Meet Sara Bakowski | Artist & Designer

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

Hi Sara, why did you pursue a creative career?
Honestly, I pursued an artistic career because I had never imagined myself doing anything else! I know a lot of people say this, haha, but I really have talked about being an artist since I was a little kid. My parents always said artists never make any money until they’re dead (in a fun playful way really LOL). So for a little bit (maybe a few years) I entertained the idea of pursuing other avenues such as chemical engineering, teaching, being an archivist, random shit like that. But eventually, when it came down to choosing a college major, I went with fine art because that was really all I wanted to do. And if I have to work for a living I may as well do something I actually like!

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I think there are a few different sides to my art! I sort of consider myself kind of jack of all trades kind of artist, haha. So you’ve got your fine art side where I love to paint. My paintings are very observation-based, but not in a still life kind of way. More like…fleeting thought kind of observations? Does that make sense? They’re also text based a lot of the time. Like I have a note in my phone where I write down a lot of the random thoughts I have and every so often I’m like “oh damn that’s good” and I make it into a painting. A painting that’s on the wall in front of me right now says, “My bed has faced the same direction everywhere I’ve lived, right side up.” I have never been good at articulating the vibe of my paintings, haha.

Then, there’s the professional, design-y side to my art. By day I work as a graphic designer for a small SaaS company. Though, graphic design is not really my passion, haha. I do love my job because I like the company and the people I work with and the work I do is actually fun sometimes. But art school I never saw myself becoming a graphic designer. I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do after I graduated with my BFA in Sculpture! This uncertainty about how to go about getting a job as a sculptor/painter forced me to make a decision. Either try to actually do that, OR keep on the college route and get another degree in something a little more….able-to-get-a-job-y. So senior year of college I applied for a Masters program in graphic design. I actually think I surprised myself with how much I enjoyed it! So even if it’s not my ~passion~, I do love design and I love doing it for my career. And it allows me to be able to pay to also make the rest of my art that I am passionate about haha.

And lastly, there’s my crafty art side. This side of my art consists of a lot of polymer clay! I love making small sculptures, household items, and jewelry out of clay. My favorite things to make are little food earrings. My dream is to open a little art kind of bizarre store. And it’s themed to be like a grocery store but you know, cuter, funnier, that kind of deal. Except instead of real food, it has a bunch of different kinds of food ART. Probably curated from additional artists other than myself so that we have a nice variety. Someday! haha. OH! I also love making miniatures of places and objects. Last one I did was of my old apartment, complete with a tiny me and a tiny pair of Italian greyhounds (James and Leo).

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.
Oo! This one is funny because I’ve only been in Denver for a year now so I don’t know ALL the best places but here’s what I would plan as someone relatively new to town (not necessarily in this order):

We would definitely have to hit some of my favorite bars in town, The Dive Inn on S Broadway, The Thin Man in Uptown, Bar Nun in Cap Hill, and Recess in LoHi, to name just a few.

We’d obviously have to do some kind of hike, one that I always go back to when people are in town is the Windy Gap Trail on Lookout Mountian (or Mt Falcon I’m not 100% sure lol) it’s not a crazy hard hike and the views are gorrrrgeous!

I won’t lie…we will be going to the dispensary. I mean. You gotta, haha. We would also go to the hot springs in Idaho Springs and to one of my favorite stores in Denver, The Learned Lemur. It’s an oddities shop and it is the coolest store ever.

For food, we absolutely have to go to Table 6 in Cap Hill. It’s a small little neighborhood-y spot and the food is to die for. It’s fancy but it doesn’t take itself too seriously.

If it’s hot out I’d LOVE to go hangout at one of the reservoirs in the area. Closest thing we got to beaches in this landlocked state and I say it is CLOSE ENOUGH to have a lit afternoon of floating drinking and grilling.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I want to dedicate my shoutout to my parents! Even when they were gently trying to lean me possibly in another career direction (lol), they literally never stopped supporting me and whatever weird art I was making that day. They have always been my biggest fans and truly made me feel like I could be successful at anything I wanted to do. Even back in the day when my only artistic goal was to creep everyone out, they still shared my paintings on their facebook pages for the whole world to see 🙂 hahaahah. I love them they’re the best.

Website: https://sarabakowski.com

Instagram: @saraaaaaa_b

Image Credits
n/a