I create drawings and paintings in my studio in Healdsburg. I have generally two bodies of work on the go, one of them being my botanical illustrations, working with gouache on handmade cotton print making paper. These are sweet and meditative little works often framed to expose the tactile quality of the paper’s edges. Another body of work includes my figurative drawings and paintings in Gouache and oil on paper as well as muslin cotton. These work combine pattern, figure and object to create a sense of narrative that asks the viewer to fill in the gaps. Influenced by textile art, Lacanian psychoanalysis, Viennese expressionism, and mid-century illustration, I create scenes that ask the viewer to assess the social situation before them, as if walking into a party not knowing any of the guests. As the viewer reads the painting they cannot help but look within themselves to give the painting meaning-reading into body language, objects, and other signifiers within the scene.

In addition to my own artwork, I illustrate for children’s books, design wine labels, take commissions for all kinds of projects, and teach drawing at the San Francisco Art Institute, where I earned my MFA. You can find me on Instagram in all my endeavours as @sarahammons1 and watch my instructional videos on youtube.