SUNSHINE SAM STUDIOS
ABOUT
Sunshine Sam
"I want my paintings to pull a viewer in, with light and colors that initially look realistic, but just a little bit too enticing and vibrant, evoking the feeling that what you're seeing is remarkably more beautiful than reality.
Some of my paintings I would call realistic impressionism, but my style at this point is still evolving as I evolve.
It was only as of February 2022 that I fully committed to painting, while the ten years before that I was focused mostly on tattooing.
I'm incredibly grateful to all the mentors I met throughout my education in an academic setting, and then my decade in the tattoo world. Professors, artists, tattoo clients, tattoo artists, business owners, and friends. My life has been so richly touched and enhanced by all of you and I dedicate the rest of my life to giving back in a way-that hopefully-enriches your life even just for a moment.
While my main painting focus is food, I explore other subjects constantly and obsessively, with notebooks and idea folders full to the brim.
I'm inspired by the natural beauty we find in this world, a bundle of grapes hanging on a vine, beads of dew lightly sprinkled across the fruit catching glints of sun. A sunset turning the clouds an intense fire-orange and the sky behind it a calming gradient of periwinkle to rich, deep indigo. The complex texture of animal fur, ocean waves, tree bark, a small feather, or an orange's peel.
It's easy for me to become obsessed with the smallest thing and I love being able to share my wonder at the beautiful world we live in with all of you."
Born in 1989 and raised in several parts of Canada, Sam drew and painted intensely from a young age.
Winning awards and receiving recognition throughout high school, she then went on to get her Bachelor's of Fine Art Degree from the University of Lethbridge.
After school, life threw a curve ball and introduced her to the complex and growing world of Tattooing. Tattooing opened up a whole new art medium she explored curiously, while travelling the world and winning awards for her tattoos and paintings. She has completed thousands of tattoos in a variety of styles over the years, a collection of some of her favorite tattoos can be found in this gallery.
While tattooing, she continued to work on painting and produced hundreds of paintings of all sizes and types, entering shows, hanging exhibits and doing private commissions.
Around 2017 at the birth of her first child, her time was diverted towards motherhood, and tattooing slowly faded out of the picture and her artistic focus came back towards painting.
One year later, her second child was born, and she is now fully concentrating on painting when she isn't sharing the wonders of the world with her two kids.
Sam's main painting focus is an assortment of food and delicious things, capturing that feeling you have when you're craving that certain something, or creating pictures that immediately cause your mouth to water.
Common subjects she also paints include colorful realism of glowing objects, a huge collection of skull paintings, portraits expressing an intense feeling or mood, pet and animal portrait commissions, and the occasional landscape. Sam's paintings can be found in private collections around the globe.
“At the deepest level, the creative process and the healing process arise from a single source. When you are an artist, you are a healer; a wordless trust of the same mystery is the foundation of your work and its integrity.” ~ Rachel Naomi Remen, MD