February 2012 Artist Sandra Allik
Sandra Allik is a painter who loves color and light and is always working to find the right balance of the two. The landscapes in these windows were painted for the most part while she was living and working on an island in the Mediterranean. The brilliant colors and bright sunshine contrast with the more muted tones of her earlier paintings in New England. Primary colors suddenly fill her palette. Her first landscape ever (see photo) was started while on picnic in a small valley on the island. The valley is filled with almond trees. A legend says that the trees were planted by a Moor who fell in love with a Scandinavian princess and then brought her to the island, but she was melancholy and missed the snows of her native land. So he filled her landscape with almond blossoms.
The lemons in the still lifes were provided by a neighbor who took pity on Sandra's attempts to plant a lemon tree and he provided so many that she painted them.
Two landscapes are dated after leaving Spain but carry a similar color palette. They are from Newfoundland. All the works are oil on canvas.
The artist's paintings have been shown in exhibitions both here and abroad. Sandra Allik's studio is at 11 Miller Street in Somerville.