Sadé Lawson is an Art of Austin artist! Get to know more about her and her work!
Sadé Lawson
AoA – Lets start off simple – how do you pronounce your name?
Sadé – It’s pronounced Shah-day, like Sade Adu the singer! If you haven’t heard of her I highly recommend checking her music out. Super jazzy, soulful stuff and she’s just an overall queen.
AoA – How long have you been in Austin and how did you find your way here?
Sadé – I have lived in Austin for about five years, but am a native Texan. I was living in San Antonio previously just working at the time and had a friend offer the chance to move up, which I gladly did! I always knew I wanted to end up here.
AoA – When did you realize that you were an artist?
Sadé – I feel like I always knew that I was artistically inclined. I didn’t really have the realization that I was an artist before anything until a few years ago. I would go through long periods of inactivity trying to force myself to work other jobs, making decent money and ending up burned out. I always would come back to drawing and painting. Finally had the thought that I really do enjoy making art. Being an artist is a part of my identity and totally okay.
AoA – Can you speak to your art training?
Sadé – I took some art classes in high school but that is about it as far as my formal training went. Thankfully we live in a time where you can just search something on the Internet and find a million ways to do things; a lot of YouTube tutorials and art/ anatomy books too.
AoA – Where do you derive inspiration from?
Sadé – I’m inspired a lot by color but then there are things that I’m naturally drawn to like beautiful women or plants, places even food lol Everything is inspiration in a way.
AoA – Can you tell us a little bit about your work?
Sadé – Lately I’ve been making work that I just want to make me feel great and smile. Radiate color and good vibes. I think when I try to put too much thought into things it puts weird pressure on me to have to have something with meaning or some deep backstory. Art doesn’t always have to have meaning it can just be visually pleasing, that’s where I’m at the moment.
AoA – Can you talk a little about your creative processes in creating?
Sadé – Usually just visualize something as clear as I can in my mind and try to translate accordingly with whatever medium I’m using. Always start with a sketch, which then evolves after erasing and redrawing until I’m satisfied. I try to not get too attached to something or take it too serious because that will lead to frustration in me. If I don’t like it I’ll just paint over and try again.
AoA – If you could own one piece from a living artist, who would it be?
Sadé – Tim Okamura, his portraits are breathtaking.
AoA – What else do you enjoy besides making art?
Sadé – I enjoy hanging out with friends, cooking, going to shows/ dancing, spending time outdoors when I can, and playing Sims.
AoA – Where can we find your work? Do you have any shows planned for the future?
Sadé – You can find my work on my website sadelawsonart.com as well as Instagram. I plan on showing some stuff May 5th at the Austin Pancakes and Booze Art Show!
Connect with Sadé!
