The Foundation of Exceptional, Lasting Art

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Great art doesn’t begin with the first brushstroke—it begins with the materials. The surface, the structure, and the paint all shape how a painting looks today and how it will endure through the years. At Sierra Art Panels, this belief guides everything we make and everything we paint. For both Tom Applegate and Sandra Schultz, quality isn’t an upgrade. It’s the heart of the work.

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The Surface Shapes the Painting

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A panel is far more than something to paint on; it’s the foundation that determines how color moves, how light settles, and how the finished image breathes. Each Sierra Art Panel is handcrafted in the Sierra Nevada foothills using carefully selected wood that offers stability and long-term durability. The panels are finished with premium primed linen or canvas—surfaces known for their refined texture, their responsiveness, and the way they honor even the subtlest movements of the brush. A well-crafted panel doesn’t resist an artist’s hand; it supports it, allowing glazes to glow, impasto to hold its shape, and fine detail to remain crisp and clear. The result is a painting that carries depth, clarity, and a quiet authority that only quality surfaces can give

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Longevity Is an Act of Respect—for the Art and the Collector

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Cheap materials reveal their cost over time. Supports warp, priming cracks, surfaces discolor, and the bond between layers weakens. When that happens, a painting loses the stability and beauty it once had—and a collector’s investment is compromised. Archival materials, on the other hand, protect a painting’s structure and appearance for generations. When the foundation is strong, the artwork remains strong. The colors stay true, the surface stays intact, and the piece keeps the integrity it had on the day it left the studio. A painting built on high-end materials becomes something that can be passed down, not patched up.

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Premium Oil Paints Create Exceptional Art

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The paint itself plays an equally important role. Both Tom and Sandra work with some of the highest-quality oil paints available, including Old Holland—known worldwide for purity of pigment and unmatched color depth. Oils offer the richness, transparency, and luminosity necessary for fine art, giving life to subtle transitions, deep shadows, and glowing highlights that simply can’t be achieved with lesser materials. Tom also creates some of his own paints by hand, grinding pigments into traditional binders. Handmade paint brings its own character—unique textures, richer tones, and a tactile presence that responds beautifully on fine linen surfaces. These materials elevate the work beyond the ordinary, infusing each piece with a depth and soul that only quality can deliver.

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A Complete Artistic Philosophy

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Bringing Sierra Art Panels and our personal artwork together on the site reflects a single, unified philosophy: the materials must rise to meet the vision. The panels we build are the very surfaces we trust for our own paintings. The paints we use are chosen not for convenience, but for excellence. Every element—from the first layer of gesso to the final touch of oil—is selected with intention and care. Artists feel the difference as they work. Collectors see the difference the moment the painting meets the light.

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Why We Care

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For us, quality materials are a way of honoring the art, the subject, and the natural world that inspires so much of what we do. Whether it’s the soulful gaze in one of Sandra’s wildlife portraits or the textured nuances in Tom’s original paintings, the materials carry the responsibility of preserving that moment. They ensure that what was created with reverence continues to live with the same integrity far into the future.

Quality materials are not simply better—they are essential. They are the quiet promise behind every painting: this work was made with intention, built to endure, and crafted to matter.