A working journal by Sarah Z. Short from Driftway Studio in Rhode Island. I write about my artwork, the process, materials, and the slow, often meandering work of making things by hand.
Sketchbook Challenge: Typography
This month’s sketchbook challenge: 15 small abstracted typography collages made from letterpress scraps. Some marks and compositions worked, some were too chaotic, some too boring. Here’s what I learned.
Down Payment: A Collage Triptych Made from a Vintage Maine Bank Book
A deposit book, an imagined cabin by the sea, and a commission for a bank-turned-hotel. The story behind Down Payment, Mrs. Brown, and Portland.
One Book, Gray Gesso, 10 Collages Sketchbook Experiment
I realized I was reinventing challenges I'd already created for my Scraps class. How quickly I'd forgotten the work I'd already done.
So instead, I started over with something simpler: one book, gray gesso, and the question—what does minimalist composition actually feel like?
From Ledger to Abstraction: The Sterling Collection
It began with a Kentucky doctor’s ledger.
The story behind the collection for my show at Rart Gallerie in Evian-les-Bains, France. On view from September to December 2026.
© 2026, Sarah Z Short, Nineteen in January, 24” x 18”, Found paper and fabric and acrylic paint and ink