Meet Sarah Rebecca | Freelance Illustrator & Designer

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

Hi Sarah, have you ever found yourself in a spot where you had to decide whether to give up or keep going? How did you make the choice?
There is never a time when a creative doesn’t feel like giving up. There are some seasons when the work I am creating is important, vital even, for myself and for those I share it with. It’s a visceral feeling that “this piece is saying something that someone needs to hear” and even if I never have that moment of knowing who it touched or how, I won’t stop creating until it’s finished. On the flip side there are seasons of famine. Where everything I touch feels useless and lifeless and it’s easy to get discouraged to the point of wanting to quit. In those seasons I try to reorient myself to why I began creating in the first place. Often I will take an extended break from creating and escape into books or other forms of media that fill me up. I have quit creating for almost a solid year in one such season, but then I get inspired by something and the faucet of creativity turns back on and I’m back at it. It’s all about understanding your own creative process and learning when to forge ahead and when to pull back. Only you know when it’s time to “give up”, but that doesn’t mean giving up is the final end. Maybe it’s just giving up on a method or an idea that wasn’t working and never would, but may come back at a different time or in a different form that will. You have to be willing to close old doors and open new ones when those choices arise, and there’s never really a right or wrong answer; only the one that is best for you.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
My work tends to feature themes of space, animals, nature, mythology, and abstract. The majority of my work is inspired my music, especially my Drifted Thought Series. I wouldn’t say I’m “proud” of anything, but rather I’m fulfilled creating the work that means something to me. It’s just a bonus when it resonates with others and I’m quite content with that. I am where I am today because my view of my work is based solely on what I want to see. I draw what I enjoy and that joy shows up in everything I make. It wasn’t easy getting to this point, because naturally I wanted to draw the most popular thing; the thing that would get me the most attention by the crowds. But I realized I don’t enjoy that work and it made me want to create less, not more. Overcoming it involved realizing that the work I love to create may not be for everyone and that that was okay. A rejection of my work by the majority doesn’t mean it’s bad art. Just that it is not meant for that particular set of people. It took me a long time to learn that, but once I did it was so freeing. And now my work has found its own unmistakable voice that would have been buried had I tried to force it into a different mold.

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.
I am a bibliophile by nature, so if my friend came to visit we would be touring all the amazing used book stores in the area. We would start with breakfast, probably at the Matt’s Big Breakfast or What’s Crackin’, then we’d hit the Book Maze in Mesa, the Changing Hand’s Bookstore in Phoenix, swing by Books on 9201 Nth Ave, and then head up to Scottsdale to check out the Spice & Tea Exchange (because what goes better with books than a nice cup of tea?). We’d break for a late lunch at the Cheesecake Factory and then on the way home swing by Bookmans and Half Price books before calling it a day.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Without the encouragement my good friend Brittney, I never would have come as far as I have creatively. Oddly enough we have never met face to face but for almost 10 years we have talked online and shared in each other’s creative journeys. She has always believed in me and my work, even in those seasons where I hated everything I made. She is an epic cheerleader – and prone to bouts of occasional good-natured violence – who constantly pushes me to keep going. So cheers to you “bbqbert”. You’re an indelible part of my creative story.

Website: saresai.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saresai

Twitter: https://twitter.com/SareSai

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theartofSarahRebecca