sarah bell
I have spent rather a lot of my life being told not to stare at people!
I have always been fascinated by the differences and attractions of people and their faces. We are all attracted to faces to a certain degree: it begins as a baby’s survival technique to imprint our mother’s faces - and it is the eyes that compel us most. Alberto Giacometti once said that “the only thing that remained alive was the gaze”.​​
Having taken an O Level in art, a necessitated change of school meant that I didn’t continue to pursue art. Eventually, family and work life allowed time to take up a class at the local college in watercolour. I quickly became disheartened by this most difficult of mediums and was persuaded to try out a portrait and life class instead - and have never looked back. Ultimately, I found my way to Annie Phelps’ classes in Cheltenham, among a group of working artists who suggested I further my art training.
I gained a place at Heatherleys School of Fine Art Portraiture Diploma course, in Chelsea in 2014. The course is that rarity, a formal training in figurative art. I completed the two-year course and moved to Penzance, Cornwall, an area with a vibrant artist community plus the added advantage of being by the sea!
member of
exhibitions
Penzance Studios, Spring and Summer Exhibitions, 2022 - 2025
World’s End Artists, Menier Chocolate Factory, London 2018 & 2019
Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Mall Gallery, London, May 2016
Summer Exhibition, Heatherley School of Fine Art, London, July 2015 & 2016
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Royal West of England Academy Open Exhibition, Bristol, September 2015
Fosseway Artists, Cotswolds
awards
Lee & Thompson LLP Prize for Portraiture, Heatherley School of Fine Art, July 2016
Commendation by Andrew James RP NEAC, Heatherley School of Fine Art, July 2016
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COMMISSION & USE OF OTHER WORK IN FILM, THE CHRISTOPHERS 2025
(Steven Soderbergh, Ian McKellen, Michaela Coel, Jessica Gunning & James Corden)
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THE CHRISTOPHERS, film starring Ian McKellan, Michaela Coel, James Corden, Jessica Gunning.
Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Recently shown at the Toronto Film Festival
I was approached to hire some of my work to be hung on the sets of this film, and to create a half-finished small portrait of McKellen for use in the film's plot. It was a fascinating and astounding introduction to how a movie is produced.
I want to thank Kimmy Hussey for inviting me to do this and for all her support.
