Sarah Spackman's strength of drawing and the delicate and subtle use of colour are two of the main qualities recognised in her work. She applies the guiding principle that good drawing is the basis of good painting and that colour should be used to enhance the organisation and definition of observed space and form. Best known for her still life, Sarah works in a quiet, considered way, inspired by small, cleanly shaped objects, such as eggs, jugs or simple gatherings of flowers. Her palette is kept organised so the colour is always fresh and bright. For Sarah, these paintings are a way of exploring the world. Each of the objects that appear in her paintings have been given to Sarah, or found, so have a profound connection. How they stand in their own space impacts on the composition as a whole. This close observation gives them character and weight of their own, so what at first seems like a simple, interior still life, is in fact closer to a meditation on the wider world.
Sarah Spackman was born in Berkshire, graduating from Byam Shaw School of Art in 1977 and from Camberwell School of Art in 1981. Since 1986, she has worked full time as an artist, earning herself critical acclaim and numerous collectors. Sarah Spackman's work is in the collection of the Allied Irish Bank. Her work has appeared in the Jerwood Drawing competition exhibition, the RBA Annual Exhibition at the Mall Galleries and Whitechapel Gallery. Sarah Spackman is an elected member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA). In 2021 she was elected to the Small Paintings Group (SPG). In January 2016 she had her acclaimed solo exhibition 'A Closer Look' at Sarah Wiseman Gallery, which also marked the 10th year of the galllery exhibiting her work, followed by 'From Where I Stand in September 2019, 'Drawing in Colour' 2021 marks her 5th solo exhibition with the gallery.
She lives and works in Oxford.