Three by Three: Guest Artists in Focus

QUESTION 2.    Creating an annual self-portrait on your birthday is a powerful ritual. What do those recurring works reveal to you over time that a single self-portrait could not?

• ANSWER 2.     I have been celebrating my birthday by doing a self portrait every year for a number of decades. It gives me quiet time to reflect on the year passed and an opportunity to develop intentions for the new year. It has become an annual ritual and holds personal significance. As all of my work, it serves as a journal. During covid, my self portrait was with a mask, when my grandtwins arrived, they made an appearance in the portrait. It is a wonderful way to celebrate another year, hopefully well lived, and another chance to do it again!

Sandy Oppenheimer
Collagist

MEDIUM:    paper

BIO:    I am a self-taught artist who “paints with paper” in an intuitive and playful manner. I take my inspiration from the great painters of the past, beautiful handmade papers from around the world and from the fortunate life I live.

I began my artistic journey in ceramics. Moving to Italy, in the 80's, with my sculptor husband, I was taken by the beauty of the landscape, and began to walk the hills with watercolors and paper. I learned about shadow and light, values, and perspective. I knew nothing except that I was witnessing beauty and wanted somehow to capture the experience. I saved those early paintings and later began adding pieces of paper to them, after observing a mixed media artist working. I began to use paper and paints simultaneously.

A Japanese friend told me about an artist residency in a paper making village in Japan and encouraged me to apply. I did, and was invited to participate for three months . It was a life changing experience. We were being supported to use beautiful washi paper produced in the village. With all expenses paid, a stipend, a home stay and a 24 hour studio, I put down my brushes, bought some glue, picked up scissors, and started using paper in a painterly fashion. I fell in love. I found I could do everything I was doing with paint, but had the extra joy of playing with pattern and texture. That was 22 years ago, and I have never regretted the decision nor the direction my work has taken me.

After 20 years in Italy, we returned to Northern California to live among the redwoods and beside the Pacific , mainly to care for our elderly parents, and give our daughter a stronger foundation in English. It is where we remain and has become our home.

I continue developing my visual language with wonder and gratitude. Creating , for me, is a way of giving thanks for my fortunate life.


WEBSITE:    SandyOppenheimerCollage

QUESTION 3.    Your work radiates playfulness and optimism without feeling superficial. How do you keep joy at the center while still allowing complexity and reflection to surface?

• ANSWER 3.     Collage is a playful medium and a forgiving one, which allows for courageous exploration and wild abandonment! I am also an optimist, by nature, which enables me to put that energy into my work. As mentioned before, there are only a few abstract art principles I try to adhere to, composition being the main one. With the eyes of an artist, and the heart of a poet, I try to quietly and intentionally put paper and pattern together to create a cohesive and lyrical visual. I approach my work as a prayer, and always remind myself that Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.

QUESTION 1.    You describe your process as “painting with paper,” working without preliminary sketches. What helps you trust that intuition will lead the composition where it needs to go?

• ANSWER 1.    I have always trusted my intuition. I think it is one of the strongest forces we have, if we learn to listen to it. I do start with a rough. loose sketch if working on a portrait or a still life, but it is only a starting point. I let the process take me where I need to go. There are a few rules of abstract art (composition, value, shadow and light) I try to adhere to, but otherwise I go where my eye and heart lead me. I try to find a sense of harmony, balance, beauty; attributes I want to add to our troubled world.

Still Hopeful at 71, paper collage, 2025

Old Friends, paper collage, 2022

Fish Dinner, paper collage, 2025

All copyright and reproduction rights are reserved by Sandy Oppenheimer.
Artwork may not be reproduced in any form without the artist's express written permission.

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