Sarah Higdon’s journey from brain injury to museum recognition
Photo by Jamie Plain
For years, Sarah Higdon refused to call herself an artist. She had no formal training, no gallery representation, and no accolades. Art was simply a lifelong habit, a quiet rhythm of drawing with pencils and experimenting with paint.
Then came 2018. Out of nowhere, Higdon suffered a sudden seizure and a traumatic brain injury that left her in a three-day coma.
When she finally woke up, the world looked different. And when she eventually picked up a paintbrush again, something fundamental had shifted.
“My family even made the comment that my art improved after my incident,” Higdon said. “A lot of things changed. The way I lived my life, the way I perceived the world. It was like I was given a new life, and it showed through my art.”
That profound awakening sparked a rapid evolution. By 2020, Higdon was painting large-scale public murals and illustrating a poetry book, A War Within, for her friend Nick Catinna, a project completed during the isolation of the COVID-19 pandemic. She stepped into leadership roles, serving two years as vice president and another two years as president of the Owensboro Art Guild (OAG).
Yet, despite her growing prominence, a bout of creative block eventually stalled her momentum. Searching for inspiration, she turned to Julia Cameron’s book The Artist’s Way and decided to experiment with an entirely new medium: pyrography, the art of wood-burning.
“I felt like I had found my calling,” Higdon said. “It was mainly drawing, but instead of a pencil, you’re using a hot metal tip and burning onto wood. It was like falling in love with drawing all over again.”
What began with an inexpensive burner and basic line work reached a turning point when Higdon’s husband gifted her a professional-grade wood burner for Christmas. Featuring temperature controls and interchangeable tips, the new tool allowed her to merge her background in drawing and painting into highly detailed, deeply shaded wooden canvases.
ART GROWN FROM NATURE
For an artist deeply tied to the outdoors, pyrography provided Higdon with the perfect organic canvas. She frequently hikes, gardens, and explores the woods on her property, often accompanied by her daughter on what they call “treasure hunts” for wildlife photos and natural artifacts.
“What I love most about pyrography is that my canvas is made straight from nature,” Higdon said. “I get to create art and leave less of a footprint behind … It’s like bringing the energy from the forest into your home.”
Higdon’s creative process relies heavily on patience and intuition, a concept she describes as “Spirit-led.” When a particular natural motif repeatedly appears in her daily life, she views it as a prompt to begin a new piece.
“I think as a society we have become disconnected,” she said. “We’ve drifted away from authenticity and the joy of simplicity. My art can represent many things; the peace and healing affect nature has, our connection to all things, or merely God revealing himself. I hope my work inspires others to be child-like again and rediscover the magic that’s in our back yards and not on a phone.”
The physical execution, however, is grueling. After prepping and sanding the wood, she sketches the design in pencil before using the burning pen.
“It’s definitely not something you can whip out super fast,” Higdon explained. “You have to move slow, but not too slow, or you’ll get a burn spot you don’t want. You also have to consider what type of wood you’re working with, as all wood burns differently.”
Birds are her favorite subject, a choice Higdon attributes to the diverse species surrounding her home and a favorite biblical passage from the Book of Job: “But ask the animals and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky and they will tell you.”
FROM SCHOOL WALLS TO MUSEUM COLLECTIONS
Higdon’s creative footprint is visible throughout the region. One of her earliest and most physically challenging projects was a 36-foot mural across the library walls of Morganfield Elementary School, the very school she attended as a child. To paint the massive, lifelike books, she had to balance on top of actual library bookshelves.
“Being back there as an adult creating art for the students was kind of a full-circle moment,” Higdon said.
More recently, she completed a mural at the Joe Ford Nature Center, a local destination she considers a hidden gem. The project allowed her to bring an existing painting to life while celebrating her love for the environment.
“To have the opportunity to bring people together, not just to view art but to slow down time in a world that rushes past beauty, gives me great joy,” Higdon said.
Higdon’s artistic journey reached a historic milestone at the Owensboro Art Guild’s 64th Annual Juried Exhibition. Entering a pyrography piece for the first time, she won the prestigious Carol Colburn Purchase Award. The honor secures her work a permanent place in the collection of the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art, Kentucky’s second-largest art museum.
The award carries deep personal significance for an artist who spent years doubting her own credentials. Established by the Colburn family, the award specifically honors female artists within the OAG to help them achieve permanent museum placement.
“To me, it feels like the beginning of a new journey,” Higdon said. “I let the lie of ‘not being an artist’ and comparing my work to others hold me back for a long time. I hope to inspire other female artists to invest in themselves and put their art out there.”
A GROWING LOCAL SCENE
Now joining the board of directors for the Owensboro Museum of Fine Art to represent the OAG, Higdon remains highly optimistic about the region’s cultural trajectory. She points to a surge in local organizations incorporating art into outreach programs, and recently volunteered at a local youth art camp.
For emerging creators who feel intimidated by the public eye, Higdon’s advice is rooted in her own experience of overcoming self-doubt.
“Don’t compare your work or knowledge to anyone else,” Higdon said, encouraging local artists to utilize resources like the Owensboro Art Guild, which meets on the second Thursday of every month. “Everyone has to start somewhere.”
As for her next project, the seeds have already been planted by the changing seasons. After weeks of noticing blooming tulip poplars on her property and repeatedly encountering a male cardinal at her window feeder, Higdon discovered through a quick research session that the tulip poplar is Kentucky’s state tree and the cardinal is its state bird.
The serendipitous connection was all the inspiration she needed. Her next piece is already underway.
“Not sure how long it will take to finish, whether I will enter it in a show, or what it will lead to,” Higdon said. “But I do know one thing: whatever will be, will be.” OL
