitz Farm” which comes from my last name Fitzgerald. ha! Most of my paintings do loosely fit into one of those categories in some form. Foundations are landscapes—places, a refuge, a physical building, nature. Flora represents the process of growth and the transformation that happens to living things over time. Fauna includes animals and often the relationship of humans with animals. In particular, I like to imagine that two creatures (a girl and a wolf for example) can find connection despite it being an unlikely relationship. I like to depict scenes that may be hard to imagine this side of heaven but are hopeful for what is to come. As for my style, I feel that emerged over time and out of my background in graphic design. I think the designer part of my brain wanted to bring a little order to the chaos side of my artist. I found a healthy marriage between the two by painting loosely and then doing detail work with lines after. So, my paintings reflect this as I layer paint which I then etch into with wood carving tools. Paintings are like people. So many layers underneath. What you see as the finished piece has a whole different story underneath that brought it to that place.
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Oh gosh these questions are so tough for me! Surprising? That’s an intimidating word because I feel like it has to be really interesting. So… I am a self-taught painter. Despite going to Design School I didn’t take a SINGLE fine art or painting class! I actually almost switched to psychology. My dream as a kid was to be a ballerina and I also still feel like that could have been my true calling. My all-time favorite TV show that I will always and forever watch is Little House on the Prairie. So many good life lessons and I love how the Ingall’s family responds to trials and hardships in way that draws them more together than apart. And now I make my kids watch it! Oh and I can only wink my right eye.
Contact Info:
- Email: fitzfarmart@gmail.com
- Website: www.fitzfarm.com
- Instagram: fitzfarm
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fitzfarm
Image Credits
Sarah Fitzgerald
