Sandra Iafrate was born in the Niagara Peninsula, Canada, and has lived and trained in Canada, USA and Australia. She studied Mass Communications and Journalism at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and City University London, England. Prior to becoming an artist, she has worked in publishing, broadcasting and public relations. Once Sandra left the workforce to raise a family, she began to take formal art classes from award-winning Canadian watercolourist Nancy Hughes in Calgary, Alberta. Sandra has also developed her skill through various ateliers and workshops, learning drawing and oil painting with renowned artists; the late Kevin Taylor at Brighton Arts Society in Melbourne, and Juan Martinez at the Academy of Realist Art in Toronto. Sandra began teaching in 2003 in Toronto, Ontario for the Public Library and has since persued ways to expand her own methods of educating while preserving the student artists’ innate creativity. Sandra believes that teaching has even further developed her own understanding of art and how people learn. With this knowledge she created new and different programs at various art schools. In 2015, she was selected by Golden Artist Colors Inc.to become a certified GOLDEN Artist Educator and she is now qualified to teach the complex make-up and use of paints, pigments, mediums and material in a safe studio environment. She is also represented by Silverbrush Inc., trained in brush use, care and technique. 

​

   Sandra works primarily in oil and acrylic using intricate compositions and combination of unique experimental contemporary techniques mixed with and classical representation. Her portrayal of nature, floral and foliage takes on complex compositions alive with colour and which seem to go beyond the boundaries of the canvas. Her work continuously evolves as new works take on a new aspect of contemporary painting innovations. She has been awarded a government honorary for her work in the arts, as well as a finalist award from International Artist Magazine for her floral painting.Her favorite part of being an artist is volunteering in the arts; as a former docent for the Art Gallery of Ontario, co-founder of North Toronto Group of Artists, McLean, Virginia Project for the Arts, Art Toronto, and many community and school bases arts projects and festivals She has also devised a studio-based art curriculum for grades 10, 11 and 12 in compliance with the Ontario, Canada Curriculum which was used in a highly kinesthetic learning environment. She contributes annually to Children’s Aid Foundation Canada, Art for Cancer and many other charitable organizations.

Sandra runs workshops occasionally in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Toronto and offers a one-week painting holiday in Italy every year. Sandra's original and published works are exhibited and sold internationally.