Today we’d like to introduce you to Gretchen Sparks.
Hi Gretchen, so excited to have you with us today. What can you tell us about your story?
As a Freshman in College, I had to decide between majoring in Art or Geology (Back in the “Day” doing both was NOT an option!). After much angst, I decided to be a Geology Major – with the promise that someday I would do “art”…
Fast forward to the 21st Century — I finally retired and raised my family and found the Glassell School of Art in Houston. I received my Certification in painting. After graduating I was accepted into and completed the Block Program. I currently work at Silver Street Studios (#214) in Houston and a studio in Llano, Texas. The studio in Llano is set up to work on larger pieces.
I do my art because I have a story to tell — a desire to create a visual statement about the landscape that blends both scientific and artistic vision. I want the viewer to see a new landscape through my unique lens.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Back when I couldn’t decide between Geology and Art one of the greatest challenges was not being able to combine my two passions.
Being a geology major was a struggle because I was a woman in a man’s world/career. There were many times when I thought that if I had pursued an Art career, then I would not have encountered the sexism that I did….part of the Glassell curriculum was Art History, and here I learned that the struggles as a woman artist would have been just as great.
I would like to think that now (well into the 21st century) we would have gotten past being judged by one’s sex and simply on one’s ability as an artist to tell a story… so now I have to struggle with being an elderly woman artist. People assume that I’ve been doing this all my life but in reality, I am an “emerging artist!”
I am invisible because of my sex and age…
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I am primarily a painter; although I’m probably most known for my clay dimetrodons! My dimetrodons sprung from my love of those perplexing Permian synapsids! As a retired geologist/paleontologist I do volunteer work at HMNS. Through this relationship, I have been part of a small group that prospects for dimetrodon fossil bones in Seymour, Texas. We also clean the dimetrodon fossils in the Paleo Prep Lab at HMNS Sugar Land. I am the volunteer in charge of the Lab in Sugar Land. As a ceramics installation piece, I made over 400 clay dimetrodons that have been displayed in a group show and as part of my Block show at Glassell.
I am proudest of my big landscape paintings! The largest is a hexaptych called “Sierra Madera Astrobleme” which consists of 6 panels, each being 6 feet long by 22 inches tall. As a wandering geologist, I am attracted to the landscape and am initially wondering about the geology of what I am observing. My art sees beyond the science of a landscape. It is inspired by the geology and spirituality of the earth. My art takes earth’s physical shapes and turns them into shapes of thought. By mixing texture, color and pattern, I combine science with spirituality.
Do you have any memories from childhood that you can share with us?
Camping with my family. We would go camping at least once a month and did a 3-week marathon trip every summer. My love of geology sprung from these excursions along with a deep appreciation of the wonders of nature.
Contact Info:
- Email: sparksgretchen@gmail.com
- Website: gretchenbendersparks.com
- Instagram: @gretchenbendersparks
