Sarah Steedman

b. 1966

I have a BA in Studio Arts from Sophie Newcomb college at Tulane University, am a U of IL Master Gardener and completed the Agro-ecology apprenticeship program at U of C Santa Cruz. I am currently a full time artist living in Portland, Maine.

I am represented by Moss Galleries in Portland and Falmouth, Maine. https://www.elizabethmossgalleries.com

My paintings explore the beauty and significance of everyday life. I am inspired by the natural world—flowers, plants, animals, and local landscapes—as well as by handmade objects that carry the evidence of time, labor, and care. Textiles, ceramics, wooden utensils, food, and gathered bouquets are recurring subjects because they reflect the intimate relationship between making, living, and belonging.

I am influenced by folk art and outsider art, particularly the directness, expressive use of color, and celebration of ordinary experience. I am drawn to work that values sincerity over perfection and that reveals my personal relationship to the world around me.

Central to my practice is an interest in domestic life as a site of creativity. I am inspired by the generations of women whose work has centered on nurturing others through gardening, cooking, sewing, weaving, knitting, and raising families. These acts, though often overlooked within traditional histories of art, embody extraordinary skill, generosity, and imagination. They demonstrate that creativity is not confined to the studio but is woven into the rhythms of daily life.

Ultimately, my paintings are an invitation to look more closely at the ordinary. They celebrate the quiet abundance of everyday life and affirm the value of the handmade, the cultivated, and the deeply human.