May 6th, 2017

Besides looking forward to her exhibition at Gallery MAR this summer (“Past/Present” opening June 30), Sarah Winkler has another big announcement — the installation of her commissioned painting in the restaurant and lounge, Hearth ’61, at the new resort, Mountain Shadows in Scottsdale, AZ. The hotel found her work through her Instagram artwork!

Sarah recently shared her thoughts about the process for this large-scale work:

“I was working on this art commission during a snowy January in Colorado. The earthy reds warmed my studio as I created the wow piece for the lounge area in the bar/restaurant at Scottsdale’s newest resort – Mountain Shadows in Paradise Valley, Arizona.

My large 60″ x 180″ desert art commission is installed on the right at the swanky Hearth ‘61 sunken lounge at Mountain Shadows. The painting echoes the view outside the windows of the impressive Camelback Mountain rising behind the resort.

It was a project I’d been selected for in 2016 by a New York art consulting firm for a resort hotel remodel in Paradise Valley near Scottsdale, Arizona. The approval process had taken several months, and I got the news in late December that I had been selected to produce a 5′ x 15′ painting for the main gathering area of the resort — the sunken lounge.

The hotel, Mountain Shadows, is a modernist era icon in the valley with breathtaking views of Camelback Mountain. The interior designer on the project chose a painting of mine from 2015, “Sedimentary Slice,” that resembled the geology and landscape of the area surrounding the resort.

As soon as I saw pictures of Camelback mountain range, I knew it would work too with some modifications on the ridge lines. The original inspiration painting was 30″ x 30″ which meant cropping the image and increasing the scale of everything 600%. Tools had to be specially fabricated like the carving teeth used to make the mountain shape and the width of brushes in order to recreate the effortless gestures and texture achieved at a small scale. It took 5 attempts at the mountain before I felt it was just right.”

We congratulate Sarah and look forward to her new collection soon arriving at Gallery MAR. Sarah will be in attendance at her opening in Park City on June 30, so please plan to join us.