Sam has been drawing and painting horses for as long as she can remember; as a little girl, she first sat on a pony aged three, and was consumed by a lifelong passion for all things equine from that point. The three year old who couldn’t stay on a pony trotting round a corner became an 11 year old who spent every weekend and school holiday with her pony, and never really grew out of that.
As a teenager who seemed to have inherited her love of art from her mum, she earned extra pocket money by drawing friends’ dogs and horses. As a young adult who bounced from office job to waitressing to retail work, she earned an extra income painting dogs and horses without ever thinking she could earn a living solely from art. Pre-social media, life as an artist was generally the stereotype we still think of: lonely and poorly-paid. Post social media, however, and the world has suddenly become obsessed with images and the importance of the visual, which makes working in a visual medium much easier.
As a middle-aged adult suddenly finding herself a single parent in her late thirties, painting became a lifeline; the love of horses, which had been buried beneath marriage, children and everyday life, re-emerged and grew wings, and a life making a living doing the thing she loved became a new reality.
Sam specialises in original oil paintings, and takes private and corporate commissions of landscapes, pets, animals and abstract subjects. She’s currently working on a commission of Desert Orchid and Kauto Star, for the grandson of an avid racing fan to remember his grandfather by. She aims to capture the life, movement and feeling of a scene, a landscape or an animal, rather than show every tiny detail – the sort of painting you might see as a memory when you close your eyes.
To see more of Sam’s gorgeous work, visit www.sambaguleyart.com or contact her here.
