“I have been an artist I guess since I could hold a crayon,” artist Sarah Innes said.
Innes has been a member of the Washington Street Gallery on and off for years, but she is finally getting her first proper show this spring. Her art will be coming to Ann Arbor from April 30 to June 7 at the Washington Street Gallery.
“We love her work and thought she would be a great fit for the gallery. And now that she was juried in as an artist/co-owner, she is entitled to have her own show,” Michelle Hegyi, a member artist at the WSG, said in an emailed interview.
Two examples of her style are pictured here, and will be at the WSG, “Lillies and Roses”, and “French Quarter.” Color fills her canvases like sunlight on a warm summer day filtering through the canopy of trees and flowers, a pastel-like effect of muted by somehow wide-awake technicolor, reminiscent of Picaso, De Kooning or Van Gogh.
“I love color, I like my work to have a little surprise in the forms or edges,” Innes says.
But that is not how Innes describes herself, she is more of the West Coast artistic tradition. She counts her influences among the Bay Area Figurists, “Dubuffet, Dufy, Bonnard, Cassatt, Nowinski, Morandi” of the Mid-Century, as well as printmaking, which she often incorporates into her artistic process.
When asked to explain these two works, Innes said of the first painting: “’Lilies and Roses’ is actually cut from a much larger painting. It was 5’ x 4’ but this was the only part I liked so I cut it out and pretty much repainted it. You can see that I have used the pochoir method in the crisp silhouettes of the flowers and Ginko leaves.”
On the second painting, Innes went on, “’French Quarter’ came about from a visit to New Orleans. The colors and funny people struck me. I’m working on a larger French Quarter that has musicians in it, but I don’t think it will make it into this exhibit. “
Innes will be the center of attention at the opening of her show on May 2, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. There will also be an artists’ talk starting at 1 p.m. on Saturday, May 10.
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According to a press release from the WSG, Innes picked the name “People and Places” for the exhibition with the following: “My work reflects my daily life: being with friends and family, my surroundings at home or elsewhere. I rotate my focus on a number of series that I have had in progress for years. I return to drawings as source material for paintings and to a type of monorprinting called pochair. I try to incorporate an element of the unexpected along with line, color and form.”
You can view Innes’ art at the WSG’s 111 East Ann Street location for free, along with all of their other art. The gallery has been around for over a quarter of a century, and is a collaboration of 15 artists, whom take turns exhibiting art for six week stints every other year.
They also invite artists to exhibit as guests too. Innes was one such guest before becoming a member recently.
“I hope lot of people come to the opening, friends and people I don’t know, and I hope I get a really good dinner after! Of course, I’ll be pleased if I sell work,” Innes said of her upcoming reception, adding that she is looking forward to getting to know other WSG members. “The atmosphere is extremely cooperative and supportive. It has a dynamic quality which is motivating. It’s nice to sit in the gallery and talk to visitors.”
Drew Saunders is a freelance business and environmental journalist who grew up just outside of Ann Arbor. He covers local business developments, embraces his foodie side with reviews restaurants, obsesses over Michigan's environmental state, loves movies, and feels spoiled by the music he gets to review for Ann Arbor!
