Sarah Beth
Banning was born and raised in South Texas among rolling farm and ranch land
before moving into the heart of the Texas Hill Country. She now lives in Wimberley, a.k.a. “A Little
Bit of Heaven” where she is raising her 3 children and pursuing her artistic
career. Sarah Beth currently shows work
at Texas Treasures Fine Art in Boerne, TX and at her own gallery/studio space
called SongBrush Gallery in Wimberley, TX.
About Me:
When I was a
child my favorite toys were a pencil and paper.
My mother, grandmother, and aunts will all tell you I always knew the
proper way to hold a pencil. I’d sit for
hours at 4 years old drawing the usual things little girls draw; fairies,
princesses, birds and horses, so many horses.
When people
ask me how I became an artist I tell them it was my love for horses. I was a little girl without a real horse so I
drew myself herds of them.
At the age
of 9 I was fortunate enough to begin riding lessons. The teacher, knowing my love of drawing
horses, gave me stacks of old horse magazines.
I studied them cover to cover and made many drawings using the horses in
the magazines as inspiration. What an amazing gift that old stack of magazines
was to me.
I did
finally get that horse at the age of 14.
She was small and dark and I named her Sassy for good reason. I discovered that my favorite part about
owning a horse was watching her run thunderously across the pasture and kick up
her heels in joy. It’s an amazing sight
to see.
It was
summer and I was 16 when I began to paint.
My father had bought some wood panels from the local craft store and I
borrowed one, went into the attic with some craft paint, and started
painting. I was amazed at what I had
done. It actually looked good. I think it was a painting of deer by a lake.
Next, I did a beautiful horse running through a field of bluebonnets.
The painting
bug had bitten and all summer I was in the attic with my coffee, blueberry
bagels, and my CD player. It was heaven
on earth. I sold every painting I made
that summer.
The
following summer was truly inspirational. In high school I played the french
horn very well and I had the invited to tour 7 countries in Europe with a band
made up of high school kids from all across America. I was able to see the old and magnificent European
cathedrals and tour the Louvre in Paris, France. Seeing centuries of art all together in one
amazing palace was more awe inspiring than this small town Texas girl could
have dreamed.
Of course my
life hasn’t been perfect and filled with nothing but horse riding and European
vacations. I got married far too young and that did not turn the way I thought
it would when I was 17 and so naïve. I
went through some pretty dark times in my life but haven’t we all? Without the down times how could you possibly
want to reach higher and grow?
I found
myself with three children, a divorce, and moving back in with my parents. I was 24 and had no idea what to do with my life. So, in between changing diapers and nursing
babies I started going back to school. I
took my first painting class and hit it off with the teacher. Soon we were pretty good friends and it was
her influence that helped me realize I needed to pursue art. I am very grateful for that.
I received a
B.F.A with a major in painting from
Texas State University. I guess I was
like a lot of graduates and struggled with the post college dilemmas of job
hunting and real life. It didn’t take me
long to just start doing what I had always done and before I knew it my house
was full of giant paintings. That’s when I teamed up with Justin Black and together we opened a gallery and studio space in
downtown Wimberley, TX. Justin is a
wonderful musician, artist, and designer.
He has been very supportive of me and all my artistic endeavors for the
past three years. He is my rock.
We call our
space SongBrush Gallery and we are coming up on a 1 year anniversary. If you
find yourself in Wimberley stop by, say hi, and watch me work on my latest
painting.
About
my style:
I have
started using gold leaf in most of my oil paintings because I feel it gives the
paintings the right dramatic effect I am going for. I want my art to make an impact. I want them to have a rich vibe and be larger
than life. My paintings consist of old
school subject matter with graphic elements. My art is transitional because it takes
iconic western images and brings them into the now and that is epic.
Visit Sarah's website
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