Biography
Toby Sandland is a contemporary painter who, working with oils, draws inspiration from the American landscape: open space, distant mountains, trees, meadows, rivers and farmland. Growing up in the mountains, road trips through the American landscape, and his mother’s artistic talent comprise the young artist’s earliest artistic influences. While still in high school, Sandland received national recognition when his first attempt at oil painting captured the “Grand Prize” under the prestigious annual competition for young artists sponsored by the United States Congress. To honor the winning entry, for the ensuing year his painting was displayed at the White House. Sandland is a graduate of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. There, his mentors Ray Turner and the late Richard Bunkall found the development of his talent significant enough to encourage him to pursue painting as his life’s passion. Sandland’s landscapes are not picture postcards but disciplined works that convey a sense of serenity. Permitting no extraneous elements, his paintings invite the viewer to slow down, to take the time to understand and to appreciate each composition as a unified artistic transformation. When asked why he became an artist, Sandland replies, “In a way, I feel I have no choice, this is what I always been best at, so it’s a decision I made back in high school. It’s a privilege to be able to observe and interpret.” "I love the commitment,” says Sandland. “The abandonment of what you think you know in order to achieve unexpected results. I love the idea that I have not done my best painting yet.” Numerous private collectors hold Sandland paintings. Among them: the Black Bird Inn in Napa, CA; the Mattel Corporate Art Collection; and the individual collections of Frank Di Rocco and Neil Diamond. His works have appeared in many solo and group exhibitions; and have been featured several times in Southwest Art magazine.
