Sarah S. Mattson who shows her work under the name S. S. Solis, is a native of California. Prior to being accepted as a freshman to the Art Department at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB), Solis won the opportunity to study at the Pasadena Institute of Art for the summer semester. Solis graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Degree in 1984 from CSULB. Immediately after graduation, Solis embarked on a three-month tour of Europe and Greece to see the art she had studied. Solis says, "there is no visual experience like seeing a great Delacroix or Van Gogh in person, to see the brush strokes, the artist hand, his actual creation..."

"An artists' need to be creative and produce art cannot be subdued…" Solis says about her return to the art world. In 1995 Solis began taking extension classes in art, her passion for painting overwhelmed her professional businessperson’s life. It was at this time Solis decided to plan a permanent career change and pursue her Master of Fine Arts (MFA) Degree. In October of 1996 Solis was accepted into the graduate program for Drawing and Painting at CSULB and by May of 2000 she received her MFA Degree. Solis is currently a full-time professional artist and a part-time adjunct professor for colleges and universities in California teaching studio art courses.

Solis’ artwork has been accepted in several juried group exhibitions through out the state of California and has many of her pieces in private collections throughout the Pacific West Coast.

Solis says, “working from direct observation allows me to be spontaneously expressive. You have to react to what you see in a limited amount of time. I believe this gives my work a sense of excitement. This type of art making is different from the large, constructed, figurative paintings I create in my studio. Those large manufactured works are narrative in nature and are based on grand, humanistic ideologies highlighted with my own perceptions on life. Both are essential in my total vision as an artist”.