Sarah Meranda is a multidisciplinary artist based out of Seattle, Washington. Sarah is a trained metalmith with an emphasis on enamel. She uses her enamel jewelry to bring color and vibrancy to her art. A studio artist working out of the Georgetown area, she has found a way to combine her love of nature and cityscapes to make one-of-a-kind and unique jewelry.
Sarah is versed in drawing, painting, printmaking, and fiber arts as well as her current studies in metal. During her time at Seattle Central College, she assisted at The M. Rosetta Hunter Art Gallery and has always loved being surrounded by art. She has immersed herself in the Seattle metals community by having served on the board of the Seattle Metals Guild. Over the last decade, she has had the opportunity to work with many great mentors from the metals community and looks forward to giving back and inspiring other young artists.
She is passionate about the importance of higher education and is a lifelong student. Sarah has studied art at Seattle Central College, North Seattle College, Pratt Fine Arts, Danaca Design and Penland School of Craft.
Sarah Meranda Artist Statement
I always knew I wanted to make art. Creating art has always been my escape; it is my passion and my purpose. Although art has always been with me, at times the path was not clear. Growing up, I had a certain idea of what art was and what being an artist would look like. I pictured myself in a paint-splattered smock holding a paintbrush between my teeth as I worked out the fine details of painting and for a while, I was that person.
For another brief period I had a camera hanging on my neck and at that time, had no shame lying on the ground for an interesting composition in the name of photography. For a brief period, I was a fledgling printmaker. I loved the tools and the process the most, the carving was cathartic. I felt this could be my thing, but not quite. One summer I drank my way through Italy trying to watercolor and although I had a great time, I felt there was still something else I was meant for. But every path has a purpose. It was while I was in Italy that I discovered a very unique type of art school. It was a school for textiles and metals. Every morning our watercolor group would leave our apartment, grab an espresso and meet at this school to look at slides and prepare for our day of painting. Instead of taking notes, my gaze wandered. I peered into classes where people were handcrafting jewelry. Forging metal, soldering, and casting. To be very honest, until that moment, I really didn’t this was a thing. At that time, I had never been to a school that offered anything like this and quite frankly, had no reason to believe that jewelry was made like this. I assumed jewelry was made by machines in a factory far away. This is the moment my life changed.
As soon as I got back to Seattle I found schools that taught metalworking and what my brain has rewritten as accurate, has me taking my first metals class at Pratt Fine Art Center the next weekend. It was a 3Day intensive in Jewelry Metals and by the end of the first day, I knew I had found what I was meant to do. Although my artist’s path has had a lot of twists and turns, everything has led me to where I am right now, exactly where I am meant to be. All the friends I have met, instructors who have guided me and places I have traveled are all part of a bigger plan. My heart is full of gratitude and I hope to inspire others with their dreams. It is all achievable if believable.