About the Artist

Having grown up in Colorado, Sascha Ripps has always had a deep sensitivity, and connection to, the landscape.   Sascha grew up hiking, playing and exploring in the beautiful Colorado outdoors.  Her current focus on the landscape honors both these early experiences, and this integral part of her identity.  For Sascha, making a successful painting is about capturing the essence of her subject matter, something that goes well beyond a “visual likeness”.  Sascha strives to convey the energy and feeling of a juncture between a specific place and a particular moment in time.  “For me, seeing is a tactile experience—a journey in and amongst shapes, noticing the sensations of various textures, and feeling the warm and cool light as it dances with color, then I attempt to communicate this experience in my painting.”

As a child, Sascha was drawn to the creative, but her love of visual art stood apart from all other interests even by kindergarten.  She feels fortunate to have had teachers who encouraged her to develop her artistic skill and interest in every step of her formal education.  Although the majority of Sascha’s childhood was spent in Colorado, mid-way through high school, her family moved to upstate New York.  During the five years she spent there, Sascha desperately missed Colorado.  In response, she spent the majority of her time behind her easel.  “It was my way of dealing with a difficult move during those formative and precarious years”.  But, she also took notice of the particular color palette and the mood of the East Coast and learned to find both it’s personality and it’s beauty.

Sascha has traveled extensively and has worked to strengthen her ability to find the pulse and individuality of each environment.  During college and graduate school, she spent time living in Australia and Oregon.  During her schooling, Sascha taught art at community centers and in summer programs.  Along the way, Sascha continued to observe each place, the structure of the land and the quality of the light.   After graduate school, no longer able to resist the pull of “home”, Sascha moved back to Colorado, where she taught art an independent school.  During that period of her life she also married a Colorado native.  The two moved to Austin, Texas for almost five years, where Sascha taught at the Austin Museum of Art and worked in her studio when she could.  In 2003, Sascha had her first son and placed her artistic pursuits on hold for seven years while she focused on parenting her two young boys.  Before the birth of her second son, she and her young family moved back to Denver, where they have remained since.

When Sascha’s younger son was two and a half, he started attending preschool and she quickly turned part of her basement into a studio.  Since that time, Sascha has worked to establish herself as a full-time artist, while also continuing to preserve her role as an active and involved mother of two boys.  She has been thrilled to find so many wonderful artists in the Colorado community who have given her guidance, support and encouragement along the way.  Sascha has established a wonderful collector base (private and public) both in Colorado and nationwide. Most recently, Sascha has worked with local environmental organizations to use her art to contribute to their missions, both in raising awareness and in making monetary contributions.  It has been a really meaningful way of collaborating with others who have a passion for the environment, and exciting for her collectors, who are connected to the landscape and committed to its preservation.  

“The thing about making art”, says Sascha, “is that sometimes it feels like such a selfish endeavor—having concentrated time out in the environment or in the studio just to appreciate, focus and create.  But what I have realized, is that that is only fifty percent of what makes painting so rewarding for me.  The other fifty percent comes from watching others make a connection with a piece and know that they make their own journeys into the paintings as they move through their daily lives.”

EXHIBITIONS

PUBLICATIONS

"Places in Life", Southwest Art, June 2014

"Natural Wonders", Southwest Art, February 2014

MEMBERSHIPS

• Of Chaos and Order, 5 person Artist Collective (2019-Present) 
• American Women Artists, Associate Member with Distinction (2024-Present)
• Oil Painters of America, Associate Member (2011-Present)
• Women Artists of the West, Associate Member (2015-Present)
• Art Students League of Denver (2008-Present)

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Critique Facilitator for prior students of Kevin Weckbach's Master Class, Art Students League of Denver (2018-2019); Art Instructor, Stanley British Primary School, Denver, CO (2009-2011) Austin Museum of Art at Laguna Gloria, Austin, TX (2002-2003); Graland County Day School & Kent Denver School, Denver, CO (1994, 1996, 1999-2001 & 2010); Multnomah Community Arts Center & Multnomah Jewish Community Center, Portland, OR (1998-1999): Created and executed Art Education programs and classes; wrote lesson plans and curriculum; purchased supplies; taught design concepts, fine arts, and craft technique to students ranging from age three through adult.

ARTS EDUCATION & AWARDS

• 2011-2016:  Master Apprentice Class with Kevin Weckbach
• Additional Studies with Derek Penix, Daniel Keyes, Jill Soukup, Doug Dawson, Bruce Gomez & Ken Valastro
• MA Interdisciplinary Studies in History, Peace Studies and International Studies,
  University of Oregon, Eugene, OR (June 1999) 3.96 G.P.A.
• BA Fine Arts and Applied Ethics, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR (June 1997) Summa Cum Laude, 3.98 G.P.A.
  Attended Cornell University, Ithaca, NY - Fine Arts (1993-94) & University of Western Sydney, Australia, (Spring 1995)
• Numerous awards for excellence in the arts including, Best Landscape Award in The Women Artists of the West 49th Annual Juried Exhibition & Sale, 2nd Place in Oils at The Colorado Artists Guilds 84th Anniversary Juried Exhibition, Marie Walsh Sharpe Scholarship and Scholastic National Art Awards