Sarah Keer-Keer   Biography

As a child I spent family holidays with my face

pressed up to rock pools: watching the life

encapsulated there. I decided to become a

marine biologist. As a teenager, pushed by a

school with no passion for creativity, I worked

hard passing exam after exam, in order to fulfil

my ambition of a place to study marine biology.

Meanwhile, my school made it as difficult as

possible for me to study art as well as my science

subjects. Apparently, real scientists didn’t do art.

During my degree and I spent as much time as

possible at sea. My romantic ideas of the sea,

matured into a respect and fascination for the

power of the ocean and the people and vessels

that could survive it and work with it. I graduated

from rock pools to industrial-sized research

vessels, core sampling and hauling-in nets.

Ultimately, I moved away from marine biology as

I realised that almost no-one studied marine

creatures alive: they were hauled in, killed,

counted, and bottled. I moved to work at the

Roslin Insititute, Scotland and began my duel

adult career of scientist and artist 

The thing that most inspires me about Sarah K-K’s work is her lack of fear. Those brilliant

colour combinations are not the choice of someone filled with self-doubt. She gets on and

has a go, producing bold and striking images. I am particularly drawn to her landscapes,

her paring away of details, leaving just an arrangement of colourful, elemental,

16 years later, in 2009, I spent a week painting at Port Seton harbour with a group of artists.

The working harbour captivated me: grimy vessels, stench of old nets. I was right back. I

worked sitting in front of the boats, men and nets, and worked quickly, trying to capture the

shape and feel of the place. I produced many sketches, and a series of paintings, which are

sold now. But the sketches I still have are as immediate to me as they were when I made

them.