The Maker’s Table - A Case Study in the Creative Process
Welcome back to The Maker’s Table. For this post, we are excited to highlight Sarah Sutton of @sometimessarahpaints. We chatted with Sarah about her creative process—where she finds inspiration, what routines work for her, and how her style has changed over time. Her experience is a lesson in consistency and exploration, and inspires us to get out there and create.
The first step to creating is tapping into your inspiration. What catches your attention? What sparks joy and curiosity in your heart? Pay attention to those cues, as they can help you identify the things that stoke your creative flame. For Sarah, inspiration is abundant in architecture.
“I love the shapes of architecture. When thinking about painting a building, it feels like an exciting puzzle waiting to be solved. I love the challenge of interpreting different textures and perspective.”
Sarah enjoys traveling to new cities, where she can stumble across new buildings and architectural techniques. To make things easier on herself, Sarah snaps photos of buildings that speak to her, allowing her to refer back to the details once she returns to her studio.
Cultivating your workspace is another important step in the creative process. The space in which we create can have an influence in our work; for some, a cluttered space may overwhelm the mind and prevent creative flow, whereas others may find freedom in the mess. Although Sarah doesn’t consider herself the most tidy or organized person, she still prefers to start with a clear workspace.
Once she has settled into her space, she returns to her inspiration and identifies a starting point.
“I enjoy breaking down a scene, whether it’s real life or from a photo. Looking at which point to start and recreating the scene line by line and watching the painting come to life.”
This creative process is the product of years of practice and growth. Sarah studied in art school, but took a break from art until her 30s, when her children were born. What began as stolen moments between naps became her full-time job. As she continued to experiment with her process and techniques, she developed a flow that works for her.
“I no longer worry if I can capture scenes, I know that anything is possible, it might just require a different approach.”
Sarah is also passionate in sharing this confidence with other artists. Over the years, she has turned her focus to education and runs acclaimed workshops from her studio. She enjoys working with others and helping them reach their full potential.
“I love watching people build in confidence, not just confidence at improving, but also maintaining confidence when things go wrong and seeing this as progress.”
This October, Sarah will be taking her workshops to O House for a five day ink and watercolor retreat. We can’t wait to watch participants capture Portugal’s beauty in every stroke of their pen and brush!
Check out Sarah’s upcoming retreat at O House: Ink & Watercolor: A Restorative Painting Retreat in Portugal
