Meet Maggie Sackmann | Oil Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Maggie Sackmann and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Maggie, how do you think about risk?
One of my biggest fears is looking back and regretting playing it safe. From my choice of major in college, to a stint writing music in Nashville, to moving to Colorado having never visited, I think I have a bit of flair for drama. Risk is essential to success, at least the sort of success I seek. I’m aware I have an idealistic view of life. It looks like passionately creating art that allows me to be financially stable while taking care of my daughter while she’s young.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I like to think of my art as a refreshing non-literal take on nature, more specifically, landscapes. I recreate them in dreamlike states with unique color pallets and textures that make you wonder, “I don’t know exactly what I’m looking at, but it’s beautiful.” When I’m painting, I spend a lot of time on my pallet mixing colors. I place them on the canvas quite instinctually which is why I really only paint if I’m feeling inspired to do so. Because I don’t do a lot of pre-planning, my strokes and artistic decisions are entirely reflective of how I’m feeling at a particular moment.

I actually struggled in college where I produced artwork for 8 hours a day broken into two four hour studio classes. I didn’t thrive under the set hours given to “create.” My style too was a bit too mainstream for many of my professors. I constantly found myself trying to be the artist that I wasn’t, trading my idealistic color combinations and whimsical brush strokes for something more avant garde, and frankly something that wasn’t me!

Today I’m proud of my individual style. I’m confident that art doesn’t have to be shocking and cutting edge to be beautiful and thought provoking to the viewer, or myself for that matter.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If my friends were visiting for the weekend I’d start the day by taking them to Bakery Four on Tennyson for the best baked goods before heading to the Dairy Block to shop in the cute boutiques. If it’s a beautiful day we’ll head to the Botanic Gardens to enjoy the colorful blooms or perhaps Wash Park for a picnic. In the evening we’ll head to Rino to take in the art scene and enjoy tapas at Barcelona Wine Bar (the best). The next morning we might welcome the morning with “Yoga on the Rocks” at Red Rocks. We’ll be back for a concert later that evening because there is LITERALLY no venue on the planet that could compare. It’s not a complete weekend without a stop at Scrumptious in Oldetown Arvada for a sweet treat. They make all of their rotating ice cream flavors on-site. “Blackout” is their best flavor if I do say so myself.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
I want to dedicate my success to my daughter, Iris, for inspiring me beyond measure.

Website: www.maggiesackmannart.com

Instagram: instagram.com/maggiesackmann_art

Image Credits
No credit needed to give.