Sherri Belassen credits her inspiration in design and composition to flights she took with her father in their two-seater airplane growing up. The patterns, colors, and blocks/grids of colors seen from above informed her later aesthetic and are reflected in her work. Her paintings are distinguished by an extensive combination of underpainting, layering, and scratching of the surface, showing a history of her hand in the layers. She earned BFA from Indiana University, Bloomington and upon graduating, she relocated to Phoenix, AZ where the vibrant colors of the landscape continue to inform her palette. She begins each painting with a drippy underpainting, hints of which can often be seen in her subjects. She says of her work, "It's not so much about what I paint, but about the space in which the subject exists. Her stylized figures often divide her paintings into geometric planes of color that give her work an almost abstract quality. Belassen's artwork can be found in galleries nationwide and has been featured numerous times in regional design publications.