Sandra Jimison, one of Tryon Arts and Crafts School’s esteemed artisans, has been named the school’s artist of the month. Her artwork is being featured during the month of October in the gallery of TACS at 373 Harmon Field Road. Hours are from Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Originally from Chapel Hill, Sandra’s passion for sculpting and working with clay started when she was in high school and has shown no signs of diminishing. She says, “My initial efforts were wheel thrown, then came thrown and altered, which naturally led to sculpting. The altered aspect stuck with me as evidenced by my tendency toward whimsical and fantasy interpretations of my fellow humans and visitors.”

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in media arts from Western Carolina University, Sandra took formal training in sculpture with classes at Brookgreen Gardens at Murrell’s Inlet, S.C., and has been working as a professional since 2012, though when Sandra is not sculpting, her “day job” is with New View Realty right here in Tryon.

Regarding keeping up with her art form, Sandra says, “I constantly use the internet as a means of learning from fellow sculptors. However, if you work with clay, you know that extensive experimentation and trial and error are the best teachers.” Sandra’s creative philosophy is “for my pieces to convey an emotion or feeling, be it whimsical or otherwise in its own right without any direct message of my own emotion.”

In addition to exhibiting at Tryon Arts and Crafts School, Sandra’s work has been shown here in Tryon at Tryon Painters and Sculptors, and regionally at Savannah Arts on the River in Georgia, the Artists Guild in Columbia, S.C., ArtFields in Lake City, S.C., and the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg, S.C.

– submitted by Cathy Fischer