About Sandra Marshall

 

Early on, Sandra showed a talent and love for art. A New York native, Sandra attributes her passion for art, and her thirst for learning, to childhood trips into New York City to visit the museums, and galleries.

Sandra's Mom, an accomplished wildlife photographer and gardener, who always had an eye for composition, was a big influence in Sandra's love for nature. She was amazed watching and helping in the garden and developed a true appreciation for how things grow. Her father was a high school science teacher which helped foster her love for teaching others. Sandra studied color, design, drawing and painting in a private art institute with Jean Fitzhenry. She became accomplished in a variety of media including oils, pastels, acrylic and mixed media and later moved to Phoenix, Arizona. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in early childhood education with an emphasis in fine art/painting from Arizona State University.  

Sandra worked as a portrait painter and mural artist after college. She also worked as an art director for 3-Ball Productions in Hollywood in addition to painting backdrops for the Disney Channel and working on set designs. Before marrying and starting a family back in the states, Sandra studied art in Italy, which led to co-creating an inventive company in Italy called “Porta a Porta”, which means door to door in Italian. Sandra would bring aspiring artists from the United States to Italy, and while under her instruction, her students would learn to paint as they were surrounded by the stunning Tuscan Hillsides. At this time Sandra started selling her collection of contemporary botanical paintings to go along with her travels. 

After meeting her husband Greg at the Phoenix Art Museum, getting married and having two children, Sandra began her passion for food art when her five year old daughter declared she would no longer eat meat. Sandra started exploring with fruits and vegetables to make cooking more fun, and was hooked by the colors of nature. She would write stories about her dinnertime art pieces so her children would see the magic in produce. Her art pieces from food became a natural addition to her other mediums and twelve years later, her family became plant based eaters from the influence of their daughter.

Sandra opened a brick and mortar studio in Phoenix, Arizona in 2014 called Be...An Artist Studio, which welcomed aspiring artists to come and learn many different types of art. Paint nights, sculpting nights, comedy nights, live entertainment and eventually a cooking school, all came together and helped to bring the community creating together. She was featured on numerous television networks displaying her passions for the arts. In the meantime, Sandra continued writing stories about her food art at night as a way to relax after a busy day at the studio. She began posting her creations on social media which led to her first published book One Hot Night at the Veggie Bar (a collection of fun, hot and steamy adventures in food art with punny stories to go along with her food art creations).

 In 2019, Sandra closed her studio to expand and bring art to more people. This also gave her more time to create and explore her own art, including her food art.  Sandra was now was painting with thousands of people at her large Be...An Artist events, such as the National Football League's owners meeting in 2019 where she painted with the NFL owners and their families. Sandra continued hosting large painting events, and she bought two tiny homes which were converted into tiny mobile art studios. Sandra and her Be...An Artist crew were hosting events until the pandemic started, and it was then when she shifted her energy and passion to Zoom painting events. Sandra continues to do to this to this day along with her food art. She published her second food art book, The Razzle Berry Wackadoodle Garden in 2021. It is a book of discovery all made from healthy fruits and vegetables.

Along with her new book, Sandra now has her own line of paints and paint boxes that she ships all over the United States to paint with people on Zoom. Sandra is now working with schools bringing the joy of creating to children and their families with her 'Success For All' painting programs that are supported by the sales of her food art books and from grants given to the schools. Last year alone, she painted with thousands of children and their families over Zoom. 

Sandra has used her combination of color mastery, painting, sculpting, passion for nature and healthy eating, and teaching skills to design a career that has been immensely satisfying for both herself and her students. She loves the journey of being an artist and hopes she could share the joy creating brings with as many people as possible.