Today we’d like to introduce you to Sally C. Evans.
Sally C., we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Art has always been a part of my life. I started drawing when I was two years old and my parents in enrolled me into the Boca Raton Art Guild for painting classes in the mid 70’s. I often say I didn’t choose art it choose me. After my father relocated my family to Columbia, SC in 1980, my high school art teachers submitted my work to national high school art competitions. I won several top awards.
I then attended the University of South Carolina where I earned a BFA in Graphic Design and Fine Art. I began her career as a graphic artist. After a trip in 1992 to the Arizona desert and visiting art galleries, I realized my calling was to be a fine artist. I transitioned into my full-time painting practice in the early 1990s.
Among my most 2025 accolades, are being featured in “Slaying Orlando”, a book highlighting my life and work alongside 23 other female entrepreneurs making a meaningful impact. “The Chicago Weekly” named me one of their Top 10 Visionary Artists for 2025, recognizing me for pushing creative boundaries and inspiring change. Blick Art Materials also featured my painting Lilies Dance in Light in a national advertising campaign in 2019.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
No it has not been smooth or easy. In 1992 I wasn’t just becoming a painter, I was becoming a small business owner and entrepreneur. You need to have a tough skin and a lot of resilience for this business.
I worked many side jobs to help support my career one including a year of teaching inmates art for the SC Department of Corrections (1993-1994) for a year. Yes there are many crazy stories from that experience!
In 1997 I moved to Dunedin FL and my career took off. I was working with several galleries, foundations, and being the featured artist for many outdoor art festivals. I also had many art rewards coming my way form national competitions. My work was picked up by Winn Devon Publishing company, and I had many of my images printed as lithographs that sold around the world. During this period, I had a piece selected for the Art and Embassies Program that was on display at the American Embassy in Rome, Italy.
In 2008 I hit rock bottom with my art career and went through a divorce. I lost everything I had worked so hard for with the 08 economic crash. I relocated to Winter Park and married artist Tom Sadler in 2010. Together we started to build our art practices back and finding new collectors.
There is nothing easy about being self-employed and as Tom likes to say, “Don’t let the highs get you to high or the lows get you to low”. Great advice!
You have to shake off the self-doubt and keep going even when you have quiet periods. That is the best time to put your head down and produce as much work as you can. Things always pick up and seem to come in numbers when they do.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I think what sets my work apart is it’s known for my expressive use of color and bold, dynamic design. My work spans plein air landscapes, figurative painting, and vibrant portrayals of dogs and animals. I work in pastels, acrylics, and mixed media, capturing movement and emotion with energy and heart.
I mentioned my 2025 successes earlier, but I do have a long a resume. My story is a chapter in the newly released Slaying Orlando book.
My work is currently featured in the US Airways Club at Tampa International Airport. My paintings have also been exhibited internationally, including a piece at the American Embassy in Rome through the U.S. Department of State’s Art in Embassies Program in 2001. Notable highlights include Santa Fe Poppies gracing the cover of Tampa Bay Magazine (September–October 2002) and my painting Bella and Bentley was featured on the cover The New Barker magazine in Spring 2011.
My work has been exhibited in several prestigious national exhibitions, including Elements of Expression (New York, NY, 2013), the National Society of Casein and Acrylic Painters Exhibition (New York, NY, 2016), the International Society of Acrylic Painters Florida Exhibition (2017, Honorable Mention), the Pastel Society of America Exhibition (New York, NY, 2017), and Acrylic Painters USA (2018).
Over the past decades, my work has been selected as featured art for numerous Florida art festivals, including the Winter Park Autumn Art Festival in 2014. My art is collected by celebrities, and my lithographs have appeared on the television series Nip/Tuck as well as in the films American Dreamz and Rob Reiner’s Shock and Awe (2017).
Along with many of my licensing deals, my Bulldog Maggie was one of my best-selling prints featured in Hobby Lobby stores.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
That I have had so many jobs in my job. I’m busy building my teaching practice again and that I taught prisoners art for a year. They have seen my work for the past twenty plus years in stores and commercial building with my lithographs.
Pricing:
- original art
- prints on canvas
- prints on metal
- prints on paper
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.sallyevans.com
- Instagram: sallyevansfineart
- Facebook: contemporary art and pet portraits by Sally Evans
- Youtube: Sally Evans Fine Art
Image Credits
Rinot Halon Luxury Portrait Artist photographed my head shot.
