Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Lütz.
Hi Sarah, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
As long as I can remember, I wanted to be an artist. I would write and illustrate stories, make comics and sell drawings of my classmate’s pets. I won a Christmas card contest for my drawing in elementary school and that made me feel like a “real” artist for the first time.
I followed in my dad’s footsteps in our family business as a carpenter. We built trade show displays and exhibits, so I learned a lot of finish carpentry, and installation work. In college, I also worked as a custom framer, which comes in very handy these days, stretching canvas and building my own frames. I loved working with my hands in these ways.
I went to school at University of North Texas in Denton, Texas. I received my Bachelors of Fine Arts in Studio Art with a concentration in Painting. I was infinitely inspired being in an art community and thrived.
After school, I travelled the western US with my best friend, camping at all the national parks and BLM land we could find. It was a stark change from the metropolis and flat land of Texas. I felt free. I met my son’s father on the road and we sold our cars and bought an RV and travelled until we made it to Asheville, NC.
Then, I found out I was pregnant. So we stayed to give birth in these blue mountains. I had never been to Asheville, but it cradled me and I felt at home. That was 11 years ago. My son just turned 10. Motherhood gave me new life, seeing through the curious eyes of a child, and my art took off. I was painting during every nap and building a body of work. When he started school, I found a studio space in the River Arts District, at Riverview Station, where I spent all my free time. I loved that space and the community there, and I really flourished as an artist. I was showing and selling more work than I ever had. I had really felt like everything in my life lined up for me to be there.
Then Helene hit, and the River Arts District was inundated with water. My studio and many other’s were flooded, years of work muddy and sodden. Though the RAD has had a renaissance, and reopening, Riverview Station has not. I had to pivot to online and outdoor markets put on by RADA, and learn to be a market vendor. I have gotten to meet so many people and share my art even wider.
A year after the storm, I finally just got settled into a new space at the Phil Mechanic. I am still doing markets, galleries, and have wall space at Marquee. I am so grateful to my husband Nick, for his unwavering support, and my family and community that allow me to live out my dream.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
This road has been under construction longer than 26. In college, my oldest brother died and then shortly after, my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer. I took time off from school to bring her to chemo and radiation and take care of her. It didn’t work and I learned what in home hospice was. That was really hard. I resumed school after her passing and was the first one in my family to receive a bachelor’s degree. After I moved to Asheville with my son’s father, and a very difficult birth, we split up. Divorce and custody stuff was awful.
I was a single mom for 3 years. I took on housekeeping at airbnbs to take care of us because I could bring him with me. I’d strap him on my back in a baby carrier and get to work. That job allowed me to spend time with my son and really be there for him as a mother. It also gave me more time to paint than a 9-5 would. I met Nick and we hit it off. We just got married this past July after 6 years together. Having his support really helped me take the leap to doing art professionally and getting studio space and start selling.
Then Helene came to town. I never thought a mountain town so far from the coast could be hit like that. To live through one of the craziest weather events since Katrina. It was really surreal. It was a shake up moment if there ever was one. I mourned the Asheville that I had grown to know. All that loss. But, all that gain, too. The community really stepped up and shined. Helene has pushed me out of my comfort zone and forced me to grow. I even kind of miss the candlelit nights of no electricity and “big questions,” a game my son made up.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I am a painter, particularly partial to oil paint. I’ve done all the paints too, but oil does me. I like to play with color. That’s the biggest thing. I usually start by just putting colors I like together and seeing where they go. Lately, that looks like landscapes, but they are really more than that. They are mindscapes. They come from my soul. I like exploring there. Painting is the closest I can get to sharing my inner world.
They often have a philosophical slant, and question a lot about what is real? What is consciousness? Those are my “big questions.”
Most people recognize my art by my colors, and their peaceful nature. I also wipe and pull paint around to create movement, with swooshes, carving into them reductively. It has a magical realism to it; dreamy, but grounded.
Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
Art wise- when I finish a piece and look at it in its entirety, and I see my soul. A self-portrait of sorts. That’s really satisfying.
Life wise- being a mom, cuddles, cat purrs, good jokes and conversation, hiking, singing and playing guitar.
Seeing things grow and evolve gives me the most happiness.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Sarahlutz.bigcartel.com
- Instagram: @sarahlutz
- Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/sarah.lutz.395/
