She takes her inspiration from the great painters of the past, beautiful handmade papers from around the world and from the fortunate life she lives
Sandy Oppenheimer is a self-taught artist who “paints with paper” in an intuitive and playful manner. She takes her inspiration from the great painters of the past, beautiful handmade papers from around the world and from the fortunate life she lives.
Sandy first started creating her collages while living in Italy in the village of Pietrasanta. She had moved there with her husband, sculptor John Fisher, and became part of a thriving international enclave of artists living near the heart of the marble mountains of Carrara. John was a marble carver, and Sandy had been working in ceramics prior to Italy. Thousands of miles from her pottery studio, she began exploring the enchanted hills with paints in hand. Day after day, she recorded what she saw in watercolor. Eventually, she found herself adding small bits of paper to her paintings which led her to mixed media. In 2003, she was invited to a papermaking village in Japan for a three-month artist-in-residency. She put down her brushes, picked up scissors and began “painting with paper” and never stopped. She continues to develop her artistic language with intention, delight, and gratitude.
