Story by Art Department / August 30, 2021
Yes; for my whole entire life I’ve wanted to be an artist! There was never a question of what I wanted to be when I grew up. It’s always been who I am.
It all began during the pandemic. I was home with 4 kids while my husband was at work. I was keeping the kids busy with a daily art project. One day we opened a box of felt and made some collages. A few days later I made an abstract self portrait, posted it on Instagram, and the response was so positive. I received orders from that day and haven’t stopped since.
95% of the time the work I make is based off a list of commissioned pieces. I like to have a “to do” list of what needs to be done and go from there. It gives me direction.
My pieces are fun, clean, colorful, and most importantly happy. The subject matter is very relatable.
My following has been super organic; slow and steady. I have a lot of followers from Charleston, but am always surprised when I am shipping out my pieces all over the country.
The original pieces are hand made out of felt. Pricing for those begins around $750. New prints are offered monthly and pricing starts around $70. There’s a difference in price and I think that makes it more available to all people.
I actually stopped taking commissions a few months ago. I decided to use this summer to catch up and work on some upcoming gallery commitments. I’m slowly starting to take commissions for people. I try not to have more than 50 on my waitlist at a time. Usually the wait time is about six months.
I do love illustration. That was mostly what I was doing before I started with the felt. There’s something simple and nice about line drawings. They’re clean and tidy and make me happy. But the felt is really where my heart is at right now as an artist.
To see Sam’s available work, visit shopsamsidney.com.