Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandra Boskamp.
Sandra, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I was born in Eindhoven, Netherlands and at a very young aged moved with my family to the United States, a brief spell in Connecticut, and then most of my upbringing in Wisconsin.
I had a huge passion for the arts even as a small child, making my own dolls out of origami paper or painting figures onto wood blocks. In High School I used to skip my gym classes and go hide away in the art classroom, trying to find any time I could to create.
I attended the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee where I received my Bachelor of Fine Arts, teaching certification, & an art history minor. My main area of focus being painting and drawing where I often found myself exploring figurative elements, how I could make them appear anew by incorporating them with abstraction, cubism, and even surrealism. Blending different art styles into one cohesive work.
After I graduated from University I felt stuck. I didn’t want to become an art teacher. I have great respect for teachers but I just wanted to be the one creating and exploring. I felt like I would be doing a disservice to the students. So I continued to work in the service industry for quite some time until my husband Adam and I packed up and moved to Texas in 2016.
We bought our first home here in Dripping Springs in 2020 and as of two years ago I officially work for myself as a full time artist!
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Not a smooth road at all.
Adam and I lived in a pretty rough part of town in Milwaukee. Shootings were common. I even recall a few moments we literally had to lay down on the floor, scared the bullets would come through our walls. We lost many friends to drugs and suicide.
After college I was miserable. I struggled with depression, wasn’t sleeping, and stuck in a bartending position that I hated. I knew things had to change and if I was going to make that alteration happen I needed to move.
While Adam and I packed up our Uhaul our neighbors house was getting raided. It was chaotic. We used the last of our cash to get the gas tank filled to make the trip to South Austin. When we arrived we were greeted by our new neighbors, pie in hand and the tears began to roll down my face. I had found home.
Adam and I quickly found jobs in our fields and we knew we had made the right decision to move. I worked for a couple event production companies around Austin painting backdrops for staged acts and carving large scale props for rentals. I did this for almost a decade while producing my own artwork after hours late into the night. Working two jobs with the goal to eventually work on my own art full time.
I started getting invitations from galleries to showcase my artwork. Very little at first and spread out through time but I kept going, making numerous paintings a week. This is what I wanted to do and I was determined to make it happen and about two years ago I quit my job and started working for myself as a full time artist and I’m one happy gal!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I love to explore with a variety of different artistic mediums: ceramics, photography, sculpture but my go to has always been painting.
I have two ongoing series at the moment, my Mindscape series & my Textile series.
The Mindscape series is about that constant voice in your head – the perpetual cycle of thoughts that flow steadily at times and increase in others. To achieve this effect I merge figurative elements with abstract acrylic paint. This series deals with mental health portrayed by fluid colors of the paint poured directly onto the canvas.
I pick out my Behr paint colors first, turn on some tunes, and let my instinct control the path of the fluid pigments. I use an app called Procreate (Ipad) to then digitally fit a figure into this abstraction.
My newer of the two series are my Textile works.
As an artist working in oil paint I’m constantly attired in paint stained clothing & unable to portray my love of fashion. This series is a love letter to the fashion industry and shows admiration by turning fabric into canvas.
I source textiles from around the world and after treating them with a few layers of clear primer I paint a selected fashion trend onto the textile often uniting the fabric with the figure to blend them into their surroundings.
Any big plans?
Oh I have so many ideas haha! For the immediate future I have several shows coming up:
The Affordable Art Fair in Houston this October 15-18 at the George R. Brown Convention Center
The Travis Heights Art Trail in November as well as the Austin Studio Tour November 14-15 & 21-22. I’ll be showing alongside so many talented female artists at The Cathedral in East Austin.
In January I’ll head over to Fort Worth (my first time!) for a group show at the William Campbell Gallery entitled Grit & Grace.
April of 2027 I’m heading back to Dallas for a solo show at Kettle Art Gallery in Deep Ellum!
As for long term plans, I’d like to perhaps bring my art to another country. This will take a great deal of planning, but I’m a dreamer with wanderlust! I also have so many ideas I’d still like to explore. Many for new topics and themes that I’d like to get on the canvas!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sandraboskamp.com
- Instagram: @sandra_boskamp_art
