For Isle of Hope artist Sarah Labrot, creativity has always been a quiet undercurrent—one that took decades to reclaim. Though she now paints full time, her journey was anything but linear.

As a child who struggled with reading, Sarah leaned on visual language. “Images were all I had for a while,” she recalls. Her parents gave her a drafting table in elementary school, and she drew portraits when others took notes. But fearing judgment, she buried her artistic side to pursue what she thought looked “normal.” She became a successful copywriter in Chicago, crafting ads for global brands. It wasn’t until motherhood that she gave herself permission to reconnect with the artist she had left behind.

Today, Sarah is a mixed media artist known for her layered work—blending plaster, pastels, acrylics, and oils. Her subjects vary from evocative abstracts to intimate portraits, often commissioned by clients to preserve deeply personal memories. One of her favorite early pieces is a drawing of her daughter clutching a beloved stuffed animal. “Every time I look at it, I feel that moment again.”

Currently, she’s completing a commissioned portrait for Southern Charm’s Shep Rose of his dog Craig as a puppy. “I’ve scrapped multiple versions,” she says, “but I’m finally landing on the one that feels right.”

Inspired by artists like Kate Zambrano and encouraged by her creative circle in Savannah, Sarah is embracing her artistic identity fully. She volunteers weekly with children at Wesley Monumental and champions local talent.

“I hope people find in my art a fleeting feeling they thought they’d lost,” she says.

View Sarah's work at LabrotArt.com or on Instagram @labrot_art.