Gray The Artist
Sarai Sanchez
Series in the Making
Canvas 16"x20". Acrylic paint 2021.
" It's A Blue Day for Ice Cream"
This painting was inspired by a numerous amount of things but the main thing that kicked this image in my head was my online shopping for a ceramic clown. I saw a small image of a ceramic clown with a pointed hat and I assumed it was an ice cream cone but when I clicked on it, it was a normal hat. To my disappointment, I believed such a thing should be an art piece so what better to do than make it my own? Better yet I thought I'd make it a narrative of a clown with a rough day at the Ice Cream Bar.
"Bite Me"
I started this painting with the idea of cotton candy hair. So soft and delicious. I decided to add those shocks of pink very last minute. I only used five colors to make this entire piece (2 blues, white, red, yellow) which I sort of regret because I feel the colors in some places look so dull I have to edit the pictures to imitate the real life vibrancy this piece gives off. However, I did fix the issue by remaking this into a watercolor painting to go onto birthday cards.
I took obvious inspiration from Willy Wonka, the dream scene from Shark Boy and Lava girl, and Katy Perry's music video 'California Girls'.
Canvas. 16"x20". Acrylic paint, corn starch. 2020.
Cavities
" Psyche in Her Dream"
The subject is Psyche and she is falling up in this surreal dream of hers. I was inspired by Neoclassical statue "Psyche Revived by Cupid's Kiss." Psyche, in mythology, was put in a death-like sleep by Venus with the perfume of Persephone, but her love Eros(Cupid) saves her with a kiss. A tale of the original sleeping beauty.
The background was inspired by a bowl of cotton candy ice cream I was eating. I loved how amazing the colors looked apart but most of all how they looked together as though they were frozen mid-clash.
I center almost all of my subjects out of habit, however centering Psyche in particular seemed perfect for this piece. Occasionally I'll flip the canvas upside down so it appears as though she is floating gently down. I have to admit it reminds me of the song "Am I Going Up?" by All Them Witches.
Canvas. 16"x20". Acrylic. 2017.
"Nacho Flamingo"
This painting idea comes from different places. There has been a wave of contemporary design in the past few years such as pineapples but especially flamingos. Flamingos are such a beautiful shade of pink and its amazing how nature produces such vibrant colors. Being at the zoo, however made me sad how they live artificial lives in four walls as we do. The background however was inspired by nacho night as a kid. Some nights we would buy ingredients for nachos and make it here at home but my family likes adding more than cheese to a plate and one of those things is sour cream. I used to take a chip and smear the sour cream in with the cheese and would take my time following the swirls and slashes with my eyes. I also used to tell my parents how nachos and sour cream could be a pretty painting. Thus, nacho(not your) flamingo.
Wood. 14"x24.5". Acrylic. 2019.
"Pinkerton"
This painting was inspired by baby shower colors and Dumbo the movie. The title however came from my Wild West History class where my professor discussed the strikebreakers and rough detectives of the west in late 19th century America, also referred to as the Pinkertons. These men were ruthless however "pinkerton" sounds like such a soft name I couldn't think of any other name for my pink elephant.
Canvas. 16"x20". Acrylic. 2018.
"Haute Cotton"
This painting was most experimental in color and texture. I used good quality paint I had gotten from my Ryman Arts days. I used the most basic colors to try and get a bubble gum blue and a warm pink. This is when I learned one of my favorite color schemes strictly pink, blue, light yellow, purple, white, and a shock of red. The flat background and 3D drawing came from skate shops. I don't have anything to do with skating but I have walked into a shop like that which then reminded me of goth club bathrooms with edgy art and band stickers. My biggest mistake was not painting the canvas with a layer of black instead I bought a black canvas and started painting on it which I admit I still make this mistake. In 2020 I barely decided on a title. I love vintage clothes and especially handmade clothes so instead of "haute couture" I used a play on words.
Canvas. 16"x20". Acrylic. 2017.
Canvas. 12"x24". Acrylic. 2014.
"Pink Afternoon"
This is the very first pastel painting I ever did. Occasionally the Cali sun in LA county becomes very saturated in a pinks purples and eventually a vibrant orange. The whole family steps outside to watch until it fades into dark purple. I wanted to put this on a canvas because the colors were just so inviting. I made one big mistake: I bought many shades of pinks, blues, and purple which I used those colors straight from the bottle instead of color mixing which is essential. If you look close enough you can see the silhouette of a bird in the center.