Sara Stewart: Biography

On completing a post-graduate diploma in Fine and Decorative Arts, I joined the Malcolm Innes Gallery in Chelsea, London. After two years I was made a Director after the Gallery moved to St. James's. I introduced and subsequently organised, contemporary exhibitions before leaving to set up my own company, Fine Art Commissions, in 1997. The agency was established largely because I was often asked by clients when I worked at Malcolm Innes, where they should get their son/wife/daughter painted. The questions were particularly random as more often than not, the client would be staring at a landscape of a Scottish Glen. There was clearly a gap in the market for people who wanted choice and the security of back up during a commission.

After six years I opened the Arndean Gallery (www.arndeangallery.com) in Cork Street. The gallery is used as a weekly space for other art dealers and artists who would rather not rent a permanent gallery. It is also extremely useful for Fine Art Commissions as it provides us with an additional exhibition space.

Fine Art Commissions has had three moves in our ten year history. From an office above the tube line in Walton Street, to a gallery fifty yards up the street, to our current home at 7, Bury Street, St James's. Lara and I are based here permanently and our marketing director, Janie Wentworth Stanley, is with us for four days a month.

In the last ten years I have met a myriad of fascinating artists and clients, had the greatest fun and I hope, provided many talented people with interesting faces to paint and stories to hear. We have had many adventures along the way, most recently in the U.S. where we took a Stand at The International Art Fair in Palm Beach (www.palmbeachfair.com).

We have benefited from enormous encouragement from literally hundreds of artists and clients over the years and I look forward to working with many more in the years to come.