I don’t like writing these kinds of posts. Posts of loss. But I think I owe it to my friend Sandy Dodd to honor her and our friendship forever on my blog.

To share with the world what a sweet, compassionate, fun loving free spirit she was. It’s not as good a place now that she’s missing from it.

I met Sandy Dodd for the first time at a Lunch and Learn at a local gallery in Evansville. It was called Stac Gallery and sadly has closed since Covid. I met all my artist friends I hang out with now from there (Vicki Wilson and Lori Rivera and more).

Sandy was friendly and we hit it off right away. Her along with Vicki and Lori quickly became my close friends and we called ourselves 4 Artist Friends and even had a private Facebook group for the four of us. That later gave way to an app called Marco Polo, which we still use daily only sadly without Sandy. It’s much like Facetime in that we can talk face to face to one another by video but walkie-talkie style (one at a time).

Sandy’s paintings were of tropical places as well as local places like the Evansville riverfront. Landscapes of the country and clouds were some of her favorites to paint. She also painted musicians playing as music was such an intricate part of her and Allen’s lives. Allen is a musician himself.

Painting and sweating

Anytime we got together, we would talk endlessly, eat, laugh, cry and paint. The painting was always done in Studio Gardens, the gardens just outside of my art studio. The girls would all bring a covered dish and I’d grill some chicken or we’d have tacos. Always something yummy.

We had road trips together and everywhere we went, we had fun. We even got to see Picasso’s paintings together in Nashville. Sandy always made us laugh. I shared art exhibits with her and we hung plenty of art together.

Sandy always had uplifting words of encouragement for each of us. No matter what we were going through, Sandy was there to offer guidance, love and words of wisdom. She was a joy to be around and had the most interesting life, that to be honest I didn’t always understand. We lovingly called her our little gypsy artist because her and her husband Allen would travel all around helping people and then move on. They no longer had their own home, instead moving from spot to spot helping people sometimes in trade for a place to live. Allen is a carpenter and Sandy would paint her beautiful paintings.

They even had a magical sounding piece of property in Guatemala that Allen had created into an oasis for them and let friends stay there when they were back in the states. They traveled a lot by boat to get there and Sandy would paint on the boat. She painted many scenes from Guatemala. See, I told you her life was interesting.

Their latest project was a Skoolie, a bus converted to a home on wheels. They weren’t quite finished with it when she passed. It was getting close and I know she was excited to have a more “permanent” home even if that moved.

They gave up their travels for a while when Allen’s mom got sick and went to take care of both of his parents. Sandy was a selfless person, always willing to help. Sandy was mother to five kids and sadly had just lost a son this past February.

Photo of Sandy Dodd, American painter

This past Tuesday, I learned of Sandy’s passing from Lori. Her life and two of her grandchildren’s lives (Pele and Talullah) cut short by a horrific accident on Interstate 24 in western Kentucky on Monday, July 29th, 2024. It was a multiple car pileup involving a semi-truck near a construction zone at the Tennessee River bridge.

To say I’m in shock is an understatement. This accident was all over the news and many heard about it in surrounding states. My friends Vicki, Lori and myself have just cried together mourning the loss of our sister artist. We’re waiting still for burial arrangements. We have plans to paint again in a few weeks in honor of Sandy.

The world will miss out on the many paintings Sandy still had in her. Even more than her art, we’ll miss out on the goodness she had in her heart for everyone she met. Sandy was strong in her beliefs and that was of God. I hope she’s in heaven with her sweet little grandchildren, painting away. Prayers and thoughts go out to the family, my heart breaks for them. As of this writing, Allen is in a coma and going through multiple surgeries. He was in another vehicle along with another grandson who thankfully survived.

There is a fundraiser going currently for burial expenses, click here to see the GoFundMe page.

R.I.P. Saundra Dodd, artist b. 1956

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Learn more about me on the ‘About’ page under the additional links menu. I’m an artist – a painter mostly and an avid gardener. I paint a variety of subjects including birds, koi fish, my gardens, ponds and flowers as well as anything having to do with nature especially trees and tropical scenes. I also enjoy painting abstracts and have started created more and more of them. My most favorite thing to try to achieve in my painting is is mystery and telling mystical stories.

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