Artist Spotlight: Sandy Herrault

"Stellar Jay" by Sandy Herrault pictured above.

Sandy Herrault is a professional violinist and artist based in Asheville, North Carolina. She began painting two years ago and has added it to her repertoire of talents. “I'm a professional violinist, doing my own pop rock violin shows, solo. I took up painting and love it just as much as music.” On her website, sandytheviolinist.com, you can view and purchase her artwork and see her upcoming shows. 

Sandy has loved creating art since she was a child, and decided to begin doing it more often with more time on her hands. “I always wanted to do art and would draw whenever I could get a chance as a child. But raising a family, working, and performing took up all my time till recently. I stopped teaching violin and started drawing again.” She enjoys the peace that creating art brings. “It's such a peaceful experience. I love exploration, growing as an artist, and seeing the world through the eyes of art.” 

One of Sandy’s most prized pieces is a painting entitled “Spellbound Violinist” (pictured below). “...it was a 'self portrait' without really being me. I just created her out of imagination and in a way, she is everyone who plays an instrument.” She enjoys depicting animals, landscapes, and music subjects within her work. “There's really no favorite but from the beginning I felt drawn to paint animals and birds.” When starting a new project or piece, Sandy is often inspired by her previous work or ideas. “Sometimes it's a photo I've taken or an idea of how to change up the subject matter with color.” 

"Spellbound Violinist" by Sandy Herrault pictured above.

To aspiring artists, Sandy encourages not giving up. “Don't give up. That's a complicated answer. Just keep going towards gaining experience in painting regardless of the struggle. It can be a beautiful struggle at times, when you embrace it and keep going.” She found Golden State Art through a search on Amazon for mat boards for her artwork. “I was looking for mat boards with bags and found [Golden State Art] on Amazon. I love the mats and the bag combo, it makes my life easy to buy 100 at a time.” 

Sandy is currently working on a new piece. "I'm working on a new Llama, and I just finished her. She's not up on the website yet, because I have yet to photograph it. I wanted to do another Llama because my first Llama is in a gallery showing and has had wonderful reviews. So, I thought I'd do one from a photo I had taken a few years ago but with a completely different approach to the color." To keep up with this and Sandy's future projects, visit the links below:

Sandy's Website: sandytheviolinist.com

Sandy's Facebook: Sandy Herrault

View more of Sandy's beautiful artwork below!

                    "Hello World It's Me"                           "Mr. Personality"                             "Black Mountain Bear"