Sam studied at Winchester College of Art (Foundation year) and Brighton Polytechnic between 1983 and 1987, gaining a BA Hons in Expressive Arts, a combined course of fine art and dance, with painting her main focus. After several years away from that consistent practice and having run a small business utilising her drawings in the interim, Lockdown provided a time to reestablish a concentrated approach to painting and a chance to gather together a body of work with which to approach galleries. 

 

She works intuitively combining observational drawing and stylised, naïve painting, and places emphasis on mark making, colour and balance. Her paintings have been described as joyful and she is fond of the use of some light hearted imagery, for example a bird that has made appearances in several works. Inspiration comes from much loved objects and very often flowers which usually come from her garden. She enjoys the use of decorative motifs and pattern which she makes with whatever she has to hand; a potato, a radish or the cork from a bottle of Rosé.