Q&A With Artist Sally Benedict

One of my most favorite artists is visiting us today, Sally King Benedict.  Yippiiiieeeee!



I orginally discovered some of Sally's paintings while browsing Angie Hranowsky's blog, and I was instantly smitten.  She and I exchanged some emails, mainly me gushing over her and embarrassing myself.  And I've shared her work here on the blog a couple of times. 

Isn't she insanely talented?  I could cover every wall in my house with her work.



Then randomly we met while at a party here in Charleston.  And I gushed some more about her greatness. 

{Photo taken at Charleston Fashion Week}

Oh, I forgot to mention that she's GORGEOUS, sweet, and insanely stylish... more on that in a little bit.  But I thought it would be fun to do a little Q&A.  Sally happily obliged.

LLL: We're catching a jet to Barcelona.  What do you want to do first?
Sally: Throw our bags at the hotel and stroll through Barri Gotic....the most beautiful area in the city, stop in a sidewalk cafe for a long, late lunch, then off to the Museu Picasso.

LLL: What is your greatest extravagance?
Sally: a wash and blow-out

LLL: What type of art do you collect for your  home?  Your own?
Sally: We do have a large collection of my own art, but its constantly changing and being moved around. I love finding modern, colorful pieces from the 50's/60's. We have a white house with white walls for the most part...so all the color lies in the art. I would sell everything in our house for 1 Helen Frankenthaler. At the moment, we are hunting for a large-scale photograph…dying for a sam kweskin or neil krug.

{Sally's downtown Charleston home.  In her words, "It's like living on the beach downtown".}

{Top image is a piece by Sally titled "Hot Pink", bottow left by Helen Frankenthaler titled "Flirt", and bottom right by Sam Kweskin, {Jour de Plage".}


LLL: From where do you draw your inspiration for your pieces?
Sally: Currently, anything that involves soaking up the sun.

{Photography by Slim Aarons}

LLL: What is your most memorable life moment?
Sally: My wedding of course! It was the most beautiful, wonderful, happy, loving day. I am reminded every morning when I see my sweet husband.



LLL: You clearly have a flair for fashion?  Do you have a style muse?
Sally: I definitely have a few style icons! My grandmother is no.1-she is always dressed impeccably. Brigitte Bardot, India Hicks, Erin Wasson, and my one and only man, Yves Saint Laurent.

LLL: From which stores/designers does most of your wardrobe come from?

Sally: Opening Ceremony, Barneys, Ann Mashburn, Hampden, J.Crew, Pearl, Capitol, Thrift and Vintage.

{Jil Sander Spring via Fash Eccentric}

LLL: Have a bucket list? What's on it?
Sally: Spend time in the south of france, work on a dude ranch, go to africa, publish a book.

LLL: Who would you most like to have purchase your art for their home?
Sally: Simon de Pury.


Thanks so much to Sally for visiting today.  The pieces that I've shared here today don't even begin to scratch the surface of her work.  So go check out her website.  And for those of you in the Charleston area, Sally is having an art show on Thursday, May 19th at Stems (fabulous local floral shop) downtown.  I'll be there, would *love* to see some of you there. 

I'll leave you with one of my favorite pieces by Sally, titled "Face It".  Appropriately titled because it rocks my face off.