On her return as a Two Coats of Paint Resident Artist, we invited Sage Tucker-Ketcham to contribute an “Ideas & Influences” column. With roots reaching back fourteen generations in Vermont, Sage transforms daily walks into botanical compositions based on her memories of observed wildflowers and native vegetation. She is particularly interested in overlooked plants that she finds in unexpected places. Sage will be in residence from Sunday, January 4 through Friday, January 9, 2026. Please join us for an Open Studio on Wednesday, January 7, from 5–7 PM. More details are included below.
Please click here to contribute to the Two Coats of Paint year-end fund drive
Nature / I am aware that this is the only day that will ever be like this. I take in the lights and sounds all around me. Nature teaches me more about being human, about color, and about time than anything else. I witness the changes all around me, and then I return to the studio or my home, or even go to sleep. That interaction with nature is the only time that feels honest and personal – no one else has experienced it in the same way I have.
Foot People / The book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (1961), by writer and activist Jane Jacobs, changed my life. I found someone focused on people’s interactions with place and space, and the importance of who we are in an active environment. The concept of “foot people” made so much sense to me. I want to walk; I want to experience the world actively. I want to smell, look, and move along with people. I want to explore, discover, and witness humans and nature existing as one.
Physics and Plato / Everything is connected. Abstract theory and the real world coexist; matter and energy are at play. Plato’s philosophy uses a prism. Much like his ideas, it is layered and transcends our senses. Hidden colors and light appear, just as humans have layers of potential. If we can access that, our possibilities will become limitless.
Neuroscience / I was diagnosed at a young age with dyslexia, ADD, and auditory processing disorder (hearing dyslexia). Then, a couple of years ago, I learned I had a rare neurological disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth. I studied it up and down, went through many learning options, and what I realized as I got older is that these “disorders” allowed me to avoid clogging my brain with noise. Instead, I can focus my thoughts and interactions on what interests me. My brain is wired very differently than most people’s, and I relate to people and things that are not what they are supposed to be. I have learned creatively how to survive and even thrive.
John Cage / In my undergraduate studies, I learned about John Cage. He was exciting to me. Being among academics was challenging, but learning about people who make change and open creative possibilities was like a big hug. I no longer felt that “this is the way it is done” was as important; instead, “what other ways can this be done?” helped change my mindset. I stopped getting frustrated by my limitations and became inspired by those of others in showing that there is more than one way.
New York City / NYC holds everything in 14,600 acres. If you could fall in love with a place as you can with a person, I love NYC. It gives me everything I need: chaos, noise, structure, change, chance, light, dark, movement, human potential, human challenges. You can set out on foot and experience the world in one day. It is exciting, scary, and beautiful, and also affected by nature. It is vulnerable, strong, and confusing. It is a place that embodies who we are, where we came from, and where we are going.
Surrealism / Prompted by John Cage and Plato, I wonder what we are capable of, what is real, and how we know for a fact that what we see and feel is real. Surrealism allows for alternative ways of seeing and being; it’s a vocabulary outside of traditional jargon.
Walking / Walk, walk, walk. I walk every day. I discovered walking about thirteen years ago and have been hitting the paths since. It allows me time to embrace nature, take in the colors and the atmosphere, smell all the smells, and hear sounds hidden in pockets on paths, streets, or little mountains. It pushes me and helps me. With Charcot-Marie-Tooth, walking can be challenging and may become more limited as I age. Every day, I feel lucky I can walk. I am grateful for my legs and their willingness to help me see.
Shoulder Season / The best times of the year are the in-between times, when anything is possible. Shoulder season is when people are waiting for the actual thing to start, but it is already happening. Leaves are changing, light is changing, roots are embedding, things are coming and going.
UPCOMING Exhibitions:
“Into the Looking Glass,” Georgetown Arts & Cultural Center, 5 Main Street, Georgetown, CT. January 9–February 7, 2026.
“Before There Were Houses,” Champlain College, 163 S. Willard Street, Burlington, VT. February 20–March 27,2026.
Sage Tucker-Ketcham, Two Coats of Paint Artist Residency, 22-19 41st Avenue, 6th Floor, Studio #10, Long Island City, NY. January 4–9, 2026. Please join us for an Open Studio on Wednesday, January 4, 2026, from 5–7 PM. For more information, or to arrange a studio visit, please contact: STAFF@twocoatsofpaint.com. Please put “SAGE TUCKER-KETCHAM” in the subject line. Follow Sage on Instagram: @sagetuckerketcham and visit her website at www.sagetuckerketcham.com.
About the artist: Sage Tucker-Ketcham (b. 1978, Randolph, VT) has a BFA in Painting from Maine College of Art & Design and an MFA from Massachusetts College of Art and Design. Her paintings are included in numerous private collections internationally and abroad, and in several corporate collections, including those of Northfield Savings Bank, Vermont Community Foundation, National Life Group, The Hinds Loft, Delta Airlines, and Roundstone International, among others. Tucker-Ketcham’s work has been noted in the Boston Globe, the Burlington Free Press, the New York Times, Art New England, Art Scope, and Seven Days. She is an adjunct professor of drawing and painting at Champlain College in Burlington, and co-founder and co-director of ATM GALLERY in Shelburne, VT. She shows widely in New England.
Please click here to contribute to the Two Coats of Paint year-end fund drive
