“I painted this piece from life. For many years I have had a studio practice of hiring a model for several sessions and creating a painting. When I painted this piece, I was really looking at the figure studies of Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres. He painted a lot of studies of just parts of the figure. They weren’t meant to be finished works, but I LOVE them, so I made a number of paintings that used his studies as inspiration. This piece is a portrait of a model named Marissa, along with her knee and shin.

I’m also a huge fan of earth colors - which are the pigments on the artist’s palette that are the oldest, and most durable. They’re under-appreciated because their chroma is not high. But with controlled mixes, and appreciation for the subtlety of the more neutral color shifts, a whole world of gorgeous color can emerge. I’m also a huge fan of creating artwork that will last for many generations. Earth pigments are the most ancient pigments we have.” - Sarah