Artists of Note | Drew Sarka

Finding his art

Drew Sarka, Amarylis Solitaris, oil, 24 x 18.

This story was featured in the October 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine. Get the Southwest Art October 2015 print issue or digital download now–then subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss another story

Drew Sarka splits his time between medicine and art. Sarka earned his medical degree from the University of Florida College of Medicine and then moved to Denver for his residency at Saint Joseph Hospital in 1996. An appreciator of art since his youth growing up outside of New York City, Sarka comes from a family full of designers; his father, a landscape architect, gifted him his first set of paints while he was in medical school. “My father bought me an oil painting set and said it would be a good way for me to get away from studying,” Sarka says. “I think he was worried that I was spending too much time in the library.”

The demands of medical school and his residency left little time for art exploration, but in the early 2000s and free of school, he took workshops with Denver artists Betty Kirin and Kevin Weckbach as well as classes at the Art Students League of Denver. Now running his own family medical practice, Sarka finds time throughout the week to focus on his oil paintings of flowers, landscapes, figures, and his latest venture, horses. He hopes to continue to hone his craft and allow his love of texture and brushwork to evolve. “What I like, regardless of the subject, is its basic artistic quality, whether it’s a good design or a certain grouping of colors—that gets me excited about a lot of different subject matter,” he says. “[For me] medicine is, in a way, a calling, but art is a passion.” —Joe Kovack

Sarka’s work can be seen at www.drewsarkapaints.com.

Featured in the October 2015 issue of Southwest Art magazine–click below to purchase:
Southwest Art October 2015 print issue or digital download Or subscribe to Southwest Art and never miss a story