https://www.sararieger.com/about daily 0.75 2025-05-29 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/cfa12d4f-f55e-49b3-ad5f-87bfa83502b4/profile+photo.jpg About I am an artist and educator in Iowa. I received my BFA in Drawing & Painting from Iowa State University, and my MFA in Book Arts through the University of Iowa Center for the Book. My artists’ books, paintings, and handmade prints use mixed media, collage, letterpress and hand printing techniques to combine text and imagery. My work explores symbolism--how we create new symbols and how old symbols transform over time or in new contexts. My artistic process involves using elements of chance to create work that explores how we create meaning and narrative. https://www.sararieger.com/contact daily 0.75 2023-03-21 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/380e9e9f-1428-45f2-b93c-76e21c6bd994/studio+circle.jpg Contact https://www.sararieger.com/leah daily 0.75 2025-07-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654886989083-BZNHNFYVT32X0IHV8TUL/leah+cover.jpg Leah https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654886985279-T7DB3JX6INDOXHBIHG1C/2.jpg Leah https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654886985639-RXL1RQMBD0QI6YGDPF4V/5.jpg Leah https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654886990991-VM1IUX7T1ZHOQSUQEMUQ/7.jpg Leah https://www.sararieger.com/mixed-media daily 0.75 2026-01-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1b785a9e-64d2-4552-9513-c8fa45777cbd/sinking+by+the+bow.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Sinking by the Bow at Midnight Oil on wood panel. Oak frame. 30x36” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/3619d24a-4b02-4261-8b1b-fbc686586bc6/Last+time+Here.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out This is my last time here Oil on canvas. 36 x 36” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/de318970-75d0-4d19-bffa-4bf3f63e1e97/real+human+women+smaller.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Real Human Women: Night of Peril 2—SOLD Acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media on Arches 300# watercolor paper. Alder frame. 22 x 29” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/9244204b-bd2e-4bfc-9fc8-66a3ce7c0b55/Joann+heart+desires171.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Jo Ann—Heart Desires Acrylic, collage, resin on board. 6 x 8” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/c9ccb8dd-2364-4463-a4cb-0ef94d118802/right+lung+left+lung090.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Right Lung, Left Lung Acrylic, print transfer, mixed media, collage. 8x8”. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/a6224db3-bafa-4e43-81bd-0f61b2d1b5e1/organs+of+the+chest.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Organs of the Chest and Abdomen Acrylic, watercolor, and transfer print on watercolor paper. Poplar frame. 13 x 21”. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/a7935337-db5e-4e7a-bd7d-a2e7aaba4bf2/we+feel+only+pain+cropped.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out We Feel Only Pain—SOLD Acrylic, paper, acetate, and resin on wood. 8 x 8” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/88e3fbb7-7bba-42b4-ae62-775a8d8d7dfe/the+devil+cropped.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out The Devil—SOLD Acrylic, paper, acetate, and resin on wood. 8 x 8” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/71e70a21-67d3-4b55-9349-86a031d34a12/too+bad+cropped.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Too Bad—SOLD Acrylic, screen print, paper, acetate, and resin on wood. 8 x 8” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/5ad770d5-22af-41e3-9022-19474d40f733/pretty+world+cropped.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Pretty World—SOLD Acrylic, paper, acetate, and resin on wood. 8 x 8” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/3b9285fa-5fc5-4208-9f4e-54937c68e039/IMG_1125.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out How to Pick a Perfect Watermelon—SOLD Acrylic and paper on 300# Arches paper. 22 x 22” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/5c9e3b07-798e-49a5-ba83-b11cc5e10a32/Rieger_Sara_Bubblegum%2C+Pg.+15.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Bubblegum page 15 Oil on wood panel. Pine frame. 24 x 36”. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/7d0bb6cf-85e4-4daf-ad9e-ec3f508d0c39/Rieger_Sara_Fabuloso.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Fabuloso Oil, acrylic, collage, resin on wood panel. Pine frame. 36 x 40” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/052b6d56-1247-47e2-bd6d-9b3f15b1e019/Game+Over.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1ee6a573-d162-4f78-bb09-21cd50e9032b/8BAC3F7B-9CC5-4436-8C14-2B42ECAD8AA1.jpeg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Illuminati Shoot-out 15x22” Acrylic, watercolor, ball-point pen on 300# watercolor paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/77252e4d-d43a-4112-b5e2-9a56bb0817f5/5D9EB3B5-93EF-4C0B-9785-B2292E88FE7D.jpeg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Crystallography 18x22” Acrylic, xylene transfer on 300# watercolor paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/72fe7ccd-9be2-411b-abf8-3f89ad9a52fb/A058F4DD-8F04-4B16-8C09-32D41D8C0EBB.jpeg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Knock, Knock 15x22” Acrylic, watercolor, xylene transfer on 300# watercolor paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/d9c12684-a7ff-4561-b2e1-21374eb39136/9651EA34-AE64-4CEF-BCF2-55B660088918.jpeg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out And Other Exciting Stories—SOLD 21x28” Acrylic, watercolor, xylene transfer, ball-point pen on 300# watercolor paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/46116889-467f-47e6-a75f-0022d4ebb783/590A4F68-8432-4AD8-B669-D521607DF00D.jpeg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Hand Eye Coordination 15x22” Acrylic, watercolor, ball-point pen on 300# watercolor paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/bda9c7a1-085a-4902-9d37-b92c96b9f4e0/A54CF5F5-56AB-47AF-8227-CEE0BAFC9E95.jpeg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out War of the Worlds—SOLD 15x22” Acrylic, watercolor, xylene transfer, ball-point pen on 300# watercolor paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/9a06e0d5-8db8-4407-88b3-ff92f86b78df/Vulture+small+jpeg.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Vulture—SOLD 24x24” Acrylic, watercolor, transfer on wood panel. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/e4eeaa2d-2ccb-46cb-9cb0-56760de854ba/1C85E5D4-2686-470F-AC4E-821B2F6FCB52.jpeg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Flower Jo Ann—SOLD 21x28” Acrylic, texture collage on 300# watercolor paper. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/41fbf051-c52a-49ba-aebc-65135ebfa685/Calling+in+the+backup+small+jpg.jpg Mixed Media Work - Make it stand out Calling in the Backup—SOLD 24x24” Acrylic, collage, transfer on wood panel. https://www.sararieger.com/deer-in-headlights daily 0.75 2025-07-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654885234920-VZXTTTOWW503F01RY9IE/deer+cover.jpg Deer in Headlights https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654885233627-V130J8OE9IGBAMRRM6Z1/deer+page+2.jpg Deer in Headlights https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654885238150-Y6UUQCL50VE5RGEJ3018/deer+page.jpg Deer in Headlights https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654885472298-LBRIEZ1RQNOUKWIW01RF/deer+spread.jpg Deer in Headlights https://www.sararieger.com/messagesfromthemeta daily 0.75 2025-07-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654880715529-J2AL9S6CLQ82ZM5ZOSKX/meta+hardback+book.jpg Messages from the Meta Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654880718190-G4C3OI0PKB50KKMZCB4B/meta+page+3.jpg Messages from the Meta Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654880714428-F2FG54EC479LYX3TRGL0/meta+page+2.jpg Messages from the Meta Gallery https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654880719441-OVJOU0MLHNUTJWQELLRE/meta+page.jpg Messages from the Meta Gallery https://www.sararieger.com/artistbooks daily 1.0 2022-12-05 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1670255971028-JNILMMYG9MR2BV79OV2O/cover+final+image.jpg Artist Books - Messages from the Meta (Paperback) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654879878159-X2OZU4J6XI1QOJ1YO5FN/meta+hardback+book.jpg Artist Books - Messages from the Meta (Letterpress, Hardback) https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654877957704-HKK4AEX9AV7DT2Z3NSWO/deer+cover.jpg Artist Books - Deer in Headlights https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654879582129-SXUZQXK44DYMJE8YHTRI/bubblegum+cover.jpg Artist Books - Bubblegum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654878016903-PF4SSQ59VXZ4GMDF8AFC/leah+cover.jpg Artist Books - Leah https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654878053032-27XY7NUPQN7BJHRHXAQW/Have+you+Ever+Cover.jpg Artist Books - Have You Ever https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654889232645-X7ERGU6HTLMYIJJ64LSP/receipt+cover.jpg Artist Books - Receipts https://www.sararieger.com/bubblegum daily 0.75 2025-07-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654886375840-Z7HBQ3GWJMU64F1BS7WG/bubblegum+cover.jpg Bubblegum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654886379247-19Y0B79ZEUT8V7SFGVN1/bubblegum+last+page.jpg Bubblegum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654886384376-B63YNIF2URCSIP4HCGGF/bubblegum+page+1.jpg Bubblegum https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654886384833-Y0HBV2ZKE7UJ5DKUKV5Y/bubblegum+page+2.jpg Bubblegum https://www.sararieger.com/have-you-ever daily 0.75 2025-07-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654888016630-KKPP27W1J5ZI2UP12TD4/Have+you+Ever+Cover.jpg Have You Ever? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654888019659-AG523J9KSD590XGB7JQ4/Have+you+ever+table+of+contents.jpg Have You Ever? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654888021755-XLQP6JQINYRNWVONP75S/have+youe+ver+page.jpg Have You Ever? https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1654888201538-NTOGN2WMK0UV0VO2RINO/chapter+19.jpg Have You Ever? https://www.sararieger.com/receipts daily 0.75 2025-07-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1655414878541-ZZU7RN6IM0UDBO4WXEDP/receipt+cover.jpg Receipts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1655414882397-LSNBZQSS5U4CW5LB3VHP/receipt+spread+2.jpg Receipts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1655414888574-2ZUW5WS3BTKU2DXH780A/receipt+spread+3.jpg Receipts https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/1655414891980-0FFEWW2EJVG6L3Y5GAB3/receipts+page.jpg Receipts https://www.sararieger.com/meta-video daily 0.75 2025-07-22 https://www.sararieger.com/messages-from-the-meta-paperback daily 0.75 2023-09-11 https://www.sararieger.com/fabuloso daily 0.75 2025-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/ed6ffb19-f0f6-4664-aef3-50a40b4ea034/Rieger_Sara_Fabuloso.jpg Fabuloso - Fabuloso Oil, acrylic, collage, resin on wood panel. Pine frame. 36 x 40” This piece is a playful combination of unconnected imagery to see what new meaning they create together. We have an image borrowed from a 1980’s comic—“Larry told me all about you.” In the original context, this woman is a threat to the love life of the female protagonist. Does Larry love this blonde baddie more than the heroine? In the lower right we have two man-faced cats in a stand-off. This image is the “Kilkenny cats”, a political cartoon depicting tensions between different factions in 1840’s Ireland. In the upper left, we have the colorful and bubbly logo for the multi-purpose cleaner Fabuloso. When all are combined, what new story is suggested here? I would love to hear your thoughts. My first interpretation sees a larger than life, beautiful, and remote goddess looking down upon two men fighting for her attention. She knows all about them and they are uncertain they can gain her affection. I love the irony of this. Stereotypically, women are shown fighting for a man’s attention and aren’t tiffs between women often described as “cat fights”? This flip of a common trope is Fabuloso in my opinion. https://www.sararieger.com/sinking-by-the-bow daily 0.75 2025-07-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/27900d77-7b0c-4d98-a012-0e85e795d2ff/sinking+by+the+bow.jpg Sinking by the Bow - Sinking by the Bow at Midnight Oil on wood panel. Oak frame. 30x36” This oil painting is about our current moment and the existential threat to our planet caused by climate change. The oligarchy and the billionaire elites are represented here, both male and female, in the Queen of hearts card and the monocle that doubles as a symbol for the patriarchy and for capitalism—the very machine that won’t allow for long term planning or placing people over profits. We have a flower growing out of the continent of Antarctica, which is also experiencing thinning of its ozone layer—a double representation of the climate crisis’s impact on fragile ecosystems. There are flowers growing in Antarctica, where they should not be, but are thriving due to rising global temperatures. The increase in global temperature causing record numbers of heat waves, droughts, and wildfires is represented by a childhood villain: the angry sun. I first encountered this angry sun as a kid in Super Mario Bros. 3, level 2-3. It appears benign, until it chases you down and kills you. Recently, Canadian environmental activist and scientist David Suzuki was quoted as saying, “It’s too late…we have failed to shift the narrative and we are still caught up in the same legal, economic, and political systems...We’ve left out the foundation of our existence, which is nature, clean air, pure water, rich soil, food, and sunlight. That’s the foundation of the way we live and when we construct legal, economic, and political systems, they have to be built around protecting those very things, but they are not.” The lack of action and urgency for climate change strongly reminds me of the tragedy of the Titanic. The Titanic was touted as an unsinkable ship. In part, due to this fallacy, not enough lifeboats were provided for all passengers. After the collision with the iceberg, the full extent of the damage it had caused was not initially understood, leading to a slow response by the captain and crew. This constellation of hubris, lack of planning, and delayed response time led to the loss of 1500 lives. The words at the top of this painting were taken from the New York Times headline from April 15, 1912– NEW LINER TITANIC HITS AN ICEBERG: SINKING BY THE BOW AT MIDNIGHT; WOMEN PUT OFF IN LIFEBOATS; LAST WIRELESS AT 12:27 A.M. Let us hope the constellation of similar factors leading us straight to climate catastrophe can still be averted. Let us hope we can still course correct for our only home.. https://www.sararieger.com/new-page-1 daily 0.75 2025-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/7846bc7c-02c6-4cd5-ba61-530e24217bc9/Rieger_Sara_Bubblegum%2C+Pg.+15.jpg Bubblegum page 15 - Bubblegum page 15 Oil on wood panel. Pine frame. 24 x 36”. Bubblegum is taken straight out of my artist book of the same title. It is literally page fifteen in that work but magnified in oil paint. This painting can only be understood in the context of the written piece. The book is about the concept of the “missing stair”. The missing stair is a metaphor for an unsafe person that society ignores or even accommodates. One benign example is a bad boss, like Michael Scott in the show “The Office.”. A darker example would be a violent, aggressive, or predatory man in the family that everyone tiptoes around, telling the kids, “Don’t bother grandpa when he’s drinking in the garage.” Or “Don’t sit on uncle’s lap.” The stair metaphor is referencing the fact that rather than deal with that empty space/problematic person’’s behaviors to protect the innocent, instead we tell potential victims to “jump around” the problem. Therefore, when they get hurt it’s their own fault. They should’ve known better than to be alone with them, take that quiet route home, or wear that outfit. The question that is asked on the page directly before is “Should we do something to stop them?” and the answer on page 15 is a resounding, “No, my sweet bubblegum. You jump, jump, jump.” https://www.sararieger.com/handeyecoordination daily 0.75 2025-07-25 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/0ed762fd-5a1d-4c51-a628-3c90439a44fd/8A294A02-BFF1-4E49-B73E-5D881E35723A.JPG Hand Eye Coordination - Hand Eye Coordination Acrylic, watercolor, ball-point pen on watercolor paper. 11x20”. Hand Eye Coordination” borrows imagery from vastly different sources. On the right, we have an image that depicts an esoteric guide to palm-reading, the practice of interpreting the lines, mounds, and patterns in a person's hand to gain insight into their character and path in life. On the left, we have a diagram of the human brain taken from a vintage medical textbook. This could be read as a clash between science and spirituality—as so many believe that the two don’t mix and never should. However, what is life but a constant coordination between observations, facts, and beliefs? What is science but the attempt to unravel the mysterious and arcane? https://www.sararieger.com/illuminati-shootout daily 0.75 2025-07-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/bd6c2f02-c447-44fa-8e28-4365b24594f4/Rieger_Sara_acrylic+collage%2C+ball+point+pen.jpg Illuminati Shootout - Illuminati Shootout Acrylic, watercolor, transfer print, and ball-point pen on watercolor paper. Poplar frame. 13.5 x 21” The idea for Illuminati shoot-out started with the wonderful illustration of an eye, found in a vintage medical text. The Illuminati, a secret group of individuals that control the world with some kind of dark power, is the grand-daddy of all conspiracy theories—going all the way back to the 1500s! The idea of the Illuminati is so pervasive it permeates our pop culture from the Simpsons to Beyonce. I started to think about how, to a really paranoid person, anything evil—from a tornado, to a politician’s heart attack, to your bank overdraft fee—could be attributed to this all-powerful, everywhere-at-once cabal. How do you fight that? It’s action movie crazy! Hence, this artwork, featuring a 1980s style hero with our wilting blonde in need of protection. How is he going to defeat the flying mystical eyes of the Illuminati? With guns and machismo, of course! https://www.sararieger.com/crystallography daily 0.75 2025-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/2a951072-f66c-44d4-9bdb-c297de842b3e/IMG_4337.jpg Crystallography - Crystallography Acrylic, watercolor, transfer print, pen on watercolor paper. Poplar frame. 14.5 x 20.5” Not long ago, I purchased a vintage two book set about Crystallography from a thrift store. The book was full of beautiful and incomprehensible (to me) illustrations like this one. Crystallography is the science of crystalline solids and the structure of crystals—the arrangement of atoms and geometric lattices. In everyday life, our phones and complicated digital devices can be so small and so useful due to our understanding of crystallography. This is not to be confused with the idea of crystals as a spiritual tool for protection, growth, or intention setting. Although, if you really think about it, we can use our phone and its tiny crystals to aid in all the above. And to be fair, if you were to take your iPhone to the past and show it to some ancient person, it would appear like wizardry. And if they asked you how it works, 99% of us couldn’t explain it any better than trying to explain magic. And if you do happen to be a crystal scientist in a situation where an ancient person thinks your android phone is magic, don’t worry, you can always just tell them it runs on crystals. https://www.sararieger.com/flight-from-scandal daily 0.75 2025-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/39abcf79-dc1b-4def-9514-ceb8474d32d8/BBABEB85-43E7-48BD-A2D6-2062867293B5.JPG Flight from Scandal - Flight from Scandal Acrylic, watercolor, transfer print, ball-point pen on watercolor paper. Poplar frame. 20 x 28”. Because He Hated me was the title of a really questionable romance comic from the 1950’s that I spent a good year analyzing, remaking, and re-imagining. In the comic, the heroine meets and marries a man who was initially rejected by her sister. While he claims to fall in love with our heroine, after they marry, he begins to treat her pretty poorly because he can’t stop thinking she is going to turn out loose and wild—like he feels her sister was. It gets so bad, our heroine runs away from him—to her sister who is girl-bossing in Hollywood. Anyway, bro does not go to therapy, does not really acknowledge how messed up he was acting, but he sort of apologizes after chasing her across state lines, and we, the reader, are supposed to believe this couple will live happily ever after. But anyway, the cover of the comic was pretty classic, so I used it in this piece. It’s so white, basic, stereotypical, and narrow that even while it’s familiar, it’s uncomfortable too. If you didn’t get any of that from this piece, that’s okay. But if you have very warm and fuzzy feelings, allow me to temper and complicate them by pointing out the crows, typically harbingers of misfortune and death, flying above our lovers heads. https://www.sararieger.com/sky-door daily 0.75 2025-07-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/25e4470e-868e-4460-989f-86a89876e904/sky+door.jpg Sky Door - Sky Door Acrylic, transfer print on watercolor paper. Poplar frame. 13 x 21”. This image came from a really strange and vintage romance book. I didn’t read it (can you believe that?). But it looked like an illustrated children’s book in everything from size to amount of text. Maybe it was made for a certain subset of infantile woman, or maybe it’s a picture/poetry book that used to be more common. This image stood out to me, because while, presumably, these are our two lovers, this images implies an unbalanced dynamic: doctor and patient? father and daughter? master and maid? There is a firm male authority behind the door, and a tentative, insecure feminine energy on the other side. Has he been cultured from birth that he has the right to lead? And has she been cultured from birth to question herself? Likely. To me, it’s a dynamic I’ve had to overcome in my life. I’d like it to stay in the past. Behind the closed doors of history. Fading into the sunset. https://www.sararieger.com/organs-of-the-chest-and-abdomen daily 0.75 2025-07-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/997a7a1d-cf0d-4033-a104-02499c19d2fe/IMG_7903.JPG Organs of the Chest and Abdomen - Organs of the Chest and Abdomen Acrylic, watercolor, and transfer print on watercolor paper. Poplar frame. 13 x 21”. Would you like to know what she’s thinking behind that placid and serene smiling face? That’s a no-go, but she has offered up all the gory rest for your perusal. She has even provided an itemized list. After you leave, she will confide in her cats. https://www.sararieger.com/ambiguous-feelings daily 0.75 2025-07-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/d3fdff5e-aed6-4151-bfb1-782a2bb30a7e/cry+emoji.jpg Ambiguous Feelings - Ambiguous Feelings Acrylic and oil on canvas. Pine frame. 24 x 30”. This is an interesting tableau of characters. A fresh and virginal young woman in the drivers seat with a dubious expression, a ruddy faced man who has his interested eye on her. In the back, the man’s original companion, hiding her face behind her hat in chagrin? Disappointment? Embarrassment? Jealousy? Relief? This is part of a series of works where I used predictive text to determine the captions or the words in the speech bubble. Predictive text is that feature on your messaging app where it tries to guess the next word. I would input a starting word or phrase and use predictive text until I thought the sentence vibed with the work. In this case, I can no longer remember the original word I started with. I do remember being surprised when my phone offered an emoji as the “next word”. When I hit the emoji, the rest of the phrase disappeared, like the emoji had summed it up and was all that was needed to communicate. As for who is feeling the emoji in this work, I think both women are sharing the thought bubble and the emoji, but they may be experiencing different meanings for it. Meanings as ambiguous as the emoji itself, which once upon a time symbolized sad tears, but with time have taken on new meanings including laughing, frustration, or even just emotional overload. https://www.sararieger.com/fair-play daily 0.75 2025-07-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/0b40088e-c566-4434-9fa8-6d53eeb83b9f/laser+painting.jpg Fair Play - Fair Play Acrylic on wood watercolor paper mounted on wood canvas. Pine frame. 24 x 30”. This work features two panels from a comic that are taken out of their original context. I was struck by the woman’s expression in each. In the first, she’s totally downcast, utterly despairing. In the scene where she’s firing the laser on her companion, she is joyfully happy! I used the colors symbolically here. Although the man seems slightly regretful at whatever is causing her suffering on the surface, the vibrant red of his joy at her pain betrays him. Additionally the colors of her sadness are echoed in the laser itself—the tool for reclaiming her joy. Turnabout is fair play! https://www.sararieger.com/knowledge-of-good-evil daily 0.75 2025-07-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/24e5b0be-33ea-426e-8b4b-d8de081205c0/mind+control+garden+of+ededn.jpg Knowledge of Good & Evil - Knowledge of Good & Evil Acrylic, print transfer, mixed media, collage. 8x8” This piece is about the story of the garden of Eden. To summarize it goes like this: God created Adam, Adam is lonely, God creates Eve. Then God puts them both in a lush garden and tells them they can eat ANYTHING except from one tree; the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God tells them if they eat from that tree, they will die. A crafty snake, widely interpreted to be Satan, but never specified as such,, comes along one day and tells Eve she should try the forbidden tree fruit. If she does, she’ll be like God understanding good from evil. Eve does, and she shares the fruit with Adam, and immediately they are cast out of the garden, and they and all their children for the rest of time, are cursed with various pains and problems. Including original sin, the stain from birth, making hell the default eternal destination for every man, woman, and child. Adam and Eve did not die after eating the fruit, unless we assume that they were previously immortal--which is a big leap. What does happen is exactly what the serpent said: their eyes are opened. They understand good and evil. They become, in a way, god-like. So the serpent was telling the truth. This story has been used for centuries to blame women for humanity's downfall. I was told during my life (especially during times I was being abused by men in the church or questioning the status quo) that women were more susceptible to spiritual deception, and thus unfit to teach or lead without male oversight. After all, Eve was the one who listened to the serpent. But I’ve come to ask: who benefits from that reading of the story? It’s a handy question to ask frequently: who benefits? What if the real problem here is that women became gods before men did. Eve, seeking knowledge and divinity, reached for it and attained it first. A fact, that could upend the entire so-called “natural order”. Many men fear a strong, capable woman that sees clearly and doesn’t need them. In order to be worthy of that kind of god-like woman’s company they would have to be likeable. It’s easier, instead, to convince a woman that she was created to be subservient to man, is naturally intellectually and morally deficient, and then hammer it home with centuries of domination, abuse, and oppression. Questions to ask: "Who benefits from this?" How has this idea/text/law been used? By whom? To what ends? https://www.sararieger.com/the-magician-the-devil daily 0.75 2025-07-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/ac84d944-a7ca-4b59-a774-c7dc02efe1a1/devil+and+magician+low+res.jpg The Devil & the Magician - The Magician & the Devil Acrylic on 300# Arches watercolor paper. 11.5 x 20.5” Text from Astrology.com https://www.astrology.com/tarot/card-combinations/the-magician-and-the-devil The combination of The Magician and The Devil is a powerful one that speaks to the duality of our nature. The Magician represents the conscious mind, and The Devil represents the unconscious mind. When these two cards appear together in a reading, it is a sign that we need to reconcile these two aspects of ourselves to achieve balance and harmony. The combination of The Magician and The Devil is a reminder that we have the power to create our reality, but we need to be aware of the negative aspects of our nature that might be holding us back. We need to confront our fears, our addictions, and our materialistic desires if we are to achieve our spiritual goals. https://www.sararieger.com/right-lung-left-lung daily 0.75 2025-07-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/a4f6df09-5406-4bc0-94c6-cd10b0c95c5e/right+lung+left+lung090+smaller.jpg Right Lung, Left Lung - Right Lung, Left Lung Acrylic, print transfer, mixed media, collage. 8x8”. This work was inspired by a Victorian graphic illustrating the internal harm that can be caused by wearing a corset--a restrictive undergarment women have traditionally worn to shape the waist and body into an “hourglass” figure. The woman on the right not only has an unnaturally pinched waist, but in a further attempt to show her striving for societal beauty standards, her hair has been elaborately coiled and pinned into a fanciful arrangement. In contrast the woman on the left has a more natural body shape, with room for her internal organs and a much simpler up do. This image could be read as a contrast between a low and high maintenance woman, as the original image intended. A very straightforward and shallow message. But I have created identical stars in both their breasts and a beating heart between them depicting the same star. I view them as connected even while they pursue their lives in different manners--even while facing different directions. Their hands, just off canvas, might be grasped. The heart beats between them, saying, “We are the same, We are connected.” https://www.sararieger.com/realhumanwomen daily 0.75 2025-07-18 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/40f54083-2db3-448b-9c47-ed26c19a308d/real+human+women+smaller.jpg Real Human Women: Night of Peril 2 - Real Human Women: Night of Peril 2 Acrylic, watercolor, and mixed media on Arches 300# watercolor paper. Alder frame. 22 x 29” Are you worried about AI? I am. It’s a crazy, magical, wonderful tool, but it’s also a dangerous threat, not just to our culture or jobs, but to our very ability to think. New studies are coming out exposing how turning to AI to help us plan, brainstorm, write, or whatever--actually harms human cognitive abilities. AI can also allow us to outsource intimacy. We can use it as a friend to chat with, a coach, a therapist, or even, alarmingly, as a romantic partner. Although partner isn’t the right word. An AI boy/girlfriend can’t give you a hug, help do the dishes, or live your life with you. It can only seem close through constant, warm affirmations. Much like the women in this work--who are really aliens appearing as human women because that is what the man wants to find--AI chat bots are genies and mirrors, only showing you exactly what you want to see. What you manipulate them into showing you. And an AI girlfriend will never have expectations, gain weight, or have bad breath in the morning. This outsourcing of our art, culture, jobs, relationships, and thinking could be catastrophic. It’s like a deceptively beautiful bludgeon, hitting us over the head and making us, and everything else, stupider. Cheaper. Sloppy bullshit. But the more you consume AI processed thinking, the less you’ll even realize you’re missing anything. So maybe the poison is the cure. Or maybe, it’s not that deep. As the little bird says, “Don’t fret your pretty head.” https://www.sararieger.com/how-to-pick-a-perfect-watermelon daily 0.75 2025-07-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5a15c5710100270ad3cc9274/b4f8feb2-85f2-4073-8edf-297f04648778/IMG_1125.jpg How to Pick a Perfect Watermelon - How to Pick a Perfect Watermelon Acrylic and paper on 300# Arches paper. 22 x 22” In the original comic panel in the upper left, the woman unhappily washes dishes while thinking, “Huh, and here I was thinking sharing an apartment with Mary Lou and Phoebe would give me a chance to meet some boys and have some dates!” But I wondered how often, after meeting her perfect man, she would still be unhappily washing dishes, ruminating on domestic chores and also the very boy she picked. Between the roadmap in the background determining her direction, the overwhelming number of watermelons that seem the same on the outside, but are very different once cracked open, and the pressure to not only choose the best one, but then flawlessly present your life/family/home as “perfect”, I can imagine why she frowns. I also consider that when problems run deep and are uncomfortable or unfaceable, something as simple as a bland watermelon can trigger a disastrously black mood! Or maybe it’s just that she wants her watermelon, and her party, but not the dishes.