Today we’d like to introduce you to Nicole Maynard-Sahar.
Hi Nicole, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I was a kid who spent a lot of time alone reading and drawing and watching television (that’s right, before the internet). There was a lot of thinking and looking going on with me. My uncle was a painter, the first in my family to go to college (The School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston). He modeled for Calvin Klein and Pierre Cardin; this second career brought him to Miami. We had a special relationship, as I was the only child in his life. He bought me an oil paint set and I watched him paint a mural in the kitchen. I was sixteen when he died suddenly of AIDS in 1987. It was so fast, three months after being diagnosed, that he hadn’t been able to bring himself to tell his family. So, of course I had to be a painter, too. I completed a dual major in Painting and Art Education at Massachusetts College of Art and Design in 1993. I met my husband while working at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. He was a visitor and I was selling admission tickets. That bit of chance landed me to live at the New Jersey border closest to Philadelphia. So, of course I had to get a Master in Fine Arts Degree at the University of Pennsylvania. A mentor there connected me with the Bowery Gallery in New York City, where I showed for the next twenty years (in addition to other venues).
The only time I ever stopped painting was the first three months after my son was born (he came four weeks early). Teaching has woven its way in and out, first as a college professor and now as the Lower School Art Teacher at Miami Country Day School where I teach over 440 students from kindergarten through fifth grade. There’s a lot that happened between having a baby and life in Miami. When our son went to college five years ago (yes, still with that museum visitor), we came to Miami for the sun and the art. Before making the decision, I had to find out where the artists were. Word of mouth led to the Bakehouse Art Complex and that cinched the move. It is a dream to be an artist-in-residence there amongst so many talented, kind people. Just before he died, my uncle received a letter that announced he was granted studio space in Miami. The Bakehouse was founded by artists in 1985. Life is very strange.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Everyone has to find a way to balance their life and parenting always adds an extra twist to the equation. The roles of parent, artist and educator aren’t easy to reconcile. Needless to say, being a good housekeeper wasn’t on the list. Painting is solitary, family is not, teaching children definitely isn’t, yet they all complement each other. I’ve even had breakthroughs in painting directly because of what I was doing in the classroom.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Color is my instrument. Subject matter and themes change in my paintings, while my ability to communicate through color is at the heart of my work. A theme that became more pronounced due to the pandemic is the relationship between freedom and constraint.
How do you think about luck?
Luck involves being in the right place at the right time. It’s important to be alert so as to recognize the potential in situations. Drive, conviction and stamina push one forward.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.maynardsahar.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maynard_sahar/
