When Sandra Hayen was in her 30s, she took an art adult education class in La Mesa. Her teacher asked her if she had ever considered doing fine art. So Hayen took her advice, began taking workshops, classes, wherever she could find one, and began a journey she had been looking for all her life. She explored every medium of art she could find.
“When I found oils, I fell in love with them,” she said. “After that, I don’t do anything else.”
Although Hayen has drawn and painted in all media since the age of 2, oils are her passion and this collection is an elaborate display of her work, including her recent appreciation for plein air painting.
“I strive to convey a sense of beauty, sensitivity and serenity in my interpretation of nature, being pleased when others sense these feelings in my paintings,” Hayen said.
Hayen’s paintings manifest her love of nature and this collection of landscapes conveys that love and also gives the viewer an indispensable sight of her decades of experience in oils, with splenid sceneries, many places those who live in the area will recognize.
Her extensive years of training in replicating the great masters are strongly evident in every painting. Her floral paintings are nothing less than perfection with a brush, and her landscapes and seascapes, whether real or a compilation, will take you on a journey. It is an exquisite display of her artistic abilities with oils and her love of nature.
In her landscapes, she wants people to feel a sense of place and want to go there; she wants the art to be uplifting and enjoyable.
Hayen considers herself to be a representational artist who falls in between impressionistic and photorealistic art, and a tonalist, relying on the tones of dark and light rather than color.
“I really feel that it is a gift from God that he gave to me,” said Hayen. “I’ve had a lot of ups and downs in life and I am happy that I have had painting to fall back on.”
Foothills Art Association Art Gallery is located at 4910 Memorial Drive in La Mesa.
