Featured Artist Sierra Roberts

Artist Sierra Roberts captures the spirit of her subjects, conveying their essence, emotions and unique story. Visit her website to learn more about this artist and her work.

 

 

I first fell in love with drawing when I was twelve. I would draw from photographs and the pages of National Geographic to pass the time in winter. Real images inspired me, the type of images from real adventures that made people feel alive. The more I drew, the more I realized that spirit and living energy were what I engaged with most, and wanted to work toward capturing.

 

 

As a teenager, I became more and more interested in portraiture. I would spend hours practicing drawing eyes. I loved the feeling of engagement when those eyes came alive, looked at you and really saw you.

 

 

The more I worked on portraits, the more I understood that nothing is more powerful that the human connection and the human “story.”

 

 

Every human from every culture has their own unique story. How they adorn themselves—whether it’s with clothing, face paint, or jewelry—contributes to creating their identity and to sharing their story. It isn’t the full story, however; the full story is felt, it’s a connection. You understand it more through feeling than word. This is what I strive to achieve through my use of paint.

 

 

I studied fine art in between adventures in Utah and New Zealand. I struggled with art school, especially being told how to think. I wanted to learn different techniques so I could refine my own style and learn new ways from the old masters. Schools, however, were no longer teaching fine art techniques. I was told that painting was a dying art and I should focus my efforts toward installation art.

 

 

Barely scraping through art school but still managing to earn my BFA, I moved away, disheartened with the art world and hurt by its rejection. I spent the following five years chasing adventures and traveling through Australia, Asia, South, Central, and North America. I still painted, but very irregularly.

 

 

My travels gave me time to evolve, to learn who I am and what I wanted to become—to discover what is important to me and to we humans as a collective.

 

 

I am continuously inspired by the role art and craft plays in small communities worldwide, and to our self-identity. How it helps those struggling, how it can give a sense of purpose and pride, and how art and its beauty and message unite us.

 

 

The many different faces of the world and the stories that come alive through their eyes are the essence of my artistic practice. I take inspiration from other people and cultures, their rituals and routines, their colors, and the vibrancy they project. I aim to make my works colorful and bold as a way to reflect that each individual person radiates their own light and is a statement within themselves, a story to be shared.

 

 

My work is about capturing a person’s spirit, self-identity and emotions, engaging viewers through human connection. We are all individual, we are all connected and we are all to be honored.

 

Artist Sierra Roberts invites you to follow her on Instagram and Facebook.

 

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