Melbourne artist Sarah Kelk revived her painting practice last year, after taking a few years off to run a business, have children and spend time living overseas.
With their distinctive muted palette and a loose, abstract aesthetic, Sarah’s new works have quickly gained popularity. We included a handful of her paintings at our Open House event last year, (they quickly sold out!) and were thrilled when Sarah agreed to participate in our Fundraiser Exhibition which opened last week in Melbourne (Sarah generously donated not one but two beautiful paintings!).
ALSO last week, Sarah’s first solo exhibition opened at Modern Times in Fitzroy. The exhibition is entitled ‘All Things Now’, which seems fitting given the craziness of her life in the past twelve months!
‘It’s all a bit of a whirlwind recently, but a really good one’ Sarah says! ‘Since last year, I’ve been trying to spend more time painting. It’s a real release for me. I love the energy I get from spending a day painting, and its been really nice to focus on a body of work for my solo show at Modern Times’.
Along with her sister Helen, Sarah continues to build on the product line for Hello Polly Home, which she says is ‘loads of fun!’. Between this, a regular commitment to painting, and chasing after her two young kids, Sarah admits that she’s busier than ever right now, though she insists that she thrives on the madness of it all. ‘The busier I am, the more I seem to do with my time! I love it that way’ she says.
Sarah’s paintings are an abstract mix of deliberate shapes and accidental brushstrokes, blocks of muted colour interwoven with texture and pattern. In the studio, Sarah works intuitively, rarely sticking to a clear plan. ‘I’ve always been in awe of artists who can meticulously plan their pieces before they begin. I often sit with a cup of coffee and a sketchbook and very roughly sketch out a few ideas, but even if I have a firm plan, it often goes out the window once I start painting’ she says. ‘It’s all pretty intuitive, I really enjoy getting in the zone.’
All Things Now by Sarah Kelk
On now until August 6th 2015
Modern Times
311 Smith Street
Fitzroy, VIC
