arts advocate

Growing up in Albury, I always had a pencil or brush in hand. During one phase, I drew only clowns. I painted my bedroom curtains in Ken Done brights. I could knit before I could read.

So becoming an artist wasn’t a choice. What I do is who I am.

These days—after a long, acclaimed career as a residential, commercial and retail interior designer whose Sydney home starred in a 10-page House and Garden feature called ‘Sarah Stamm’s Design Tricks’—that means I do what I love every day.

I’m the multi creative founder, art director and principal artist of global-but-local Australian business Salisbury and Maude. I’m an artistic thought leader, guest speaker and podcast guest many times over, who has studied metal work, woodwork, printmaking, ceramics, photography, drawing, graphic design and textiles (my university major.)

I’m an artist of repute who handmakes one-off beautiful treasures from Australian merino wool, international fabrics and faux botanicals. My pieces are bought by a global audience, featured in national magazines and newspapers (Home Beautiful, Country Style, the Australian Women’s Weekly, The Australian Newspaper) and collected by actors, influencers and TV lifestyle hosts.

I don’t take commissions. No orders. No website. No need—I make just one thing at a time, using my original designs and patterns. When it’s done, I post images to social media and the piece finds a new home in minutes.

Being coveted by collectors is a lovely place to be, eight years after I started making quilts for friends from inherited fabric. I work seasonally—Scottish tartan quilts in winter, wreaths at Christmas—and in between I make with complete creative freedom; what I want, when I want and how I want, once I dream it up.

My ability to create by my own hand means more because I nearly lost it at age 22. A bike courier plowed into me, and my drawing hand and interior design career nearly died. Surgeons saved both, yet the challenge of permanent disability—a 20 per cent loss of strength—remains.

Things I love: classic style, flat shoes, life in a glorious country Victorian town, orchestral music, my husband and two adult children. The memory of my Beechworth homewares shop and design studio I ran for eight years, moving through life’s phases with integrity, keeping customers happy.

I learned the power of exemplary service during my years in corporate services at David Jones—I worked by day, studied by night! Shopping for major corporate customers and the influential, rich and famous taught me to deliver on promises.

I am honoured to work with Albury City Council as a selected member of the Albury PumpHouse Think Tank in 2023, our very own nurturing, empowering and collaborative space for artists of our region to flourish.

Yes, I can still design you a house. But I’d rather make you a smaller, more personal work of art that you can treasure forever.

To view my work and enjoy stories of my rural life outside of Beechworth, overlooking the Victorian Alps, I welcome you to follow my Instagram/ Facebook account. The best way to contact me is to send me a Direct Message (DM)/ Private Message (PM) via my social media accounts.