Sarah Spray

Jewelry & paintings on wood

I’ve been a passionate creative all my life and over the past several years have focused my artistic energy on hand painted necklace pendants and small paintings (mainly birds) on recycled wood. I derive so much pleasure from each of these endeavors that I have organized myself to offer both forms of my art for others to enjoy.

My pendant designs are inspired by colors and patterns that catch my eye and give me that “I’ve got to capture that” feeling, whether the inspiration be natural or man made. All are hand painted and each is a unique, one of a kind creation, carefully painted on both sides giving the wearer two necklaces in one!

When painting birds, I love exploring the effects that painting on wood gives to the colors, patterns and feathers of each one. All of the “Birds in the Wood” are inspired either by the grain of a piece of wood or by a bird that I want to bring to life on a wood grain that compliments it. Natural patterns in the wood provide a unique backdrop and can complete a story like the ripple effects of a heron standing in water or a woodpecker clinging to the bark of a tree. Translated to paper, the character of the wood in my original works gets picked up beautifully and makes for lovely cards and frameable art.

I use acrylic paint for both my pendants and bird paintings. Pendants are made from metal washers, painted and then finished with a durable, high gloss glaze. Recycled, weathered fir and cedar are my favorite woods for my bird paintings as they provide a perfectly imperfect, natural value to the pieces.