Colby Sanford

Colby Sanford is an American artist based in Utah.
Biography
Colby Sanford (born 1991) grew up in an old Victorian style home in Provo, Utah. His father worked for the local school district, and his mother stayed at home, homeschooling Colby and his other siblings in their early years. He is the second of six kids (one brother and four sisters). Sanford’s parents encouraged him to paint on the walls of his room, and he and his siblings were not given a bedtime. In addition to encouraging Sanford to paint on the walls of his room, they fostered a creative environment in the home: his mother taught each of them how to sew, and at one point each of the four oldest children owned their personal sewing machine. Sanford used this skills first in making superhero figures when he was little, but that expanded to making clothes, and even backpacks that he sold in high school. He also plays the guitar. Sanford’s father has always encouraged him to improve his work and push himself a little further. Sanford also was a boy scout as a child. During high school, Sanford started to compete in art shows.
Sanford received a full-ride scholarship to The Art Institute of Boston, but deferred to serve a full-time LDS mission in Taiwan for two years. Sanford married in 2013, and two weeks later he and his wife Alicia moved to China. They worked for a ceramics company in mainland China where Alicia worked in quality control and Colby worked with factory relations helped pass inspections on the product.
Sanford and his wife moved back to Utah in 2015 when he began painting full time and attended school at Brigham Young University. He graduated in 2018 with a BFA in Studio Arts. Sanford has one daughter.
Artistic style and influences
Sanford paints with a muted palette, mostly limited to four colors: Titanium White, Mars Black, Raw Sienna, and Burnt Sienna. Although he uses photographs for reference, he attempts to synthesize the information with as few brushstrokes as possible. His works are based on his own everyday life and experiences, they include quiet scenes of his interactions with the people that are most important to him.
At BYU, Sanford worked closely with Daniel Everett and Peter Everett. Though Daniel Everett’s background is in photography, his outside perspective allowed Sanford to get beyond painting. He also studied under Joe Ostraff, Fidalis Buehler, and Daniel Barney.
Sanford is influenced by the earlier work of Benjamin Björklund, Felicia Forte, Euan Uglow, and Édouard Vuillard. The impact of Nicolas Uribe’s work can be seen in Sanford’s muted tones and everyday life scenes.
Sanford is represented by Meyer Gallery and New Vision Art.
In 2015, Sanford had his first major exhibition at the Springville Museum of Art Spring Salon. That year, more exhibitions followed for Sanford including the 2015 Spring City Heritage Days show, the Springville Museum of Art Spiritual and Religious Show, Springville Museum of Art Spiritual & Religious Show and the 10th International LDS Church Art Competition tell me the stories of Jesus.
In 2016, Sanford won the Award of Merit at the Springville Museum of Art Spiritual & Religious Show. Sanford won honorable mention at that show in 2017. Sanford's recently won honorable mention at the 2018 Springville Museum of Art Spring Salon.

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