Rogers-based muralist Sara Gordon is giving an old underpass tucked away on a back road in Negley a new look. (Photo by Stephanie Elverd)

NEGLEY — You could say Sara Gordon has paint in her veins. Art is not what she does but who she is. For Gordon, being an artist is a profound and passionate calling. It’s a calling she is sharing with the world — one small or big painting at a time.

“I started painting in my early 20s and that passion has since blossomed into so much more,” Gordon explains on her website, saragrdon.art.com. “I still work on canvas but have truly found a love for working on large scale projects. Creating custom murals and signs, as well as painting logos is where I belong.”

On Good Friday, Gordon’s talent was on display on Carmel Achor, just after the East Palestine Country Club and just before the Anchor Valley Cemetery in Negley, where the road bends slightly and slips beneath Jackman Road, creating a short tunnel.

It is against the rock wall of that underpass where Gordon spent the day creating her latest piece of art — a mural of an American flag with its stripes rippling in the wind.

“I drive by here everyday and I really wanted to give it some color,” Gordon said. “I needed to brush up on my mural skills and the underpass needed some paint. It was a win-win.”

Gordon reached out to the owner of the land on which the underpass sits and offered to paint the mural pro-bono. When she gained permission, she started on it. By late afternoon on Friday, the flag was taking shape.

Gordon’s artwork is on display throughout the area. In 2024, Gordon was commissioned by Southern Local Schools to complete a design outside teacher Laurie Ronshak’s art room. Pupils and staff members worked alongside Gordon through the summer, painting shapes along the corridor while Gordon touched up the scenery to finish the rendering. The design includes the phrase “Creativity Starts Here” and denotes line, shape, color and textures, as well as space and movement and features art materials including a paint palette, paintbrush, ink pen and scissors.

Gordon’s other large-scale projects include murals for area businesses and private commissions. She has also been contracted to paint sign lettering, business logos and other hand-painted branding work.

The goal is to turn her passion into her full-time profession.

“I have a normal day job as a residential painter, but have big dreams of one day making this my full-time gig,” she said.

Gordon’s past mural projects can be viewed at saragordon.art. Her original paintings are also available for purchase on the website.

selverd@mojonews.com