Self-taught painter, born 1969 in Lancashire, England. Living and working near St. Ives, Cornwall.
Stephanie Sandercock’s paintings hold a mysterious force, as if infused with the energy of the Cornish coastal rock she feels deeply connected to. Working with limestone and marble plaster, acrylic and ground rock, Sandercock creates surfaces that shimmer with depth and light. Natural muscovite mica, often incorporated into her work, catches the light beautifully – like a seam of quartz hidden in stone. Her process of layering and sanding down plaster and paint, reveals intricate patterns, while touches of 24ct gold add a sense of the sacred, reflecting both the mystery of nature and the fluidity of time.
“Creating art is the way I channel my inner emotions, it is my healer, my reason and my friend. I love the aliveness of the creative process – the way textures emerge, gold catches the light, and each piece reveals something unexpected. There’s a sense of magic, freedom and playfulness in the way it unfolds, like a mystery unravelling before my eyes. I enjoy having solo exhibitions at the Penwith creating a brand new body of work each time.”
2025 Exhibition – Wishes on the Wind – where gold illuminates sacred offerings and prayers find form.
Penwith Gallery, St. Ives, Cornwall. 26th September – 25th October 2025
At the heart of ‘Wishes on the Wind’ lies a sacred act of remembrance and hope – prayers whispered into the wind, tokens tied to ancient trees, and the golden thread that binds together love, loss, and healing. Inspired by the Cloutie Trees near the sacred wells at Madron, Sancreed and Carn Euny in Cornwall, this exhibition reflects the quiet ritual of leaving behind a piece of cloth or a whispered wish – offerings for those who have passed and affirmations for those still held close. Stephanie Sandercock’s new paintings embrace the cracks and imperfections of life, honouring them not as flaws, but as pathways to deeper understanding. Like the ancient Japanese art of Kintsugi – where broken pottery is mended with gold, the veins of 24ct gold running through each piece symbolize endurance and grace, illuminating the spaces where life has fractured. Muscovite mica is scattered like jewels in some of the work, shimmering like sunlight on the sacred well, or a glint of sunlight through weathered fabric. This interplay of light and shadow evokes a tender equilibrium – where openness meets quiet power and what has been broken is not only repaired but transformed.
St. Ives Times & Echo September 2025 – Sandercock at the Penwith Gallery
“The first thing one notices about Stephanie’s paintings is their physicality as art objects. How well-crafted they are which gives them a strong presence and their rich colour palette that shines out onto the eye. The show’s title ‘Wishes on the Wind’ refers to the power of ‘ritual directed thought and acts of sound’ to create desired effects in the world of human consciousness. The geological strata, as symbolic visual structure, has always been present compositionally in her images. In creating these works she demonstrates her own understanding of the time event that we are living through and sharing in. In these works, she signs the beginning of a new time cycle age of a higher consciousness for humankind. They are spiritual works in physical form, and in that, account for their strong effect on the viewer.” – John Charles Clark
St. Ives Times & Echo September 2024 – Sandercock at the Penwith Gallery
“I have watched Stephanie Sandercock’s painting grow ever stronger, both visually and in scale over many years. Of importance is her signature style that combines her ‘self-personality’ and visual techniques used to create them, which make them immediately recognisable. Her abstraction is very different from that of the earlier St. Ives Modernist School. Her influences being more geological and organic. There is an emphasis on high key ‘spiritual colours’, balanced with earth brown, greys, blacks and whites of nature’s palette. Her show ‘Imaginary Pathways’ is well hung giving her works space to breathe and demonstrates their strength and visual power. Stephanie is yet another of the wave of younger women who together have become a dominant force in the St. Ives Art Colony in recent years. Her work manages to remain earthed while reaching for the spiritual realms.” – John Charles Clark
Instagram – @stephanie_sandercock
