Drawing in Ireland 
​

 
My paintings are generated from the heart
and meant to touch the heart.      SS

As a life long creative; my work has won awards, exhibited in many fine art galleries, and collected widely.  Prior to internets and desktop publishing, paintings and drawings were selected for use as book covers and illustrations, in magazines, newspapers and greeting cards. It was a great honor to have my creations picked for these uses.  Also, teaching painting, drawing and design in art leagues and in my studios were deeply satisfying and rounded out my gallery endeavors.     

I grew up a short bicycle ride from the campus of U.C. Berkeley, California during the revolution.  Being exactly there at the epicenter during my wonder years had a profound impact and inspired the creative spirit inside.  Happily, I received encouragement from family and school, so I ran with it and haven't stopped making art  since.  Along the way, I studied art in Chile, went to U.C.Santa Cruz (B.A.) and M.I.T. (M.Architecture).  But the bulk of my education has come from Life itself, travels on both the outer and the inner planes.  Thinking of Thoreau here, and the possibilities for expansion while holding still.

Years ago, Mark Awodey published a deeply considered review of a solo exhibit: 

While some artists seem to paint the same picture over and over again, perhaps trying to create a recognizable style, Waitsfield painter Sally Sweetland is aesthetically restless. Her exhibition of more than 30 oil-on-linen works at Stowe's West Branch Gallery & Sculpture Park evidences a dazzling array of painterly approaches. The diversity of Sweetland's show, entitled "Patches of Sunlight and Hope," is at first a little jarring, but ultimately it reveals conceptual complexity, nods to art history and a full spectrum of beautifully composed hues. The cumulative effect of Sweetland's paintings is as rich as the natural world to which they frequently refer.  
"Natural Beauty,"  Seven Days, Burlington Vermont

Other long time passions which bring joy to Life:
Ireland, from where both my beloved grandmothers, Alice and Nellie came
Sacred Geometry, Appropriate Technology, World Music & Dancing
The Paintings of Pierre Bonnard and Richard Dienbenkorn 
Writings of Helen Luke, John O'Donohue, Alan Watts 
Making homemade sourdough bread (crackers, pancakes, tortillas...) 
Permaculture gardening and real food as the best medicine;
For many years I have volunteered at a local college in the student-run food garden.
and of course, being outside in nature every day of the year, ideally in or near water: rivers, lakes, oceans... and watercolor puddles.

Sally Sweetland 2018
​sally-sweetland.fineartamerica.com

"I would love to live like a river flows, carried by the surprise of its own unfolding."    
​John O'Dohohue

"If I create from the heart, everything works.  If from the head, nothing..."
Marc Chagall