Career counselors sometimes advise people to think back to what they loved doing as a child. Those early passions can give hints to lifelong strengths and proclivities.

That’s certainly the case for Sarah Hamlett, an artist and senior designer with Catherine French Design in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who recently debuted a collection of paintings and related accessories with Splashworks, a wall art and accessories company in High Point. The new collection of about 30 pieces features abstract color studies and saturated paintings of flora and fauna. Decor News Now met Hamlett and Splashworks owner Tom Van Dessel in the company’s gallery space to talk to them about their collaboration.

“I’ve been creating and drawing since I can remember,” Hamlett says. “At one time, I wanted to be an architect. For a while, I wanted to be a fashion designer. I would draw houses and draw people in outfits. … Both my parents were artists and they encouraged all of that. They’d let me do murals on the walls.”

Hamlett brings her artist’s eye to her work at Catherine French Design. Her bio on the firm’s website describes her this way: “A creator all of her life, Sarah is an artist herself and focuses her talent and vision into every part of her work. With a background in scenic painting, Sarah brings together beautiful, inspired spaces for each and every client.”

As part of her design work, Hamlett will sometimes create custom art for a client’s home, as does firm founder Cat French, whose also is an artist.

She recalls an unusual custom installation for a client who loves American abstract painter Mark Rothko. “He wanted a board in his home office where he could write things down with dry erase markers but something beautiful. So, I created a giant canvas and we had a carpenter frame it into the wall with wood and top it with a piece of glass. (The client) can write all over it during the day, erase it and always underneath is a beautiful piece of art.”

A collaboration is born

Hamlett’s interior design work first introduced her to Splashworks. She and French visited the company during a High Point x Design event and started using the company to turn original pieces the two designers had created digitally into wall art for the firm’s clients.

“I love Splashworks because it’s affordable art,” Hamlett says. “Original art is wonderful. It’s beautiful. But not everybody can afford an $8,000 original. This gives people a custom piece they can afford.”

Around Christmastime last year, Van Dessel recalls, “I said, ‘Sarah, I really like what I’ve seen coming through as commissioned pieces for your clients. Would you be interested in putting together a collection for us to show at (April High Point) Market?’”

Van Dessel was drawn to Hamlett’s skill and creativity with color. “You can see Sarah’s background as a designer (in her paintings),” he says. “She does a phenomenal job with color combinations and, to me, that’s a skill good designers have.”

She’d never shown her work in a gallery before but she and Van Dessel pulled paintings from her personal collection and she created a few new pieces to reproduce in time for market. The paintings and a clutch of pillows are still on display at Splashworks’ gallery space. You can see more of her work on Instagram (@sarah.e.hamlett).

Splashworks uses dye sublimation printing on a variety of fabrics, matching the style of the art to the material. Hamlett’s wall art is printed on the company’s Felix, a fabric with a soft, velvety hand that enhances the color saturation of her paintings.

Hamlett is accustomed to seeing her work in a client’s home but she acknowledges the thrill she got from attending an opening reception at Splashworks.

“It was so fun to stand back and watch everyone and hearing them say, ‘Oh, I love this.’ ‘Look at the lines on this.’ ‘Look at the colors on this one,’” she says.

“I just enjoy creating beautiful things, and I want to evoke a bit of emotion, not just have people see a painting covering space on a wall,” she continues. “Whether it’s color studies or florals, I just want someone to look at my painting and feel joyful.”