Diversions LA

Artist Eric Sanders has always painted, but spent a three-decade hiatus from his art as he focused on an entrepreneurial career. But 6 years ago, the Manhattan Beach-based artist returned to his art full-time, working in both traditional mediums and digital.

His devotion to art-making is rivaled only by his involvement in philanthropy, through the Sanders Family Foundation, which he founded in 2015. The non-profit supports organizations such as the Global Livingston Institute, Groundswell International, Nuru International, and World Neighbors, among others.

“I think it’s noteworthy that this is a philanthropic journey for me as well as an artistic or creative one,” he relates. “All of the proceeds I make are directed to my private foundation which is focused on sustainable change in developing countries.”

The goal: maximum impact to support these organizations while following his muse, which he says is inspired by 20^th century artists from Basquiat to Picasso. While his most current work marks a shift from the abstract to the figurative, regardless of form or the medium he uses to create it, his work is all about his perception of and relationship to the world around him visually.

“I’m enjoying exploring different styles and learning about what I enjoy painting; what I’m naturally more skilled at, and how those two attributes intersect,” he says. “Since my show at the end of September 2019, I have been returning to figurative work because my show was very much focused on pure abstract painting. Because I am now jumping alternately between abstract and figurative, one could make the argument that it’s both a departure and an outgrowth of past work,” Sanders attests.

His work is characteristically bold and visceral whether figurative or abstract. He relates that he is not quite sure how he achieves this, only that “I just paint what I like and it’s up to the viewer to determine how it affects them. That said, I am heavily influenced by a lot of artists and that their genius may be being channeled through me.”  

Sanders starts constructing and conceptualizing his work from one of three inspiration points. “First, I often start creating an abstract painting with just one color or a combination of two or three of them in mind, and just go with the flow of where the painting takes me. Second, I start with a particular style of an artist I am inspired by and try, and create my own image but incorporate their style. And third, I’m exploring by using various techniques, such as assemblage, encaustic, painting on digital images, silk screen prints; or a specific material e.g. leather scraps, painting patterns with mesh, using tape for masking, using templates for masking, using dyes or alcohol inks,” among other mediums.

When it comes to his rich and varied palette, he has one answer only for his choices: “I try to be deliberate about not being a ‘one color’ artist and keep looking for a different color to work with that I haven’t used in a while.” As to whether a given piece will be abstract vs. figurative, he explains that the decision is very much driven by “what I’m in the mood for that day when I go to paint.”

Sanders prefers to paint in oil, despite the long time required to create in this medium. “I usually work on one image at a time, but for my recent show, I worked on as many as a dozen or more at a time and was using a lot more acrylic than previously to speed up drying and processing time. I prefer to paint in oil because the colors are more vivid to my eye, but the drying time and having to use turpenoids to clean brushes and palette knives is a drag,” he admits.

Definitely not a drag: witnessing Sanders’ passion for art and committment to paying that passion forward and helping others.

• Genie Davis; photos provided by artist