I think we all know the feeling. You pause for a moment looking back towards a house or an apartment, a surround of land or the last vestige of a city’s skyline. It is always a very particular place, a very precise moment. You take things in, a slow deep inhaling of memories, a desire to capture and hold close what had earlier captured and held you. You are moving now through a type of liminal space that has not been clearly sorted into a before or after, here or there, like the transitional marshes that soften where the worlds of land and waterways meet. It’s that seemingly slow final glance before you turn away. And then, just like that, you step across.
This is where I find myself as I retire from an almost twenty-year career here at Golden Artist Colors. During this time I have written just under forty articles for Just Paint, the first one published in 2004, and my last two in December of 2021. And while I have had the pleasure to work on innumerable projects, and play a multitude of roles, it is writing for Just Paint that I have loved most and felt closest to, besides the team of people that have made all of this possible. They are the ones that my last glance is focused on. As well as you – those readers who come back again and again with your curiosity and questions, your desires to expand what you know and what you can accomplish. It’s my conversations with all of you that constantly challenged me to learn more. What an honor to be a part of those creative journeys. And so, for this wonderful newsletter, for you and for everyone at GOLDEN, my deepest gratitude. What a precious world to look back on and take in.
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Beautiful. You will be missed. But I suspect we will see you again from time to time:)
Thank you Scott. I can’t imagine staying away. Hopefully at some point we will get back to the 10-year events and show openings…if not the occasional visit in the years to come.
Thank you Scott – and indeed, I plan to stay in touch. You are missed as well.
Thank you for all the work you’ve done for all us over the years. It’s been most appreciated.
You are very welcome. It has been a true pleasure to offer what I could.
Your first paragraph brings to mind Kenneth Clarks 1954 lecture, Moments of Vision. Though he describes a different experience, a kind of now-ness of now, your words of a different mind state seem just as evocative.
I do not know that piece by him but just ordered the book and looking forward to reading it. And I feel honored by any comparison and happy that paragraph resonated with you. It is such a particular sense – leaving something we have loved – but there is also taking in to carry with you.
Your knowledge has been such a priceless gift to me. Yes, you will be missed!
Thank you Roberta – and I will miss all the artists on the other side of whatever advice or insight I might be able to provide them. That was a true gift to me in return.
Best wishes and sincere thanks, from one of your many readers who hung on your every word, here and also on the disappeared AMIEN forum.
Thanks Cynthia. Oh, how I do miss AMIEN. That was a special community, with a back and forth that felt like conversations. And thank you for your wishes. I am touched by all the comments here, yours included.
What a wonderful legacy you leave, to be enjoyed by us all! Thank you so much for all you have done, and I hope there are wonderful adventures on the horizon.
Thank you Elizabeth. I am hoping to explore that horizon. Of course, the thing about horizons is that they are always ‘out there’, beckoning us ever forward. And what could be better than that promise of endless adventures?
I have thoroughly enjoyed your articles, you are such a smart, talented and sensitive writer and person. thank you for 20 years of sharing!
Thank you Patti. The sharing and conversations always invited me to stretch a little further, to listen a little more closely, to stay curious. It has been such a pleasure to offer whatever help I could.
Sad news for your followers, like me. I will miss your intelligent and thorough writing and answers! Have a wonderful retirement- should be a slam dunk to exercise your creative side!
Thank you Selena. Sometimes leading with assists is the true pleasure – at least for me. And of course you can only do that with someone else – thus I will deeply miss all of you on the receiving end. And besides, I was always too short to even reach the bottom of the net!
Dear Sarah – we had numerous conversations on my questions and you were always very generous with your time in answering them. Thankyou for all your help and for being you. Best wishes to you …G…
Thank you Geoffrey. At Golden the overriding value we strive for is to delight the customer. When I began I thought that was all about giving. By the time I left, I realized that in the giving there was always a giving back. That it was never simply telling, but conversing. So thank you as well for those opportunities.
Sarah- thank you for all our wonderful articles! I have enjoyed them throughout the years. and thank you for saying “good-bye”. You will be missed!!
Best luck going forward!
Kate Cahill
Thank you Kate. My job was such a pleasure, from beginning to end, so it always feels a bit like I really should be the one giving thanks to all of you, who provided me with so many opportunities to grow and learn. We will see what happens next – but regardless, it never hurts to have a little bit of luck in your pocket. Just in case.
These articles, over the years have been ‘go,den’ in every sense of the word.
Thank you all, for the time,care and attention you have provided in these articles, your research and development of your products. It’s why I remain a loyal customer for almost 30 years.
Wishing you the best in your future endeavours Sarah!
Thank you Catherine. Of course, all those things we do, and which we so love doing, are only possible because of the many loyal customers who would keep coming back year after year. We were always conscious of that, and ever grateful. So thank you as well.
wonderful to read your very visual article, best wishes on your journey!
Thank you Joanne. I have been so fortunate that all these years at Golden have felt like an intimate part of whatever journey awaits me.
I am really going to miss your articles and insights. Whenever I saw your byline, I knew the article would be excellent. I wish you the very best in your retirement.
Thank you Lori. As I said in my piece, the writing was always the thing I enjoyed most, and I’m so pleased they were received so warmly by you.
Hello Sarah
What a beautifully written piece ~ it’s almost poetry.
Very Best Wishes
Thank you Myrna. That is about as high of a compliment as I could ever ask for. So thank you as well. The many good wishes being sent my way will be warmly held.
Sarah, your articles will continue to help me for years to come. Thank you so much for this and for helping make Golden a “people” business. It’s people like you that keep me using your wonderful paints and mediums.
Thanks Martin. And without people like you, loyal and appreciative of what we can offer, we truly would not exist. At least not in the way that makes us special, and such a joy to have been a part of. And if the articles continue to be helpful, especially over a stretch of years….well, what more could I ever ask of them.
Thank you so much for all of your knowledge and help. I have learned so much from you and this space. Best of luck with whatever comes next!
Thank you Susan. Luck comes in handy, especially when what comes next is still a bit of a mystery – but then, I like mysteries! Am so glad what I could offer has been helpful. Be well.
Thank you Scott. I can’t imagine staying away. Hopefully at some point we will get back to the 10-year events and show openings…if not the occasional visit in the years to come.
Thank you Deborah. Those ASTM meetings built such a wonderful community amongst that handful of us who deeply cared about making art materials better through, what Mark Gottsegen so playfully called, those Awfully Slow and Tedious Methods. But the real reward, in many ways, was the chance to thoroughly enjoy each other’s company. We really were fortunate to have had those meetings for so many years. Best of luck to you as well.
Thank you Raymond. I DO feel ready. And the choice to retire wasn’t an easy one – leaving something you love never is. But yes, a new journey beckons, and I look forward to its unknown unfolding.
Dearest Sarah, I am not surprised to hear of you moving on, perhaps returning to your art full time?, but really sad to hear it too! I have LOVED every article you wrote, not only for its content (always interesting and pertinent) but perhaps more so for your style… you are a true writer (this good-bye letter is another proof of that!!) And style… well, is personal, and so no one will replace you, or can… and you will be missed.
Enjoy everything the New will most certainly bring…
Sabine
Dear Sabine – what a beautiful comment. Thank you, truly – it means a lot to me. Yes, the studio beckons, and I long to return to that dialog with looking, as well as writing, where there are a few things I have wanted to work on. But before any of that, I will be doing a year residency at a Zen Buddhist Monastery here in the States. It feels like a good time to pause and let the mind center and settle for a bit. To sit and gaze out over the marshlands that I mentioned in the letter. Not really plotting or planning a path. Just taking a breath. Looking.
Dear Sabine – what a beautiful comment. Thank you, truly – it means a lot to me. Yes, the studio beckons, and I long to return to that dialog with looking, as well as writing, where there are a few things I have wanted to work on. But before any of that, I will be doing a year residency at a Zen Buddhist Monastery here in the States. It feels like a good time to pause and let the mind center and settle for a bit. To sit and gaze out over the marshlands that I mentioned in the letter. Not really plotting or planning a path. Just taking a breath. Looking.
Thank you for your wonderful work, I hope you will continue in some way to contribute to the way we think about paint.
Hi Gary – Thank you. Well, I will certainly stay curious about paint and the issues we all face, especially as I am now on the other side of the fence, so to speak. So you never know.
You will be missed! Thank you so much for all your articles, as well as consultation with me over the years. I think I’ve been in contact with Golden, and you specifically, ever since I was in grad school for painting at Indiana University, and I think at least once I had the pleasure of meeting you personally at one of the CAA conferences.
I wish you well on all your future endeavors with this colorful stuff as you go beyond Golden.
Thanks Brian – as I mentioned in the piece, my dialogues with artists like you are a large part of what made my work so enjoyable and special over the years. It kept me on my toes, so to speak, because it always kept me reaching a little past my comfortable grasp. And so interesting that you were at Indiana! You must know – I imagine – that I taught there in the early 90s and that Greg Watson, who is the oil paint specialist on the Materials and Applications team, graduated from there as well. Such a curious connection. Anyway, my best wishes to you as well. Stay curious and keep painting.
Thank you Sarah, I have both enjoyed and benefited from your sharing of knowledge, for that I am grateful.
Oh! I’m so sad to hear you’re leaving Sarah, but I wish you a happy and fulfilling retirement (time to indulge your own creative interests?). You’ve always been such a clear voice of reason, considered thinking and thorough research, thank you very much for all of your contributions and your friendly support! Happy retirement!
Sarah, I’m sad you’re retiring for my and many other painters’ sake, but I want to congratulate you on decreasing your attachments and achieving more openness in your future! I want to thank you for all the articles you’ve written and the research you’ve conducted over the years.
Also I’m a big fan of your painting and I’m awaiting what’s next.
Thank you for sharing your knowledge Sarah! It’s amazing to take a glimpse of your insights during the years.