We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sarah Rosa Glickman a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah Rosa, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

For me, it isn’t one single project but rather the family of projects that I have created since the pandemic began.

I have experienced a lot of trauma throughout my life and by 2017 I had found myself in a very deep place of darkness. The journey to climb out of that darkness, to rediscover myself, my worth, and my voice has not been fast and it has not been easy. However, when the pandemic hit I was thrown into a world where most of my time was spent with my own thoughts. I was forced to confront things in a way I never had before – to not just know what happened, but to get to the core of how and why it impacted me. I began the process of making changes, real changes, to the way that I approached and viewed life. As is very common, my trauma led to a lot of self-criticism, self-questioning, and self-bullying. But for the first time, I didn’t want to handle things the way that I always had. I didn’t want to continue the cycle, I wanted to create a new one. New behaviors, a new internal dialogue. I wanted to introduce kindness, grace, and acceptance in the way that I approached myself – something I have always done for others, but have never been so good at doing for myself. All of these thoughts and all of these battles led me to a need to step back. Pull back from the overwhelmingness of being human – the chaos of life – and remember the simplicity. This led to the birth of Sarah Rosa Creations and my single-line designs. These designs strip away all of the complexities of being human and focus on the beauty in the simplicity of it all. The soft magic that is the human body and human life. They gave me an outlet for my struggles, my emotions, and my creativity, while also protecting me from the depth. As my healing continued, I felt myself being drawn back toward the chaos of life again. Wanting to feel overwhelmed, angry, confused, and excited – and wanting to love every moment of it. That is when I grabbed the POSCA markers and started creating My Faces & My Bodies.

My Faces & My Bodies are wildly abstract depictions of human facial features and bodies mixed with vibrant color and shape combinations. They are full of emotion. They are where I can unleash everything that I am no longer afraid to feel. Where I can embrace the chaos. They celebrate the complexity of being human and every beautifully chaotic aspect that comes with it.

This journey of creating and healing, and healing from creating, has allowed me to reconnect with myself and with the world around me, and has reminded me of the power that I have within – the power that fuels me to be me.

Sarah Rosa, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have always been creative but didn’t consider selling my art until the pandemic hit. I lost my job, people weren’t really hiring, and I needed to figure out a new way to make an income. I had all of the art that I had created throughout the years so I decided to post pictures of it on Facebook and see if they would sell. The response was overwhelming – I received so much support, both through sales and encouragement – so I kept going. I googled galleries in my area and discovered Cecy’s Gallery & Studios. I went in one day and showed her my work and from there my journey as a local artist began.

I’m now three years in and have truly never felt more connected to myself and to my community. I still mainly sell my work in person, and there are a few reasons for that. A massive part of my motivation to create is knowing that my work has an impact. When I sell in person, I am able to see the exact moment when somebody feels one of my pieces. When they feel that sense of an embrace from the piece telling them, “I see you. I see your pain, and I’m here to be in it with you.” Hearing the stories of why they feel that connection, what they have been through, and how they are healing not only motivates me in my work, but also inspires me as a person – and helps me feel seen in my pain as well.

My goal in life is to use my passion, my art, my work, to help others and myself heal and love who we are. To encourage people to embrace their nature, their bodies, and their individuality – and to love it.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

I think it’s tough for everyone to process the hard parts of life – the painful experiences and emotions that have the power to overtake us, overwhelm us, and even control us. Not everybody is taught how to, given the space to, or given themselves the space to discover how to process and cope. A lot of us end up walking around stuffing things down, bottling things up, and focusing on anything but. That was me for a long, long time. I always felt like I was just full, ready to burst, overflowing with these struggles, but nowhere to put them. I felt some relief when I would spend hours creating colorful notes for my classes, decorating my home, or making the occasional art piece, but for the most part I stuffed, bottled, and suffered. I couldn’t see that this was the answer. That the small moments where I lost myself in doodling, where I aimlessly painted or colored with no real goal for the outcome, were the moments when I was able to touch base with myself. I was able to release some of that ugliness, pain, and anger.

Now, I can be more purposeful with it. I can decide what I need to work through, and channel that into my creating with the intent of release. With a goal of healing. But ultimately, it all starts with a piece of paper and a pencil. With a mindless scribble, a moment of doodling. Giving yourself the space to release.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

The biggest lesson that I had to unlearn was that there is one definition of success and it is my purpose in life to achieve that. I wasn’t necessarily ever told this explicitly, but it’s the message that I took from what was being expressed to me at school, in the media, in the adults around me, and in society at large. I took this message and molded myself to it for so many years. I also struggled internally for so, so many years. It wasn’t until I began exposing myself to other lifestyles, other paths and choices, that I was able to realize that success is defined not by those around you, not by society at large, but by what makes you feel whole. What makes you feel safe, proud, confident, and solid in who you are and how you lead your life. That is success. That is what we should be striving for, and that is what I am working towards every day.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.sarahrosacreations.com
• Instagram: @sarahrosacreations

Image Credits
Liz Pope, Gary Krajewski