Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Laird.
Hi Sarah, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
My journey as an artist started young. I distinctly remember the first sketchbook I ever received and the joy I found in filling it with my creations. I only took one “official” art class in high school, but consistently filled up sketchbooks on my own time. By the time I graduated, I completed over 20 sketchbooks. This passion for creation drove me to pursue and achieve a BFA in Studio Art: Drawing & Painting from the University of North Texas. There, I learned to push my creative mind and experiment with abstract expressionism. What I strive for in my work is to awaken self-reflection. When people see a piece that strikes them, they interpret it based on what they know and believe to be true. Truth differs for each individual, and since everyone has lived a different life, people refer to their own past to make sense of what’s in front of them.
My art is designed to draw out memories and emotions from a person’s past, evoking what speaks to them through my work. By employing abstraction through techniques of exclusion, color chemistry, and figure metamorphosis, I invite the viewer to discover a part of themselves in the painting. I would like to say that making art is my full-time job, but it is not. I do, however, curate my own art shows and have held a few in the Bishop Arts District, Downtown Plano, and Addison.
My goal for the exhibitions is to bring people together in community and discussion. If I’ve learned anything in my journey as an artist, it’s that art is an expression of the human experience. No matter what you make, it’s a reflection of who you are as a person and your purpose here on earth.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course not. Like many young adults graduating with a fine arts degree, I hoped it would become my primary vocation. However, especially within Dallas, Texas’s corporate culture, opportunities for artists were limited. I had to carve out my own path, pursuing art outside traditional channels. It became a passion I nurtured alongside my day jobs, hosting pop-up shows rather than following the conventional gallery route.
Now, I find myself in a place I never quite anticipated: building a growing corporate career while continuing to pursue art on my own terms. I create work because it inspires me, not because it needs to pay a bill. It’s not where I once imagined I’d be, but I’ve come to appreciate it for what it is. No matter where life leads me, art will always remain my passion and my pursuit.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am an abstract oil painter whose work explores the organic and emotional layers of the human experience. Rooted in abstract expressionism, my practice intertwines gestural mark-making with suggestions of figurative anatomy and botanical forms. Through vivid color, fluid movement, and intuitive composition, my paintings examine themes of growth, tension, and transformation, often blurring the line between the body and the natural world.
Identity, social constructs, and emotional evolution are recurring threads in my work, guiding how I interpret both internal landscapes and external pressures. I am particularly interested in how the human form can be abstracted yet still feel familiar, how anatomy can dissolve, reassemble, and mirror our lived experiences.
What I am most proud of is creating work that balances vulnerability with strength, intuition with structure. My nontraditional path as an artist has allowed me to develop a distinct visual language, one that is emotionally honest, physically expressive, and grounded in personal experience. What sets my work apart is its ability to invite viewers into a shared sense of transformation, encouraging reflection rather than resolution.
What quality or characteristic do you feel is most important to your success?
The quality most important to my success is grit. For a long time, I believed I was at a disadvantage compared to other artists, having been largely self-taught, without a prestigious art school background, and navigating several years after university without a sustainable career. At the time, those realities felt like limitations.
In hindsight, they became my greatest teachers. Knowing that nothing would be handed to me forced me to develop tenacity, resourcefulness, and an unwavering drive to carve my own path. If I wanted to make this work, I had to actively seek opportunities and create momentum for myself. That grit has since shaped not only my artistic practice, but many other areas of my life, and it remains a core contributor to my success.
Equally important has been my commitment to building genuine relationships. I’ve always believed in investing in others the way I hope to be invested in myself. Those authentic connections have been deeply meaningful, and they continue to reinforce the value of community, collaboration, and mutual support in sustaining a creative career.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://javainkstudios.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/javainkstudios/
