Sarah's story
When tutor James Willis drew my attention to some exceptional portraits by Sarah Youseman from her Practice of Painting course, I wanted to know more. What she told me struck me as something many OCA students would identify with and so worth sharing here:
‘Having become an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers in my “proper job”, I took voluntary redundancy when I had my children. When an old friend was visiting, she saw some small and insignificant paintings of mine on the wall and invited me to join an art group with her. This then turned into a paying hobby as I fitted in painting with looking after my children. I amassed enough work to take part in South East Open Studios and read many self-help painting books. An artist friend of mine, Mary Farrier, encouraged me greatly and invited me to come along to one of her classes and talk to her students about the use of digital photography in painting. Mary retired from teaching shortly after this and I invited her students to work with me as we discovered new painting techniques and media together. This grew to a small business and I opened a studio in my garden and had up to 40 students registered with me.
However, health problems meant that I became unable to continue with this and I gave up teaching to concentrate on painting.
The reason why I decided to study with OCA in the first instance is because I never got an art qualification and knew very little about art history. I wanted to feel well grounded and learn traditional techniques as well as being pushed into doing things that were not in my comfort zone. It is important to me to get the BA (Hons). My older son has just graduated and my younger is at Uni now and I want to be part of the action. OCA enables me to do that but at a pace that allows for normal life as well.
The module I’m studying at the moment, Painting 1, has encouraged me to use oils which I had not really mastered before and try portraits which I’m really pleased with. I have gained an appreciation of artists that I had no interest and little knowledge of before. I can work at my own pace so fits in well with my life.
Although I have had experience in and even taught painting I am discovering things that I just hadn’t thought of which is making a huge difference to my work. For example, keeping brush strokes consistent throughout the painting and making better use of lost edges. My tutor has encouraged me to use free expressive marks and develop a style that is looser and painterly rather than highly finished. I am really looking forward to progressing and to see what happens over the next few years work. I feel that I have learnt so much already, just how much more is there out there? Wow!’
This sense of discovering that the more you know, the more there is to know is one of the reasons learning can become addictive. You have been warned.
14 thoughts on “Sarah's story”
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I FEEL THE SAME WAY , I THINK THAT THE WHOLE PROCESS AND PROGRESS WITH OCA IS AMAZING.
I wish you the best of luck in your painting journey,
SARAH!
MARIA
You have swung me towards OCA even more, Sarah.
Thanks
Judi
A very inspiring story, and some wonderful portraits – I would love to see more of Sarah’s work.
Great story and beautiful work Sarah.
I have followed a very similar route: “retiring” from Insurance when I had children, finding a creative outlet in my spare time (silversmithing) and joining 2 artists to take part in South East Open Studios. Felicity Flutter and Sue Scullard were so inspirational I felt the need to learn to draw and this led me to OCA.
I recommend the Open Studio events – they are a fantastic opportunity to view artists in their natural environment and they are often very generous with their knowledge, many giving demonstrations.
South East Open Studios 2012 is from 1st to 17th June – the Online Guide is available now at http://www.seos-art.org and the free printed version will be in circulation soon. With 291 artists taking part there is something for everyone!
SEOS is very inclusive and is a great way to put your toes in the selling water so to speak.
Strong work and an inspiring story.
Very inspiring. Sarah’s portraits are very impressive, and she’s only just started on her degree path. What will her work be like once she’s graduated?
Well done.
Yes, it is an inspiring story and the portraits are strong. The point about lost edges is very important and can give a painting both form and mystery. I’m forever going on about it, although I phrase it as ‘how edges meet’. I also like the comment about the more you know the more there is to know and how learning becomes addictive. It can also become overwhelming, but in a good way. I’d be interested to know if Sarah paints from life or uses photos. She mentions her interest in the use of digital photography in painting, although these works don’t look particularly photographic.
Thanks for your interest. I have put an extract from the portrait part of my learning log into a folder entitled My Work which I hope will answer some questions about how I work.
I wonder what there is about these portraits that don’t look particularly photographic, Olivia? really don’t know, but when I did the portraits section of the Painting course, I found it hard to find models and ended up using photos a lot – which was a shame.
Sarah’s portraits are very good. Does she work from digital images I wonder? She talks about this in her earlier work and I’m wondering if the tutors find this acceptable. I have had to do this for almost all of the time when painting portraits but always feel guilty about doing so because nowhere in the learning manual does it talk about it.
Learning to paint in a looser style is also something I’m struggling with and wonder if there are any links that I can use to help. Although I like working at my own pace, I would appreciate more tutor input with styles etc.
Thank you Sarah for sharing you story and wonderful work with us – I find it very inspirational.
This is such an inspiring story. What is clear to me is how Sarah’s achievements are partly to do withher having an open mind and a willingness to adapt to every new situation life has thrown at her – including learning from work that she previously had no interest in and to use oils which she did not get on with before. I think when you are doing distance learning it is easy to stay in your comfort zone if you are not careful and I know I am guilty of that.
I found Sarah’s story really inspiring and identified with much of what she said about why she wanted to complete her degree. Having recently started with OCA I am still finding my feet so it is great to hear about the journey which brought Sarah to where she is now. I really enjoyed reading Sarah’s thoughts.
Thanks for sharing your story Sarah. Lovely work!
I’m starting from rather a lower base than Sarah, but have enrolled with OCA for very similar reasons. Its encouraging to hear that other people are on the same trajectory.