Sabine French

My first creative love was words. After receiving a mid-life master’s degree with a focus in creative writing, my short stories received accolades in various competitions and I published “Southern Charm,” a novella set in my beloved home state of North Carolina. It rose to be a top 200 genre seller on Amazon.

However my writing career was interrupted by a mild brain injury in 2015 that left me, among other things, unable to write creatively.

In a frankly desperate effort to cross-train the creative parts of my brain (neuroplasticity tells us: “if you don’t use it, you’ll lose it.”), I turned to painting -- something I’d never really done before and therefore where there was no pressure to excel. I didn’t want the fact that I wasn’t formally trained in brush work to serve as an impediment, so I painted with my hands — literally pouring paint into my gloved hands and pushing, dabbing, and swooping on layers. Bright colors over-stimulated my recovering brain, so I chose a neutral palette. I recall literally “willing” myself to channel what I’d heard artist Steve Tobin once refer to as “the unadulterated creative impulse,” hoping it would aid my injured brain.

While I’m technically self-taught (I was accepted into art school ...

1986 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, BA Radio, Television, Film
2009 Duke University, AM Liberal Studies with a concentration in creative writing

1999 Trace Art Gallery, Raleigh, NC (metal sculpture)

2016 Tomato Arts Festival, Nashville, TN (paintings)

2017 Boro Art Crawl, Murfreesboro, TN (paintings)

2017, live painting at AMSfest, Washington, DC

2018 accepted into NSCAD (Nova Scotia College Of Art and Design)

July 9- September 2, 2020. “Mile Post 290.4, Thunder Hill Overlook” Welborn Gallery, Yadkin Arts Council’s 9th Juried Show.

2023 October Danville (VA) Art League Juried Group show