Hi Sara, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve been drawing and painting for as long as I can remember, however my first introduction to art was learning watercolor from my great uncle in his studio. As I moved through middle school and high school, I took all the art classes possible. I kept consistent with drawing and painting, even starting to develop my own style. I submitted a couple of my pieces to the Minnesota state fair, and I actually placed pretty well! It wasn’t until my Junior year that I realized I could move on to making art a career. By then, I was experimenting with graphic design. I got to visit Portland, Oregon that same year, I fell in love with the city right away and made being an artist in Portland my goal. I graduated high school and moved right away to Portland to attend Pacific Northwest College of Art with a graphic design major. I’m currently no longer enrolled at PNCA, but I put in two years with most of being online during the pandemic. In that time my art has grown immensely and introduced me to a lot of new mediums that are now my favorites today. Currently, my main mediums are printmaking, sewing, painting, and of course, graphic design. My art is heavily influenced by 60’s and 70’s psychedelia, along with the music and ideas from that era. I’m currently participating in the Portland art picnic, a monthly market during the summertime. My art is also available on my Etsy shop, as well as Pinky PDX, an artist collective in Portland. Even though I’ve been on the west coast for almost three years now, Minnesota will always be a tender and nostalgic place to draw inspiration from.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The short answer is heck no! Getting to where I am today feels almost surreal after all the obstacles that were put in my way. The first thing was making a portfolio to even get into art school. Imposter syndrome was at an all-time high, not feeling my art is worthy enough to make art a career. After my portfolio was complete and I was accepted into PNCA, I crumbled due to extreme burnout. Luckily I had some time to rest before starting school. Art school grinds you down in the best way. At PNCA they have a foundation year, where you are required to take a variety of classes outside your chosen mediums. It definitely had my mind all over the place, carving salt blocks one class, and drawing live nude models the next. This foundation year was one of the best years of my life, getting to be thrown into something new with no expectations of success, was absolutely thrilling. On the flip side, critiques are something that takes some getting used to. Having to be so vulnerable and display your art in front of others to be judged and talked about is an adrenaline rush unlike any other. Out of all of that, the biggest struggle I’ve had as an artist yet was the pandemic, my school shut down and had to go online. Art school is not easy, and having it online brought on a whole new set of struggles. Critiques weren’t the same, and trying to share physical art through a screen was near impossible. Even amongst all the struggles, they helped me grow in ways I could never imagine.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
My work is primarily specialized in graphic design and printmaking. Recently I’ve been becoming more and more known for my sticker designs. I admire the street art culture in Portland, that’s how I got into stickers. Most of the artists I adore started out in the sticker scene. My use of bright colors and bold statements are perfect for small designs to be stuck anywhere. The thing I’m most proud of is an infographic map of Minnesota I designed while in school. It was very healing to make such a beautiful piece about my home, and that it truly conveys my feelings about Minnesota. It was overall a real turning moment in my style and learning how to balance my love for groovy, free-form graphics while still creating a solid and clear design. I’d like to say that balance sets me apart from others. I’m letting your eyes drift about my art but it’s still sending a concise message. My art definitely caters to those niche parts of the 60s and 70s, because it’s an art I’d like to see out in the world.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
I hope the art industry keeps growing forever, and it should because art will always exist as long as we’re around. We need art, it’s natural. The pandemic really provided an opening for artists to thrive. It was so heartwarming to see so many creatives leave their jobs to pursue art full-time. Staying inside gave people the time to explore and honestly heal their inner child in some ways. On the downside, I would like to see social media platforms eventually change their ways, such as censorship, making everything monetized, etc. I can only hope art will continue to be therapeutic and helpful, and normalized! Anyone can do art! That needs to be said with an exclamation. The world is better with everyone’s art in it.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/SaraNoyesArt
- Instagram: @electric__daisies
