Painter Sara Fernandez shares an engaging collection of colorful abstracts that combine structure with an intuitive style. Enjoy more of her portfolio on her website.
“cloister” acrylic on panel, 12″ x 12″
My painting process and aesthetic are hard to separate from my life experience, as I’ve always been intrigued by the visual world of shapes, colors, lines and compositions. A keen interest in drawing and design growing up eventually led me into the study and practice of architecture.
“etta’s feast” acrylic on panel, 12″ x 12″
While earning my architecture degree, I started taking lots of drawing, painting and art history classes as well and ended up with an art minor and a fascination with Abstract Expressionism, painters of the Bay Area Figurative Movement (especially Richard Diebenkorn), and Mid-Century Modernism.
“come around” acrylic on panel, 12″ x 12″
After university, my husband (also an architect) and I traveled around the world for several years, working as architects and sketching lots of city streets, villages, and buildings along the way.
“icefields” oil on canvas, 18″ x 24″
We eventually ended up living in the Pacific Northwest of the US and Canada, where we raised our three children. When our kids were teenagers, I worked as an architectural illustrator in watercolor, which became a steppingstone back to art.
“Snow in May” acrylic on canvas, 20″ x 24″
With my background in architecture and a deep appreciation for those mid-century expressive painters, I found that what flowed out of my painting sessions was a hybrid of all those influences, combined with the process of painting itself and my own personal preferences and discernment. I bring a structural sensibility to an intuitive process, using bold color and thoughtful composition to evoke spaciousness, light, and movement.
“ocean in a drop” acrylic on panel,12″ x 12″
I usually work on multiple paintings at once, especially at the beginning. My paintings start with loose under layers which often provide rich texture and depth below the surface. I like to maintain much of the fresh, spontaneous spirit of early gestures for as long as possible, while I apply paint with different tools and energy, making marks and welcoming surprises as they unfold.
“two apostles” acrylic on panel, 12″ x 12″
My paintings continue to evolve as layers build up and I shift to working out compositions (at that point focusing on one painting at a time), changing the orientation, responding to what’s there, and continuing to paint until things feel balanced and resolved. Each piece feels like a conversation where the painting gives me clues as to where it wants to go and we have a call-and-response. It’s quite a dynamic process which keeps me on my toes and why no painting is ever predictable.
“noosa” acrylic on panel,18″ x 18″
My painting process really mirrors my life of faith—both involve moving forward without a clear direction and embracing uncertainty with trust and childlike curiosity. There’s a sense of humility and wonder in not knowing what comes next, in being open to surprise and delight. I’ve learned that my most authentic work emerges when I let go of control and allow the process to guide me, becoming a vehicle for what wants to be expressed.
“deep to deep” acrylic on panel, 12″ x 12″
Opening Up is what I call my most recent series of paintings because I have found that they start working well for me when they feel spacious, almost like rooms that are letting in lots of light or a doorway to another landscape.
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