April AOM at Old Hotel Gallery also plays piano
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - When Sandra Mitchell showed her at pieces earlier this year at the Community Arts Festival at McFarland Middle School, she also sat down at the piano and played her own composition.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Two pieces of Zentagle-inspired art by Othello’s Sandra Mitchell.
Ted Escobar/The Sun Tribune - Two pieces of Zentagle-inspired art by Othello’s Sandra Mitchell.
OTHELLO — Sandra Mitchell has had health struggles since she was 14, but she has never given up on living.
Sandra is the April Artist of the Month at the Old Hotel Art Gallery. She does Zentangle-inspired drawing with variations.
“I use their techniques, but then I do it differently,” she said.
Sandra also plays the piano – quite well. She started at the age of eight and was self-taught except for 10 months of lessons as a high school senior.
Mitchell delves into other arts and crafts. She tries to keep herself occupied in the face of several ailments.
“If I just sat and did nothing, I’d go crazy,” she said. “I draw every day.”
Sandra was still a 14-year-old high school girl when she encountered her first health difficulty. She fell into depression — didn’t know why and still doesn’t.
The medication she took led to osteoporosis, she said. Now she has arthritis “bad” and lymphodema. She has been considered disabled since the age of 18.
Born and raised in Othello, Sandra has lived here all of her life except for a combined six years in Spokane, Tri-Cities, Moses Lake and Quincy. She’s lived here permanently since 1995.
At one point, Sandra was told she’d probably never walk again. Knee replacements have helped, even though walking is a struggle.
Sandra gave up piano for 25 years because of the struggles and the fact she didn’t have one. She was inspired to go back to the keyboard when she attended an uncle’s funeral. Her cousin played piano as a tribute to the uncle.
“It was beautiful,” Sandra said. “When my parents pass away, I’d like to play piano for them.”
Different family members promised to do a service in honor of the deceased uncle. Sandra chose to get to know, or at least locate, all of her cousins. She found 100 in two years, and now she and her sister Lila Reeder are in charge of maintaining her parents’ family tree of 130 members.
There was good news for Sandra when she went back to the keyboard. It seemed as if she hadn’t left. The music flowed freely from her fingertips.
Sandra’s parents — especially her mother — have been more than just parents. Their store, Fae’s Books and Crafts, gave Sandra a place to work or a place to contribute her work. Unfortunately, the Othello store closed in 2007, and the Moses Lake store closed in 2015.
Sandra worked mostly from home the last five years, making greeting cards that were sold at the stores. She did cards because it was “something that was portable.”
As the store years were coming to an end, Sandra started looking for a craft that could keep her busy and perhaps provide a little income.
“I was looking for a craft that wouldn’t need a lot of supplies,” she said.
Sandra settled on drawing art. She does it mostly at night while lying in her hospital bed at home.
“I draw until I fall asleep,” she said.
Sandra has sold a couple of pieces. She hopes the Old Hotel Art Gallery will bring her visibility and, perhaps a few sales. She will rotate 35 pieces during the month. Sister-in-law Martha Mitchell, who owns Generation Framing, has helped her prepare.