Sandra Pratt was born in 1978 and raised in Chicago. She spent one semester at the Art Institute of Chicago where the emphasis on theory at the expense of technique left her unsatisfied. She then moved to Colorado and began to paint seriously.
Pratt’s paintings are abstract representational. Her work is intuitive and spontaneous. She rarely plans her paintings in advance and she will work intensely in a flood of inspiration and then she’s likely to be unable to work until the inspiration happens again. Pratt’s paintings are original and poetic, she responds so intuitively to the infinite possibilities of paint that she has rarely failed to attract attention.
Her love of nature and travel are her inspiration and when she returns to her studio these impressions of landscapes, farmhouses, and isolated buildings pour out onto her canvas. Her travels through the countryside of Europe have added to her consciousness a bounty of color and scenes reflected in much of her recent work.
She paints from memory using her palette knife to layer the canvas with the layers of visions experienced in her travels. Boldly, using color and texture her work pulls the viewer into the painting, creating a fresh understanding of a familiar yet unknown place.
Not tied to any theories or schools of art, Pratt is free to express herself with a truly genuine and original approach.
Exhibitions
Selby Fleetwood Gallery 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
"New Expressionism" Merrill Johnson Gallery
"The American River" Brattleboro Museum
Fort Collins Museum of Contemporary Art
Rocky Mountain National Watermedia Exhibitions
National Works on Paper Show
Allied Artists of America Show
A.R. Mitchell Museum
Northern Colorado Artist Association Exhibition
Publications:
Then and Now — Southwest Art Magazine, Dec., 2009
Collector's Coice — Southwest Art Magazine, Nov. 7, 2008
Simply Stated — American Art Collector, Aug. 28, 2008
Dramatic Landscapes — Artbook, May 16, 2005
Colorado: Best of the West — Southwest Art, Nov., 2004
Regional Expressions of America — Wildlife Art, May, 2004
Colorado-Best of the West — Southwest Art, Apr., 2004
Entering the Zone — Focus Magazine, Aug., 2003
Lyrical Creations — Southwest Art, Apr., 2003
21 Under 31 Emerging Artist Issue — Southwest Art, Sep., 2002
Sandra Pratt was born and raised in Chicago. Sandra spent one semester at the Art Institute of Chicago where emphasis on theory at the expense of technique left her disappointed in formal education. Sandra continued her art education by studying masterful techniques from multiple generations of artists such as Nicolai Fechin, Sergei Bongart, Richard Schmid and Quang Ho. She started to use the palette knife in her paintings for it's wonderful spontaneity.
To convey color, shape, texture and values she utilizes both palette knife and brushwork. Her subjects include alleyways, barns, flowers and distant mountain scenes. Her work pulls viewers into the painting, presenting them with a fresh vantage point of the familiar yet unknown.
Working from her studio in Boulder and drawing from the beautiful landscape, she aspires to create thought provoking images through different techniques in painting. Forever a student of art, Pratt continues to grow and develop her skills in a truly genuine and original approach.
