Sarah Boyts Yoder is a contemporary mixed media painter living and working in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Since receiving her MFA in 2006 from James Madison University and moving to Charleston, SC, Sarah has participated in over 20 juried group exhibitions (local and national) and 10 solo shows. Her bold, abstract paintings and collages have been featured in Coastal Living Magazine, Studio Visit Magazine, the Charleston City Paper, ArtMag, and on www.buysomedamnart.com. She has collaborated with and been commissioned by select interior designers and an original work was commissioned last year by www.upclyclista.com for their logo and web identity.
Sarah was a fellow at Virginia Center for the Creative Arts in 2013 and will be included in Primary Urges, a group exhibition at Honfleur Gallery in Washington D.C. in March 2014. Select pieces will soon be available at www.gathered.com and www.showandtellartanddesign.com. You can see all of her available works at her website, www.sarahboytsyoder.com.
Since moving back to Virginia in 2013, Sarah maintains a studio in her home in Charlottesville, where she lives with her husband and two small children Sofie and Zeke.
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Is there anyone you credit with gifting you your artistic ability and/or teaching you your skills? Or did you just pick up a brush one day and get lucky? Teachers. I've always loved drawing since I was a little kid and my interest in making just grew and grew. Luckily I've had several GREAT teachers who encouraged me at every step -- elementary, middle, high school and then undergrad and graduate school too.
Since it varies for each artist, we want to know what inspires you? My kids, children's book illustrations, gooey paint, definitely a love for color. There is this really exciting moment when you're working on a painting---it'll either crash and burn or come together just right. That moment is just awesome and it inspires and drives you to keep going back in the studio. Oh, and stripes!!
Do you hang your own work in your home? I do. But I really like to constantly move things around and rearrange. The walls in my house are really storage space for my works, a temporary home for them before they find a permanent place to land. I also think it's important to get the work out of the studio and into a living space where you can experience it in lots of different moods and lighting. It reveals itself over and over again.
Is there a specific artist/work that you covet? Ky Anderson (www.kyanderson.com). I got to meet her in her studio in Brooklyn last time we were in NYC. We did a trade of small works but one day I want to have one of her large paintings in our home. Her work is spacious and has this light to it. She also uses these geometric lines and shapes which feel really dimensional and solid, yet they exist in this airy landscape...it's just good.
If you were not an artist, what career do you think you’d have? I'd want to be one of those art preservationists that restores old masterpiece paintings or books. That's civilization man!
Rapid fire…
Favorite city to travel to? New York. But when I eventually go to Florence, Italy, it'll probably be that.
Guilty pleasure? It's a toss up between about 5 cups of coffee in the morning or...peanut butter.
Favorite restaurant in Charleston? Xiao Bao or D'Als
Saturday activity: beach, festival, shopping, museum or sofa? Beach!! Station 26...
Or a festival. But not a concert...I'm thinking more of the vineyard variety.
Three words to describe yourself: Impatient, Caffeinated, Blessed.
Thanks so much Sarah! It was a pleasure getting to know you better!
Here is a lil' hint of her 'Suit Suite' Collection that she created exclusively for Eclectic...
All works are framed, 11x14 and $125.
Remember, you can come check out her 'Suit Suite' Collection on sale at Eclectic during the month of February! Or email me sidney@eclecticcharleston.com if you are interested in seeing the collection digitally. I will be posting the full collection on the blog tomorrow morning, February 5 at 10 am.
Eclectic is a Charleston, South Carolina based full-service boutique interior design firm in specializing in the design of residential projects including entire homes and the styling of individual rooms. We also offer virtual e-design services. Please email sidney@eclecticcharleston.com for additional information.
Eclectic is a retail shop/design studio located in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina (just over the bridge from downtown Charleston) selling an array of vintage mid-century pieces, repurposed items, new products and locally made creations with a fresh Modern meets Coastal aesthetic.