Sarah Needham

Sarah Needham is an artist working in London who is fascinated with trade and shipping. Her research involves looking through shipping and maritime archives in the 1700's and identifying ships with pigments and dyes in their cargo. And then she chooses these pigments for her own painting, sourcing the pigments in raw forms and mixing them up herself.

6 Things I learned from Sarah

  1. Sarah has always been interested in trade and her work has a connection with todays political climate and the changes in trade legislation.

  2. Each body of work requires it's own research and from this she often finds prompts that lead to her next project. Currently she is working a project that is looking at ships in the 1700's that were taken over by sanctioned pirates ( who knew?1).

  3. She has picked up her art life after spending time raising her children, and she feels that coming at her art with life experience means she is more resilient to knock backs, and more determined to succeed.

  4. In order to get her work to the widest possible audiences, Sarah invests in her art business by taking stands at artists' fairs. This has already yielded results by way of working with two galleries, and getting the interest of others.

  5. Sarah has a disciplined approach to her work. She spends some time in the studio every day, and schedules time to do her online research, and then the research at the national archives in Greenwich.

  6. Having accrued a peer group of artists who are at a similar stage of their career and approach it with determination, Sarah has built a network and support group which she cites as one of her most valuable resources.

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Patricia Volk