Artist Sandra FitzSimmons draws on her experiences growing up and living in the South and is interested in all things coastal.
Tell us about your latest art collection. What inspires you?
This latest body of work is a representation of the Southern culture and landscape environment I was raised in and what I know best; I paint what I know and live with — oysters, coastal shorebirds, flora and fauna ...
Rooted in the southern coast and low country, my work reflects a lifelong connection to its mysterious landscapes and rich ecology while shaped by a childhood steeped in the vivid storytelling of the deep South. Tales and recurring imagery act as both symbol and structure in guiding my painting practice … each work offering a sense of place shaped by memory, observation and lived experience.
My paintings will begin with a clear visual concept that evolves through color, composition and theme. Through layered masks of hand-mixed color, subtle hand-crafted, mixed-media elements, often using handmade unorthodox painting tools, I create contemporary narrative art inspired by marsh tides, oyster reefs and tidal pools and the native flora and fauna framed in ethereal coastal and low country light … magnolia, piney woods and palms, shore and backwater birds and ever-intriguing gators serve as both character and place, reflecting the rhythms and ecology of the southern coast.
What first sparked your interest in art?
When I was around 8-9 I used to hide behind Mother’s living room drapes and draw with crayons on the lining of those fine drapes. I got caught and was promptly grounded! Then, I was sent to after-school art classes, of course I was totally hooked on art then!
What mediums do you work with?
Acrylic, oil, mixed media
What do you like best about what you do?
I love every part of the process, the imaging of the “stories” I want to paint — every painting begins with a story. I see the color palette I want to use, the characters I want to paint, the locations I put my characters into — all of it. I see the whole creation in my mind’s eye. I love mixing my own paint colors, like a gourmet chef, adding pigments and glazes and maybe sometimes metallic leafing to my paint “recipe” — or a chemist in the lab concocting my own special “brew.”
What does a typical day look like for you?
Up early, going into my studio before daybreak when it’s quiet, still and having the world all to myself to put my brushes to the canvas.
Are you from this area originally, or did you settle here from somewhere else?
I’m from South Georgia, received a BFA in painting at The University of Georgia, and as an adult lived in many places in the Deep South, New York, Florida and Florida Keys, and out West. I moved to Ponte Vedra from Savannah because of a relationship, but as a young girl my family came to the area to The Ponte Vedra Inn on vacations, so I knew the area well and knew I would love it.
What do you like best about living here?
Just about everything! Easy to get on the beach, all my many long-time friendships, the friendly and easygoing lifestyle.
How do you like to spend your free time?
I teach collage workshops, which takes me to many different areas across the State of Florida, and I look forward to visiting art galleries and museums when traveling. I love beach walking and exploring all the huge variety of landscapes, flora, fauna and cultures throughout Florida.
What’s next for you and your art?
I have six private painting commissions to complete by next spring. I have representation in several galleries, and I will be working on fresh painting collections for them all.
In November, I’m going to the desert, Joshua Tree in Tucson, Arizona, which borders the Saguaro National Desert. We will be foraging for earth, flowers, fossils in this huge cactus desert forest and grinding our own powders to make paint pigments and inks for painting. I’m really excited about this venture and anticipate something very different from what I’ve ever done in the realm of very organic art materials.
In March, I’ll be painting in New Orleans with a group of other artists from all over that form an art partnership, which I’m a part of. We’ve been doing this for some time, and it’s truly one of the highlights of my creative life every year ... and who knows what else will pop up? There’s never a dull moment!
