Sarah McDonald

With 25 years of experience as a professional artist who has exhibited her work all over Australia and overseas, South Australian artist, Sarah McDonald is now well known for richly textured and evocative oil paintings.

McDonald is being recognised around Australia for her landscapes painted in her signature technique using palette knives. In each painting, there is a quality that evokes an emotional response from every viewer as they re-tell their own story, stirred by memories and images of their own past.

Each painting reflects Sarah’s ability to capture time and place, using her exaggerated light and colour to depict her subject matter. Her tactile landscapes are responses to her love or hiking and her connection with the places she might travel to. Sarah now paints full time in her Adelaide studio and is the Director of her private Art School for adults.

“My paintings are expressive and tactile oil paintings inspired by the Australian landscape,” she says.

“I respond to the landscape through vivid use of colour, textured surfaces and energetic mark making to help capture my interpretation and memory of where I have been.

“I make my paintings by creating a variety of textured surfaces using palette knives. The oil paints physicality is what I enjoy , embracing the ‘accident’ and painting intuitively, I allow the work to develop and change throughout the building process.

“Strong colour contrasts, exaggerated light and a solid composition are all crucial elements in all my work, as is the thick oil paint applied to render a tactile experience. I invite the viewer to make their own connections and draw on memories and experiences.”

Follow on Instagram | Visit artist website