Energy, It’s all about The Energy - and this is where Sport kicks in…
Having studied at Portraiture at Heatherley’s in London, it became clear to my tutors that I naturally leant towards a highly expressive style that captures Moments In Time.
Part of the Diploma was to create a Self-Portrait, and although the ‘photo-evidence’ of it has long been lost in the Ether, it was indicative that there’s Me (Red Hair ‘Duracell’ was a Nickname), surrounded in front and behind by a mixture of Golf clubs, Oboe/Cor Anglais/Sax, holding a paint brush…dressed in Army combats.
Perhaps a psychologist would unravel me, announcing “partly only child syndrome, older active parents, spinster (hate that term) supremely Musically talented aunt and really third parent, (she, Joyce Margaret Lowe won a full scholarship to St Martin’s aged 15 but could sadly never take it up as she ended up staying in, and in the end, running the family business in Chester, which we sold in the ‘70’s).
Ah yes, Chester.
Ironically that Red Bricked Walled City was my last posting whilst still in the Army, and it was weird to walk into “Lowe & Sons” (Gold & Silversmiths since 1770, in the same building in Bridge Street Row). They’ve even kept the portrait of George Foulkes Lowe (my great GF), bit of an ugly sod but he made some beautiful pieces of silver.
So, way back I come from Artisan stock.
That, for me is a big positive TICK.
Someone the other day saw these two shots of me and “that doesn’t look like you!” I put it down to being a starving, self-doubting painter at the time.
So, Movement, Energy and Sport was where it was headed and initially with my Journalist’s cap on I was lucky enough to get up and close to the action at Ryder Cups and The Open Golf Championships.
Other avenues opened up - from Rugby, Skiing, Surfing, Football, Cricket, Tennis - even Musicians in Action - Perhaps next I’ll have a go at Chefs!
How did it all begin - with Sport and with which one?
With This ‘Guy’.
Set the Scene:
A Fundraiser for The GB Ski Team at Christies. An old boyfriend of mine from Oxford days, Simon Kelton asked if I could ‘do a picture’ for the Auction. “I’ll have a go”, and did one of Alain Baxter which got snapped up.
Kelt was always into promoting adventurous spirits - he wrote the screen play for “Eddie The Eagle” with Hugh Jackman…
So, back to later in the evening when a guy in a wheelchair came up to me and asked me if I could do a painting for him from an old photo, “I’ll have a go”.
Long Story short: When I delivered it to his home in London, the door opened and a space-aged lift opened and out He came to meet me. I had decided to go BIG on the size of canvas, about 2 metres by 1.5.
We sat, side by side looking at it propped up on the wall - I was so very nervous: “Was it good enough, did it remind him of the feeling of speed he wanted, HELP!”.
The next thing that happened as I teared up, was we both cried and laughed at the same time. It was a massive moment for me with this really brave guy who had become a Paraplegic due to a freak accident.
I think it was after that response I understood that in a painting it was possible to capture the charged emotions and energized feelings, almost re-enacting memories, even heightening them - and that I could do this.
Can you imagine His sense of Freedom, of Sheer Joy with the Adrenaline Rush. With legs strapped into a special chair, He could ‘Fly’ again.
Rugby
Lightbulb moment: As England started to forge towards potential Victory in the World Cup, I wondered if it was worth trying to capture the action - as it happened.
Persuasive Person: A good mate and SKY TV Editor/Journalist Guru, Ian Woods thought so too.
Challenge: To create 15 paintings. Here are a few.
All these were painted in Oil on Deep Box Canvas. In the Background is Spray Paint.
I was trying to give a sense of the Rush of Air on a chilly day combined with the Fizz of Spotlights often felt at matches.
…Mine’s a Pint of the Black Stuff.
Work in progress 1
I hadn’t really slept for days during this whole process as it would have been impossible to keep up ‘production’ with all the Matches (and it wasn’t just England I painted as there was no guarantee they’d actually Win).
Wardrobe Malfunction:
When I get round to uploading the footage or ‘Evidence’ filmed by SKY, whilst being interviewed, wearing a black polo neck jumper, if you look closely you’ll see the washing Label is clearly showing as It’s Inside Out - a bit like I was!
SKY TV turned up at my studio in Battersea to interview me and then hauled me down the road to SKY NEWS to talk about the project - I even had a couple of ‘works in progress’ which the presenter held up to the camera, upside down to start with and with wet paint on his fingers! - the perils of Live TV…
Work in progress 2: Beware Wet Paint!
Troubling Artistic Conundrum:
How to create Sports paintings that Ooze the feeling that they are Fine Art, rather than what is often seen:
Collages of close-up caricatures of Players.
Weird Cartoon Contusions.
Strange Abstract Shapes with a Loose resemblance to their chosen Activity.
Just quite dreadful efforts at painting Sport - in my Opinion.
How to:
Choose which bits of the image to paint leaving out excess ‘noise’.
Work with a restricted palette.
Put less visual information in so it means the Punter has half a chance to relish Paint.
Move the palette knife at speed and enjoy the unpredictability of the Spray Paint element which can mess up and free up unwanted static.
Actually be able to paint - in my Opinion.
Framing:
To Frame or not to Frame, and then Which and How?
In the Delicate tones of Husband Andy - “Fur Coat and no Knickers”.
Politely referring to -
“If the painting’s crap then frame it how you like, it won’t make any difference, it’ll still be crap - in His Opinion.
Some paintings, often the really Big ones are perfectly capable of standing on their own, whereas others really do benefit from the comfort blanket of sympathetic framing.
Impresario Howard Hodgkin firmly believed that the Frame behaved as an emotional protector for his paintings, helping them deal with the world outside.
In my Opinion - “May The Force Be With You”.
Signed on the front, sometimes on the side, with my signature sealing wax stamp from my signet ring (family motto: Vis Mundi/strength of the World).
Just in case I got artistically famous and short of chopping my finger off, prevented Forgeries!
I went to ask Tom Hewlet, who set up the renouned Portland Gallery what he thought.
He sent me to Christina Leder Gilding in Parsons Green and together we designed frames that elevated these small pictures into Amphitheatre style works.
With this one an several others I then experimented (akin to Howard Hodgkin), taking the spray paint to the outer edges and beyond.
This added an extra impression of Action and Atmospheric conditions, otherwise known in ‘Blighty’, as Weather.
This one really needs no introduction - Jonny’s Extra time Goal clinched Victory for England.
Glitzy Charity Gig:
Situation:
A Testosterone Ego-Hyped Hotbed dinner at The Café Royal, London.
Mission:
Capture the Attention of Boisterous City Slickers, most from Spread Betting giant Cantor Fitzgerald so they delve deep in their wallets.
Execution:
Get up on stage, dressed in Full length Dominatrix Leopard, Eyeball them and be Cheeky telling the Story…”Well, I just liked painting muscles in shorts”.
Admin & Logistics:
Have glamorous ‘runners’ buzzing between the tables, whipping up excitement and pumping up Ego’s further to compete for ‘the prize’.
Command & Signal:
Hone in on the Top Table where BIG BOSS of Cantor, Lee Amaitis shows who is Top Dog, takes control and bids the highest =
£12,000.
(I was later told that if the auction had taken place in The Big Apple, the Gavel would have more likely have gone down around $60,000).
Surfing & Skiing
If you love being in the water, riding a wave, you’re my kind of person.
It reconnects us.
Skiing - apart from sheer torture in the legs after Day 1/2, it’s exhilarating.
Even just being in the mountains with all that white fluffy stuff around you and views that make the Soul Sing is a BIG treat.
And it is possible to be in The Alps, not break the bank and work…as I did, even before I ran the Sponsorship for The Army Ski Team, and raced or rather crashed, bounced, slid, and invested in Nuclear quantities of Arnica…
Nick, or Sir Nick Faldo was a real Cool Dude as he helped me with my Golf Book.
So I gave him a Boogie Board painting!
I’ve always admired his enthusiasm and real patience with Juniors, many times going to and writing about his Junior Series.
Once, at his Florida Academy with a group of Teenagers, there was one guy who was really struggling. Nick stayed with him on his own all during lunch, on the range, one to one - and they both came back into the clubhouse with Alligator Wide grins of success!
A Larger than Life Size burst of Energy, catching just a glimpse, balanced right on the Tip of the Board.
Oil on Deep Box Canvas.
I was really trying to Reach for the Explosive here and was literally hurling paint at the canvas…
This has its home in a Chalet in Méribel.
It might even be Commander Bond escaping the Evil clutches of SPECTRE…
Because I’d raced and trained at one point alongside the Austrian Olympic Disabled squad, I wanted to try and give something back.
This painting was of our GB Bronze Winner, Alain Baxter and raised some funds for the GB Team.
Golf:
Ryder Cups
Opens
Other, more Ordinary Swingers
Anyone who watched the 2025 Ryder Cup outside New York will know it’s the Players modern equivalent of a Gladiatorial Lion’s Den.
Add to that crowds that behave as though they’ve ingested a Century’s worth of Sugar and you could almost forget the Golf and paint the action around it.
SOLD: £5,500 Size: 150x150 cms.
It was bought by the owner of Wentworth in 2002, Elliott Bernerd.
Oil and Spray Paint on Box Canvas and Yellow paint straight from the Tube thick.
The DP Tour bosses had tasked me with creating a collection of 18 or so paintings that we displayed ‘on site’ at Wentworth during the PGA Championship.
As a rule, Golf Tournaments do not allow dogs (the four footed kind, just to be clear). So, it was a strange thing when a Chocolate Labrador strolled into the Marquee. Attached by a designer Hermès lead, we gazed up from collar to hand to discover it was Mr Bernerd himself on the other end.
He is, what one would call a ‘very serious art collector’ - something I discovered when I delivered the painting to his offices in Belgravia. On leaving, and able to breathe again amidst such a jaw dropping collection, I thought “Well, He won’t have another one of those…!”.
SOLD: £3,500. Size: 200x80 cms.
The lovey guy that bought this had spent most of the afternoon sitting underneath it, sipping Champagne as heard he had just sold his company.
I decided to bring in a Touch of Bling with the Gold Spray paint effect of the Ryder Cup Trophy and some fizzing White marks on the left hand side.
This was Paul McGinley’s Jump for Joy as he sank the Winning Putt.
Everyone loved Seve, and there will Only ever be One.
Two good friends of mine, the writer Robert Green (who wrote Seve’s biography) and the photographer David Cannon influenced me to try and capture his Intensity.
Intense, spirited, focused - All of those. Yet Severiano Ballesteros could also behave impishly.
Next to Royal Troon, during The Open, a Junior championship took place and Seve’s son was teamed up with Ángel Cabreras son. I bounced up in full Labrador waggy mode hoping to interview them….All they did was grin, giggle and wink - and All in Spanish (which I don’t speak).
But Seve, very kindly had forwarded my Short Game Book “Shape Up Your Golf”, so as far as I was concerned he was Sénior Perfecto!
Open Golf
There’s something really special about getting up at 5 am on a morning of The Open, and it doesn’t really make a difference which Venue the Action is At.
From St Andrews to Royal St Georges, when the circus ‘hits town’ a special Buzz is in the Air.
There’s quite a bit of down time when you’re covering a tournament. Particularly in the TV compound you wait for instructions to ‘go to the 5th’ - especially if like I was, very junior and new.
It’s what the Army call “Hurry Up And Wait”.
So I always had my emergency Art pack in my rucksack and would fairly often find unexpected places to set up and scribble.
This takes us to Loch Lomond for the Scottish Open, just before The Open.
WARNING!
Escaping the clutches of the Production Crew, I blissfully ensconced my creative self in the peaceful Rose Garden attached to the ‘Inner Sanctum’ zone of the Loch Lomond Clubhouse (slightly illegally but very politely).
What I didn’t know and hadn’t spotted was about 100 Miles up in the Air. One of the BBC’s CherryPickers with Eagle Eyed Cameraman at the Helm - Honing down on me.
LIVE TV!
In the Production Unit, miles away in the TV Compound, smooth running Crew (aka Professionals) were going about their business with Peter Alliss twinkling over the Airwaves “Ah Yes, there’s Sarah Sanderson (as I was then), talented golfer and very talented artist…I wonder what she’s up to with her pencils….let’s take a closer peek”.
HORROR ALERT!
One of the Crew spotted that I had an open cigarette packet on the table…Cries went up in Production of “Don’t Light UP, For Fxxx’x sake, Don’t Light UP”.
Completely oblivious to this…but luckily, I didn’t and only found out the potential disaster when I checked back in hours later - to the Crew’s smug grins of “You Don’t Know, Do You!”.
LESSON:
YOU ARE ALWAYS BEING WATCHED EVEN WHEN YOU THINK YOU ARE OFF DUTY, AND GROW A SENSE OF HUMOUR - AS THERE WILL BE PRANKS!
This is actually of Luke Donald, with his perfectly balanced finish. Apt really as he acted with Intelligence and Grace as Captain in 2025’s Hot Bed Ryder Cup.
The Commission hangs in an Asset Management company in London, W1.
Other more Ordinary Swingers
So Why is there a photo of “Tilly” our highly intelligent and fairly regularly snappy Collie staring out to Sea on the 10th Hole at St Enodoc in Cornwall?
Because She Knows it’s one of the greatest Golf Views, and that’s why I’m often asked to develop an image of a golfer and put them in a painting with their Favourite View.
It is often Necessary to use a HUGE degree of Artistic Licence to please…
Keith was really playing in Surrey at Worplesdon on a chilly Autumn morning. His playing partner had to subtly snap him on her phone as the Final Portrait was to be a surprise 50th Birthday present.
Work in progress - and I don’t mean his swing.
Now, you might think all is well and complete. Think again, as according to the knowledgable person who was keith’s golfing partner - “I Love it, but He Always wears Blue”.
Answer from Artist:
“Well, in the photo you gave me, and others…He is Not wearing Blue trousers”.
Result:
Paint the trousers Blue = Happy Days!
Keith, All in Blue, and in Situ….with a Deep Calm of Blueness Eminating All Around…Phew!!
Keith on the First Hole at St Enodoc.
Acrylic and Oil Pastel on Deep Box Canvas. 90x70 cms.
Although this is a commission, I felt it fitted well here - sorry Keith, you are far from an ordinary Swinger!