We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Sara Boccaccini Meadows. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Sara below.
Sara , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about the best boss, mentor, or leader you’ve ever worked with.
In my early 20’s I moved to Australia to intern at a print design studio in Sydney. The team were amazing and and my boss, Liz (who is now one of my dear friends), has been such a support and mentor in my life. After only a few months of interning I was offered a job, painting and designing beautiful fabrics for the fashion and textile industry. Liz always challenged and encouraged my design work, giving critique to her me grow in the industry. After a couple of years I transitioned to freelance and moved back to Europe, soon after I was offered a job with Liz to help grow the business in the US, which I quickly accepted. This was over 12 years ago and Liz helped me find numerous jobs to grow my skills and has always advocated for me, even after leaving her company. Liz has always encouraged me with my personal work- since I’ve become a full time artists and illustrator. I will be forever grateful for her mentorship, support and friendship over the years!
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I am a print designer, painter and illustrator living in Brooklyn, NY. Originally I am from the rolling hills of the Peak District, England. I graduated from Leeds College of Art with a 1st class Hons in Textiles and Surface Pattern. After graduating I had a number of years traveling the world, including living in South Korea where I taught Kindergarten and then to Sydney, Australia where I interned and worked for a design studio. I eventually settled in NYC 12 years ago and split my time between textile design, illustration and being a mother to my 9 year old girl. I take inspiration from nature and the tiny details in everyday surroundings to create unique and quirky print illustrations. My materials include watercolor, gouache and ink pen.
I have been passionate about climate action and women’s rights for many years and love to work on projects that center around these issues. In 201 7 I was chosen to be part of a group show in NYC titled “The Future is Female” put together by Save Art Space. I created artwork, a line of women of all different ethnicity/background joining hands, that was displayed on a billboard next to the Manhattan bridge.
In July of 2018 I published my first book “Botanical Painting” – a series of nature inspired projects using gouache and watercolour. I promoted her book with her a Solo exhibition at APG gallery, United Kingdom. Titled “A Botanical Wander” the paintings highlighted botanical inspirations from the book and the development of paintings from sketchbook to finished gouache designs.
During September 2018, I was chosen to be part of an artist residency in Oahu, Hawaii. During my stay I worked with the Hawaiian tourist board, visiting natural beauty spots, meeting local artists and speaking with environmental activists. Using the experience and documenting my journey in sketchbooks, I created 4 paintings depicting the landscapes, people and tourism of the island to show the importance of nature to native Hawaiians.
In the Summer of 2019 I was awarded a 3-month art residency on Governor’s Island, NYC. It was Part of “Our Future Festival: A Day of Climate Action, Ideas and Inspiration”. During the summer I studied the indigenous plants and insects from the island and researched the species most endangered by the climate crisis- documented through sketches and paintings. My final piece being a huge wall mural with an interactive “botanical” trail, highlighting the importance of bees and insects in maintaining a healthy planet.
In 2020 I had paintings in a series of exhibitions in NY, Portland, Australia and South Korea. A big highlight was being selected, along with 10 other artists, to exhibit a series of botanical work alongside the Tree of Knowledge series by Hilma af Klint at Lightforms Art Center, Hudson, NY. I’ve always been a huge fan of Hilma af Kline so it was an honor to exhibit my paintings next to hers.
Over the past 3 years I’ve been working on a series of nature books with a wonderful publisher in the UK, Magic Cat. We have published 2 books together so far on plants, planets and this year with have a new book coming out, FLY, it’s a child’s guide to spotting birds. I love working on this series and it’s had such a great reaction from children and adults.
One of the most meaningful book projects I’ve working on in recent years was, Things You Can Do- How to fight climate change and reduce waste, I worked on the book with a wonderful journalist named, Eduardo Garcia. It is a fully illustrated guide to reducing your carbon footprint and has really inspired me to take more action to help save our planet. Much of my personal artwork is now centered around the environment to hopefully inspire us all to appreciate and protect our planet.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Being able to manage my own time and create a life around my art is one of the most rewarding aspects of being an artist. This has been particularly important since having a child and it’s nice to plan inspiration trips and workshops around my daughter’s schooling. I also found it hard to be creative in a 9-5 setting- I love to wake up early and work until mid-day, then maybe go for a walk/take a nap or have a coffee with a friend. I can then work on something relaxing in the evening like a sketchbook page or painting.
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
I think when covid hit the world we all had to pivot to some extent. This was quite a change for my life and business, due to family and our living situation, we had to move from NYC to England to Los Angeles then back to NYC- all within a year. Luckily my work is flexible and I found I was particuly productive during this time, maybe due to all the different environments and time I had to document it all.
Contact Info:
- Website: boccaccinimeadows.com
- Instagram: @boccaccinimeadows
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/boccaccinimeadows
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sara-boccaccini-b19b183a/
- Twitter: @SaraBoccaccini
Image Credits
Joe Horner