Carla Sanchez

Carla Sanchez grew up in a family of artists living in the Hamptons in NY. Although she wanted to study art at a young age she was discouraged from following that path. Instead, she attended SUNY@Stonybrook double majoring in Premed and Psychology. She later went on to receive her Masters in Psychology/ Counseling. It wasn't until 2006 that Carla was able to make art a priority in her life again. She now resides in Knoxville Tn with her son.

        In 2007, Carla began studying oil painting under the guidance of David Leffel and drawing under Sherri Mc Graw, both modern Masters in their own rights. The expertise that they have imparted has been immeasurable in aiding her growth as an artist and a person. Besides David Leffel, Carla has studied in Santa Fe at the Valdez School of Art with Kevin Gorges. In 2013 Carla had the honor of meeting Roseta Santiago while attending a workshop she was offering. They quickly became friends. Roseta invited Carla to co- teach a workshop with her at the Quinlan. Carla has also painted with Kevin Beilfuss, Derek Penix, Quang Huang, Roger Dale Brown, Richard Allen Nichols, Dennis Perrin, Eric Rhoades and Phil Starke. In 2018 Carla spent a summer studying Classical Painting Techniques for the Figure in Florence Italy at the Angel Academy of Art and in 2019 she taught classical painting techniques in the UK. In the summer of 2020 Carla studied at the Art Students League with Greg Kruetz.

       Carla's greatest inspiration besides Velasquez, Sorolla, Sergeant and David Leffel has been her late grandfather, who was a well known local artist in The Hamptons. Sadly he passed away three months before she was born but she receives her inspiration from the works he left behind. Carla's style tends toward Classical realism. She believes there is truth and beauty in everything; this idea she endeavors to portray in all her works.

* This statement has been provided directly by the artist in association to their 16^th International ARC Salon entries. This content has not been edited for typos or grammatical errors and has not been vetted for accuracy.