About

Hi! I'm SHE, better known as Sarah. I am a blue eyed, curly haired brunette who loves to cook, sing, paint, play with clay and generally embrace and enjoy life to the fullest! I am passionate about my Heavenly Father and trying to live a life that exemplifies Christ! I also believe that all of my creative energy and talent is something that comes from God and not my own to claim, but a gift to use to share His love! I am an artist. 

Artist is thrown around a lot these days so let me be a little more specific just so you know my background! I studied Studio Art in college with a concentration in ceramics and painting. I graduated from University of Mary Washington in 2010 and have since been on several adventures all of which were incredible!  

If you are still with me and want to know more, then continue on as I share why I'm passionate about being an artist. if you've gotten enough "about me" than thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy my blog!

Ceramics:  

Since I was very young I'd always had a feeling that I would love working with clay, not just doing silly kiddie art projects in elementary school but really as an artisan. It wasn't until high school that I got a taste thanks to an art teacher who stayed after school to teach me, but college was where I really got the chance. I took to clay as easily as I had always anticipated and was even the Studio Assistant to my professor during my senior year. I hadn't touched clay in almost 3 years so a few months ago I signed up for a class at Rosewood Pottery for a throwing class, just to get a refresher and really hit it off with the owners. When my contract job's contract ended.. I went to them offering my assistance and turns out they liked me! I worked as their studio assistant for 11 months until I started my current "big kid" job but still keep in touch and they're a great resource!






Painting:

Well, I've always been an art kid so painting wasn't new to me like ceramics, but it wasn't my favorite either. My junior year in college I took my 1st painting class of my major and half way through the semester discovered I loved oil paint, I loved working on a large scale and I really enjoyed painting. It helps that I felt a connection to my Grandfather who had taken up painting in his retirement and collected quite a nice studio full of supplies... which I was given most of.. I guess because I'm the artistic one. I also had an amazing professor in college who not only taught me how to paint but taught me how to embrace my Christian faith as an artist. I have recently started working with watercolors and am experimenting with mixed mediums. 

Photography:

My mom's dad "Poppy" was a professional photographer. But I only had a vague knowledge of that when he passed suddenly during my freshman year of high school. I had signed up for a Photo 1 class and when my grandmother found out she brought down all of his equipment the next time she visited. Boxes of cameras, tripods, lenses.. etc! I've been doing photography off and on ever since, mostly because I love capturing the "decisive moment" and I really sense a camaraderie with a man who I know loved me, but who wasn't always the friendliest or warmest of grandparents. I mostly shoot for fun but I do occasionally  do senior and family photo shoots. Leave a comment if you want to know more! 







Ceramics is my longed for creativity brought to reality while Painting and Photography are kinda of my inherited enjoyments and crafting is something I have always been about. Be it making hand made cards for the Holidays or crocheting hats for friends. My hands seem to have this need to keep moving, to keep busy. I've always had this need to map and document things. This blog is to meet that purpose, a place to document what I make, where I go, the crazy things I occasionally think and let spill out into the world. A place to share the things I make, hand made pottery, jewelry, crafted knits and crochets along with my photography and painting. 

How did I come to be SHEdesignswithgrace. The name is inspired by my initials... S.H.E and the meaning of my first name, Sarah, which means "princess" but when spelled with an "h" at the end adds the meaning "with grace". I have been a Christian since I was very young and my faith has been renewed several times throughout my still young life but I firmly believe that I am nothing with out the grace of God. So "with grace" isn't about me having grace via my name but rather a reminder to me, through my name that its not about me. Its about my Savior having grace. It is about how I am "with grace" because of Him. Hence SHEdesignswithgrace!

Thanks for stopping by and may God bless your day! 

with grace,

Sarah "SHE"