The color of joy
Sara spends several hours a day painting, often producing a new painting daily. Courtesy photo
By Barb Mosher, Contributing Writer
When the world turned gray and drab three years ago, Sara Sturtevant found a way to put some color and joy back into it. She did it with a paint brush.
“Sara’s art is whimsical, and her color choices are always bright, cheerful, and happy,” said Sasha Roberts-Levi, a certified expressive arts facilitator who works with Sara in group and private classes, both in-person and online. “She wants people to feel as happy looking at it as she feels making it.”
Sara, a young adult with autism, lives with her mother, Peggy Sturtevant, in an Elk Rapids condo overlooking Grand Traverse Bay. She met Roberts-Levi four years ago through the Living and Learning Enrichment Center in Northville, Michigan, a nonprofit organization providing social and job skills programs for individuals with autism and other special needs. While Sara had dabbled in painting during high school art classes and an occasional class at the LLEC, it was the encouragement of Roberts-Levi and Peggy during the first months of the 2020 Covid pandemic that unleashed the true artist within.
“Sara’s painting really took off when everything shut down during the pandemic,” said Peggy. “She had been very involved in different things prior to Covid, and then all her normal activities stopped. She had to step outside of her comfort zone. It made her a lot more independent and brought out a lot of her strengths.”
Group lessons online with Roberts-Levi morphed into one-on-one time between the two. Interacting with her mentor and instructor multiple times a week, Sara began producing a new painting almost every day. While she experimented with acrylic paints, she found that medium too messy and opted for watercolors instead. She’s become adept at drawing her design with pencil on watercolor paper, tracing those lines with a black marker, and filling in the shapes with paint. She often goes back over lines with white or metallic markers to add what she calls “pop” to her work.
Roberts-Levi believes that while anyone can learn to paint, not everyone has the inner passion that drives them to continue developing their talent, and the desire to share it with others. “Sara has that,” she said. “She’s grown phenomenally, because she’s so committed to her own practice of painting. For some people with autism, it can be hard to make changes, but Sara’s open to having feedback and making changes. That’s a sign of maturity as an artist.”
“I’m surprised at the artist in me,” Sara said “It was stuck in there just ready to jump out. I wasn’t as good in the beginning, but the more I practiced, I got better and better each day. Painting makes me calm and happy and relaxed.”
It wasn’t long before Sara had accumulated a good-sized collection of paintings featuring landscapes, flowers, gnomes, and lots of animals. Someone suggested she print her artwork on notecards, coasters, tote bags, and mugs, and she began selling them at arts and crafts fairs as well as at the LLEC’s Mod Market. Sara’s eye-catching playful designs and bold, bright colors have proved popular, and Peggy says her daughter has established a loyal following.
Roberts-Levi agrees. “Out of all the artists I work with right now, Sara’s probably the best-selling. She’s so successful, and part of it is her personality.”
Her artistic endeavors provide Sara not only a source of income but the opportunity to do something else she loves: Meet and talk with people and generate awareness and acceptance of the autism spectrum community. “I’m unique, and I have a good spirit, and I like to socialize,” she explained. “I care about other people. I want people to not be afraid of people with autism, to know that it’s ok and they should introduce themselves and get to know them and learn how to interact with them and appreciate what they do.”
This year Sara will set up her booth at a couple of dozen shows around Michigan, northern Indiana, and Florida. While she welcomes the profits that her artwork generates — allowing her to contribute to household expenses, pay for her own phone, and save up for a new iPad — she also enjoys gifting others with her talent. Last winter she hosted a pop-up art show highlighting sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, and raised $500 for an orphanage in that war-torn nation.
And it’s not just humans whose world has become a bit brighter thanks to Sara. She also takes her creative energy into the kitchen, baking healthy dog treats from whole wheat flour, oats, peanut butter, bananas, and eggs. When she’s not giving them away to family, friends, and neighbors with pets, she sells them alongside her artwork.
Sara says running her business, Sara’s Love, interacting with customers and providing quality products that make them happy, is helping her develop the skills necessary to propel her to independent living. Her goal is to be renting an apartment, possibly with one or two special needs friends, by 2026. She also hopes the initiatives she’s taken and the success she’s experienced will encourage others with similar challenges.
“I want to engage with people and be a role model for others,” she said. “I want to inspire other artists with autism.”
When she’s not painting or selling her artwork, Sara enjoys walking (at least 10,000 steps a day), swimming, tubing behind the family’s pontoon boat, downhill skiing, playing the guitar, and working part-time at the Flour Pot Bakery in Elk Rapids.
“I like to keep busy,” she said. “Sometimes my mind gets racing, and sometimes I know why and sometimes not. If I’m having a good day, I tend to be happy and cheerful. If it’s a bad day, I feel anxious and get worried and start fretting, and sometime, I have trouble stopping. Painting and making doggie treats help me refocus and ease my mind.”
“When an artist is in that right-brain creative state, it’s a good place and a good feeling,” Roberts-Levi said. “That comes through in Sara’s paintings. You can tell she’s having fun. For her it’s partially about the selling, but she just loves to make the artwork. It calms her. It’s become a tool for her for finding that quiet, safe place.”
Sara’s products can be found in Elk Rapids at Word Love Goods, Wildflower Soapworks, and Flour Pot Bakery. She also has a table at the Farmers and Artisans Market at the Historic Elk Rapids Township Hall on the second Saturday of each month through May. For more information, email peggysturtevant@hotmail.com or visit Sara’s Facebook page, “Sara’s Love.”
When the world turned gray and drab three years ago, Sara Sturtevant found a way to put some color and joy back into it. She did it with a paint brush.
“Sara’s art is whimsical, and her color choices are always bright, cheerful, and happy,” said Sasha Roberts-Levi, a certified expressive arts facilitator who works with Sara in group and private classes, both in-person and online. “She wants people to feel as happy looking at it as she feels making it.”
Sara, a young adult with autism, lives with her mother, Peggy Sturtevant, in an Elk Rapids condo overlooking Grand Traverse Bay. She met Roberts-Levi four years ago through the Living and Learning Enrichment Center in Northville, Michigan, a nonprofit organization providing social and job skills programs for individuals with autism and other special needs. While Sara had dabbled in painting during high school art classes and an occasional class at the LLEC, it was the encouragement of Roberts-Levi and Peggy during the first months of the 2020 Covid pandemic that unleashed the true artist within.
“Sara’s painting really took off when everything shut down during the pandemic,” said Peggy. “She had been very involved in different things prior to Covid, and then all her normal activities stopped. She had to step outside of her comfort zone. It made her a lot more independent and brought out a lot of her strengths.”
Group lessons online with Roberts-Levi morphed into one-on-one time between the two. Interacting with her mentor and instructor multiple times a week, Sara began producing a new painting almost every day. While she experimented with acrylic paints, she found that medium too messy and opted for watercolors instead. She’s become adept at drawing her design with pencil on watercolor paper, tracing those lines with a black marker, and filling in the shapes with paint. She often goes back over lines with white or metallic markers to add what she calls “pop” to her work.
Roberts-Levi believes that while anyone can learn to paint, not everyone has the inner passion that drives them to continue developing their talent, and the desire to share it with others. “Sara has that,” she said. “She’s grown phenomenally, because she’s so committed to her own practice of painting. For some people with autism, it can be hard to make changes, but Sara’s open to having feedback and making changes. That’s a sign of maturity as an artist.”
“I’m surprised at the artist in me,” Sara said “It was stuck in there just ready to jump out. I wasn’t as good in the beginning, but the more I practiced, I got better and better each day. Painting makes me calm and happy and relaxed.”
It wasn’t long before Sara had accumulated a good-sized collection of paintings featuring landscapes, flowers, gnomes, and lots of animals. Someone suggested she print her artwork on notecards, coasters, tote bags, and mugs, and she began selling them at arts and crafts fairs as well as at the LLEC’s Mod Market. Sara’s eye-catching playful designs and bold, bright colors have proved popular, and Peggy says her daughter has established a loyal following.
Roberts-Levi agrees. “Out of all the artists I work with right now, Sara’s probably the best-selling. She’s so successful, and part of it is her personality.”
Her artistic endeavors provide Sara not only a source of income but the opportunity to do something else she loves: Meet and talk with people and generate awareness and acceptance of the autism spectrum community. “I’m unique, and I have a good spirit, and I like to socialize,” she explained. “I care about other people. I want people to not be afraid of people with autism, to know that it’s ok and they should introduce themselves and get to know them and learn how to interact with them and appreciate what they do.”
This year Sara will set up her booth at a couple of dozen shows around Michigan, northern Indiana, and Florida. While she welcomes the profits that her artwork generates — allowing her to contribute to household expenses, pay for her own phone, and save up for a new iPad — she also enjoys gifting others with her talent. Last winter she hosted a pop-up art show highlighting sunflowers, the national flower of Ukraine, and raised $500 for an orphanage in that war-torn nation.
And it’s not just humans whose world has become a bit brighter thanks to Sara. She also takes her creative energy into the kitchen, baking healthy dog treats from whole wheat flour, oats, peanut butter, bananas, and eggs. When she’s not giving them away to family, friends, and neighbors with pets, she sells them alongside her artwork.
Sara says running her business, Sara’s Love, interacting with customers and providing quality products that make them happy, is helping her develop the skills necessary to propel her to independent living. Her goal is to be renting an apartment, possibly with one or two special needs friends, by 2026. She also hopes the initiatives she’s taken and the success she’s experienced will encourage others with similar challenges.
“I want to engage with people and be a role model for others,” she said. “I want to inspire other artists with autism.”
When she’s not painting or selling her artwork, Sara enjoys walking (at least 10,000 steps a day), swimming, tubing behind the family’s pontoon boat, downhill skiing, playing the guitar, and working part-time at the Flour Pot Bakery in Elk Rapids.
“I like to keep busy,” she said. “Sometimes my mind gets racing, and sometimes I know why and sometimes not. If I’m having a good day, I tend to be happy and cheerful. If it’s a bad day, I feel anxious and get worried and start fretting, and sometime, I have trouble stopping. Painting and making doggie treats help me refocus and ease my mind.”
“When an artist is in that right-brain creative state, it’s a good place and a good feeling,” Roberts-Levi said. “That comes through in Sara’s paintings. You can tell she’s having fun. For her it’s partially about the selling, but she just loves to make the artwork. It calms her. It’s become a tool for her for finding that quiet, safe place.”
Sara’s products can be found in Elk Rapids at Word Love Goods, Wildflower Soapworks, and Flour Pot Bakery. She also has a table at the Farmers and Artisans Market at the Historic Elk Rapids Township Hall on the second Saturday of each month through May. For more information, email peggysturtevant@hotmail.com or visit Sara’s Facebook page, “Sara’s Love.”
| frontpage3_16.pdf |