GROWING UP WITH WILD ANIMALS
Wild animals, old growth timber, and a legacy of the West.

Sandra grew up in the rural setting of Molalla in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. Rich in wildlife and diverse woodlands, she spent much of her time in the Cascade Mountains studying nearly untouched wilderness.

With a family of outdoorsmen as her teachers and guides, she was able to concentrate on learning habitat and ecology as a normal part of her life.
Being raised with wild animals was everyday life for this small girl, and fostered a love and understanding that carries on throughout her life.

Many of Sandra's family, her father and his brothers, were gifted woodworkers and artisans, so it was natural to consider art as a way of life. Her background in the woods then also became her first subjects.

Other family, involved in ranching and a first husband that trained horses for a living, became the basis for Sandra's love of the western lifestyle.
As part of the horse training, she was able to ride and be around top Quarter Horses, and talented horses of other breeds that competed in halter, reining, roping, cow cutting, and western pleasure. Working ranch horses and race horses rounded out her background in the horse world.

Sandra now lives alone in Eastern Oregon's desert, studying a much different climate and terrain and after caring for her late husband through his illness, has returned to the art world as a full time professional artist.

Throughout the western states Sandra has enjoyed success with her art and is also in private collections in  Canada, Japan, China, Scotland, Ireland, South America, and Australia as well as the United States.

Her involvement as "resident artist" with the Rowena Wildlife Clinic in the Columbia River Gorge in Oregon brings a personal dream of hers to reality, using her art work as a means to help the beloved animals that have always been such a major part of her life, and bringing awareness of these little beings to other people.

When time is available, Sandra likes to raise organic vegetables in her garden and work on the restoration of her vintage Corvette. Although going into the restoration knowing nothing about the car, it has been a learning experience of a lifetime.

She is now teaching private students in a variety of disciplines ranging through oils, drawing and scratchboard etchings. Studio work to plein aire painting, especially concentrating on color temperature and brushstrokes, make up her range of teaching skills.  

"With a brush or pencil in hand so much of the time, a way of life is now a passion to express what I see.
Art, to be good, only has to touch you in some way. Maybe reminding you of someplace you have been or would like to be, or it makes you smile.

For me, creating a piece that makes that connection is what it is all about."

Thank you for visiting.....come back often to view new work that is being created almost daily.