A common piece of advice passed on in our day and age is to enjoy the little things, because one day you will look back and realize they were the big things. This phrase accurately describes Jason Sacran’s artistic eye. As a plein air artist, Jason enjoys capturing the overlooked and familiar scenes of life, inspiring us to pause in the midst of life’s chaos. Jason Sacran grew up in the country surrounding Nashville, Tennessee. Although his school didn’t have much to offer in the area of art, Jason’s mother and high school guidance counselor were his biggest supporters and encouragers. “If it weren’t for my guidance counselor I probably would’ve ended up working in the factory honestly,” Jason said. His mother and guidance counselor submitted some of his work to an art school, earning him a scholarship which later carried him to Tennessee Tech University where he earned his Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree. He also earned credits toward an MFA from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, but has yet to finish due to the priority of his wife and children. Although you would never know it, Jason never painted until he was 21 years old. He grew up drawing, but had never worked with any other medium. When he went to school, there was no major solely for drawing. He was encouraged to choose painting as the closest alternative; he took his first painting class, absolutely loved it and has not stopped painting since. “Creating in general is exciting,” Jason said. “I could’ve gone so many different ways, but painting excited me the most.” He loves the fluidity, manipulability and tactile nature of paint. Jason considers himself a contemporary representational artist. While he also enjoys painting people, his favorite subject is plein air painting; he was the grand prize winner of Plein Air Easton 2015 in Maryland. “I paint what catches my interest in the moment,” Jason said. “This could be almost anything: an orchestration of shapes, color contrast, light and shadow patterns, a mood or atmosphere, a subject I have never tried, or a subject I enjoy. I am drawn to paint places and things that say something about the day and time I live in now. Although my work is not necessarily subject driven, I find myself painting the overlooked and simultaneously familiar aspects of everyday life – scenes we pass by but rarely take the time to fully consider. In the chaos of daily life, I believe we all take the simple and familiar for granted. Sometimes it is these quiet unadorned places that make the most worthy of subjects.” Jason served as the curator for Fort Smith Art Center for 3 years and taught at the University of Arkansas in Fort Smith before he became a full-time painter 2010. “The more experienced I get, the more I realize I have a long way to go,” Jason said. “There is a whole world ahead of you and you just want to keep exploring. You have all these ideas but you know in your lifetime you will never get to all of them.” Jason has been one of our Art on the Green artists since meeting us during a trip to paint Conway with his best friend and fellow artist John Lasater in 2016.