IRON MOUNTAIN, Mich. (WZMQ) The Sandstone Terrace featured local self-taught artist Sara Westcott, known for her pen-&-ink and charcoal work. Her black-and-white designs, influenced by her partial color-blindness, offer a unique perspective that has made her a standout in the local art scene.
Westcott’s journey began in high school, but she only recently started sharing her work publicly. “I’ve been doing art since high school, but I haven’t really shared it until the past year or two. I’ve been doing competitions and art shows, and I even did the wing mural over at Kenneth James Salon,” she said.
Recently, she participated in Northern Michigan University’s North of the 45th artist competition. “One of my pieces, Kitch-iti-Kipi, did really well. I got a lot of compliments on it, and it was just a fun experience to be in a gallery,” Westcott shared.
Her work features iconic Upper Peninsula sites like Pictured Rocks, the Mackinac Bridge, the Ore Dock, and Kitch-iti-Kipi, as well as local scenes from around her hometown of Norway-Vulcan, such as Strawberry Lake Park and the Vulcan Power Dam. She values the connections made within the art community. “You get to meet all different types of people. I met another local artist at North of the 45th, and we finally said hi to each other. It’s just great,” she noted.
Westcott plans to expand her horizons by getting involved with the Bonifas Art Center in Escanaba and considers joining Iron Mountain’s juried art show next year. “I know the Bonifas has one in the fall here that I may enter, Northern Exposure XXX,” she mentioned.
Her work remains exclusively black-and-white due to her color-blindness. “It’s all black-and-white. I love the contrast between black and white. Fun fact: I’m most comfortable with black and white because I’m slightly colorblind. Blue and green I can’t tell apart,” she explained.
To find more of her work, you can follow her on social media by visiting:
