About the Artist

Sarah Northcott (nee Cheevers) was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. She grew up with a grandpa who loved to show his granddaughter how to get her hands dirty in clay and paint as well as try and get her to sit still while having her ‘head’ sculpted. She is mostly self-taught and has had her work shown in international and local galleries.  For the last couple of years, she has been crafting a unique process of painting abstracts using polymer gel and acrylics. She has completed selective courses from Emily Carr University of Art and Design, the Victoria College of Art as well as workshops through the North Shore Arts Guild and North Vancouver Arts Council.

Her formal education comprises a B.A. (University of Victoria, ), a B.Ed Teaching Certification (University of British Columbia, ), and an M.Sc. degree in Strategic Leadership in Sustainability (Blekinge Institute of Technology, Sweden).  She is a co-founder of KASE Connections, has produced, written and recorded three original albums of music and teaches an alternative high school program incorporating art in her classroom.  Recently she has moved to Smithers, BC with her husband and two children.

Artist Statement:

I am currently using polymer gel and acrylics to play with layers; revealing and hiding aspects of the painting. Although I have a vision, I literally have to ‘go with the flow’; there is spontaneity with the pouring, dripping and spraying of gel over acrylics and the painting evolves on its own as the glue settles and dries.  Using paint on top of the glue to hide as well as accentuate exposed layers underneath the polymer gel keeps me excited throughout the process to discover what will ultimately be revealed.  Restricting myself to this self-discovered technique has allowed me tremendous freedom to explore the complexity of having boundaries.

Why I do what I do:

I like to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. I love tripping up on beautiful things… simple things… useful things that are attractive. I think we can be bombarded by so much that it is easy to overlook how intrinsically interesting and aesthetically pleasing our every day can be.