Sarah Randall at The Squatter’s Cottage, The Foundations, Portland
That Sarah Randall found time to lap up plein air site offerings during weekends at The Squatter’s Residency in 2025 and 2026 is testament to her focused work ethic. Not only an artist consistently exhibiting, but Sarah also works full time as the Gallery Services Coordinator at Orange Regional Gallery.
Dotted across the table of the studio room at The Squatter’s Cottage, Sarah’s paintings rest as divine little moments. They are quiet, visual testaments to the sheer joy of seeing the likes of a cabbage, feeling the intimacy of the cosy cottage bedroom or the quirky arrangement of things across the unique industrial-meets-rural Foundations site.
Her time at The Foundations has been an immersive rhythm of plein air painting under the open sky, refreshing quarry swims in blue lakes, cups of tea and dedicated studio time inside the cottage walls. Within a nano second it is clear she fits right in, bringing with her, her pre-prepared cardboard painting travel box ready to go out on excursion. It is no surprise that Sarah has residency life down pat for, she has spent time at many regional New South Wales artist residencies, including stints at the Tweed Regional Gallery’s Nancy Fairfax studio, Stuart Town’s Railway Hotel Ironbark residency, The Corridor Project and most recently being awarded a prestigious residency by the William Fletcher Foundation at Bundanon Trust this April 2026. Living and working in the regions, her reverence for the land and interest in presence within it anchors much of her work. She writes of human things in the landscape “nature has a persistent, soft resistance to defy our intentions”.
Always on the lookout to give back too, with generosity Sarah has led a series of plein air workshops through The Corridor Project and joined Rachel Ellis, Jaq Davies, Annabel Mason, Annie Joseph and Nic Mason in October 2025, for Draw Portland, led by Margaret Hogan helping plein air drawers experience The Foundations, Portland. She leaves behind at The Squatter’s Cottage a couple of little works that speak of this place to join the growing Collection of resident works.
Holding a Bachelor of Creative Arts from Wollongong, a Master of Fine Arts from RMIT, and a Graduate Certificate of Art History from the University of Melbourne her academic foundation has been enriched by a global perspective too, with past international residencies in Thailand and Vietnam and South Korea to Ireland.
Sarah’s exploration of human presence within the land is featured in the current group exhibition Rewritten Ground, at the Cowra Regional Art Gallery from 19 June to 26 July 2026.
Cowra Regional Art Gallery, Director, Cassandra Hard Lawrie in close consultation with Sarah herself is delivering this exhibition as part of the inaugural Forming Futures program, showcasing the work of Central West artists under 40 years of age. Sarah’s works is exhibited along with Gus Armstrong, Laura Baker, John Daly, Rachel Pinel, Joel Tonks and Kendelle Watts.
Text and images: Nicola Mason, Arts OutWest
Links:
Sarah’s Instagram
https://www.instagram.com/sarahrandallartist/?hl=en
Rewritten Ground at Cowra Regional Art Gallery
