As a figurative painter and printmaker, Sarah Belchetz-Swenson, 78, of Williamsburg, has worked in a variety of mediums over the years, including oil, acrylic and watercolor. She’s used a variety of drawing materials, too, she says, depending on the subject and the circumstances.
Works by Belchetz-Swenson are part of the collections of Smith, Mount Holyoke and Amherst colleges. At Amherst, in Johnson Chapel, her portraits of Pulitzer Prize winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate Richard Wilbur, Amherst College professor emerita Rose Olver, and federal judge and civil rights activist William Henry Hastie are on view.
Her work is also in the collection of the Jewish Museum in New York City and in a number of other collections in the United States and abroad.
Hampshire Life: What is your creative process like?
Sarah Belchetz-Swenson: My process varies. When I’m working on landscape, I keep a notebook in the car and I note down the location, date and time of scenes I would like to draw or paint.
The concepts for commissioned portraits and for paintings of my friends and family develop more slowly.
My still-life subjects are generally familiar scenes around the house that over time appear beautiful to me, such as dishes in the sink or paint tubes on my palette.”
H.L.: Does your work ever start with a “Eureka!” moment?
S.B-S.: All of my pictures begin with an emotional impulse, and as long as I maintain that, I know I’m on the right track, no matter how much the picture changes.
H.L.: What do you do when you get stuck?
S.B-S: I look at the work from different perspectives: upside down, on its side or backwards in a mirror. Seeing it from different angles helps me move ahead. If the problem is a color issue, I hold up swatches of other colors to see what works.
H.L.:How do you know when a work is done?
S.B-S.: I know I am done with a work when there is nothing more to fix, and when the picture pulls away and stands on its own.
H.L.: What did you do recently that relates to your art?
S.B-S.: I am currently working on a small portrait of a friend, and I am arranging to begin work on my next commissioned portrait.
H.L.: What is your greatest challenge as a portrait painter?
S.B-S.: A merchant who sells mattresses offers a good night’s sleep, but a portrait painter offers immortality, which is a big responsibility.
— Kathleen Mellen
Artwork by Sarah Belchetz-Swenson is on view through Aug. 1 in the Hall Gallery at the Jewish Community of Amherst, 742 Main St., Amherst.