CC MEET THE ARTIST
Photos by Alan Carville
Merging passions: The symbiosis of art and architecture Maltese artist Sarah Calleja talks Vanessa Conneely through how she combines her profession and hobby, as well as the influence being a mother has had on her painting.
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he second you step through the peppermint green door of Sarah Calleja’s home, you can instantly tell what she is passionate about – architecture and art. The painter lives in a house in Birkirkara with her husband and four-yearold daughter Lucy. Shutting the door to the noisy street, you enter a hall that leads to her white and bright studio-office filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, as well as some of Sarah’s earliest artwork. One painting instantly catches my eye. It’s a headless portrayal of a large, nude woman. The bold yellow, pink and red strokes reveal the contours of a confident full-figured muse, proud of her curves and folds. “I painted this when I was 21 while I was at university,” says Sarah. “I went to a summer course at Parsons School of Design in New York. The model posed for us. She took a full-day to complete, but it was fun to be in the studio and just paint.” Sarah agrees that since then, her style
JUNE/JULY 2019
and technique have changed a lot. Looking at her recent work, not only have the colours softened, but the style has evolved. “I started painting at a very young age – I think I was around six. I took classes in the summer and was encouraged to keep painting on my own, which I did throughout my teens. But when it came to the point when I had to pick a career, I chose architecture, as back then, there weren’t a lot of options for art courses in Malta and studying abroad was difficult prior to Malta joining the EU. While I kept painting, I had less time when I left university and started my first architecture job.” But becoming a mother four years ago changed how Sarah thought about the future, and how she wanted to spend her precious spare time. “After my daughter was born, I decided that painting was not a passion I wanted to lose. When you have children you obviously have less time, so you must choose the parts of your life you want to keep. 111