Sarah Blakey has always been creative. Forever working on design ideas, one of her early artistic projects involved developing a range of enamelled jewellery on copper which she sold at galleries and craft centres. After studying foundation art and graphics at Taunton and Brighton, she opened her own shop in Dartmouth selling hand-made gifts, many of which she designed herself. Sarah and her husband Mick ran their own gift business supplying exclusively designed products to many prestigious outlets including Buckingham Palace, the Royal Yacht and Canterbury Cathedral for over 20 years. During this time, Sarah headed a team of designers at their Torquay studios and oversaw the production of their unique hand-finished products.

Now living in the old fishing port of Brixham, Sarah has made the transition to full time painter. An avid photographer, she spends many hours recording the working life of Brixham harbour and the river Dart as inspiration for her paintings of river and seascapes, boats and fishermen. Sarah also regularly holidays in Cornwall always returning with a wealth of material and ideas.

Sarah paints in Chromacolour, a highly pigmented, permanent and light-fast medium first developed for colouring animation cells and adapted for use in high quality artist’s paint. The velvety-matt finish gives her paintings the depth and vibrancy she seeks. Sarah’s work is “about bringing colour and interest to everyday scenes in order to capture the essence of working life on the river and seas. My images are stripped of unnecessary detail but always retain a strong design element” which is something she considers to be of utmost importance.