Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Lorentz.
Sarah, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Candlelight Home Portraits is a partnership: my husband (Sean Flanagan of Fuzzzy Comics) and myself (Sarah Lorentz, fine art). We chose to move from central Illinois to St. Louis just a year after we married, leaving our family and jobs in Peoria and settling in a cozy brick home in the south city. We moved here because we truly love the city. There is great potential for us here as artists and we enjoy being part of something bigger than ourselves: a network of people who are actively working to breathe life into their communities. Our love for St. Louis inspired us to capture the history and beauty of the architecture. We now paint and draw homes and businesses all across the nation as one-of-a-kind gifts and keepsakes and are also working on our “Neighborhood Project” to create an original collage-style art print for every neighborhood in St. Louis featuring the unique landmarks and history of the city.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We started Candlelight Home Portraits just six months after our son was born. The growing pains of managing a new business while also learning how to be new parents was sometimes overwhelming. The flip side is that our portrait orders allowed us to stay home with our son, which we wouldn’t trade for anything. We have learned to balance our work and home life and that has made such a difference. Holiday rushes are no joke and those weeks are still crazy, but we also know to plan ahead and set our order limits.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I think what makes us stand out in the St Louis market especially is that we really do care about what we are doing–we see the details of the homes as significant because we understand that there is a story behind every home in the style of architecture, the brickwork, the stained glass windows, and every other feature. I’m most proud of the reactions that we get when we deliver our work. When we manage to capture not just the look but the feeling of home to the owner, I know that I’ve created something significant with my art!
That is the same feeling we want to bring into our Neighborhood Print series. We believe that there is beauty and significance to every neighborhood in the city and we want to take the time to share that appreciation with others. We want to showcase the city as a whole, not just the distilled tourist view of the city, but the hidden gems, the lesser-known monuments, and the places that make that neighborhood feel like home to the people living there. With 79 neighborhoods, it is a daunting project, but we hope people will be as excited about it as we are and support the project along the way!
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
In some ways, we were/are similar–we both loved reading and creating art from a young age–we both knew we wanted to be artists “when we grew up!”
Sean has always thought of himself as a “collector” of art skills and is always looking to try new mediums. His passion for creating comics allows him to utilize many of his skills from writing stories to drawing and coloring the pages. Because of his proficiency inline drawing, he takes most of our ink portrait commissions. He tends to be a bit more outgoing and a dreamer and he has helped push me out of my comfort zone with our business.
I was a free spirit growing up. My ideal day was to romp the woods behind my parents’ house then spend the afternoon crafting in the basement craft/storage room. That’s pretty much still my idea of a perfect day: spending time outside hiking, kayaking, or gardening, and creating something with my hands whether that is painting, drawing, or baking. I do have an analytical side; both my parents are engineers and I’ve adopted their methodical thought process which helps us tackle projects in manageable steps.
Pricing:
- Custom Home Portrait Watercolors: $200
- Custom Home Portrait Ink Drawings: $125
- 8×10 Neighborhood Print, Unframed: $25
- 8×10 Neighborhood Print, Matted/Framed: $35
Contact Info:
- Email: candlelighthomeportraits@gmail.com
- Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CandlelightHomeGifts
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/candlelighthomeportraits/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/candlelighthomeportraits
