King's Ship

Q. Hi Sam, how's preparations for the show going? A. Preparations are going really well. Almost done with all the big stuff so I can spend the next couple of weeks finishing off all the little bits and pieces for the opening night.

Q. For people who haven't seen your work before, how would you describe it? A. My work is about colour, characters and enjoying it. I love creating every piece of art I do and I want people looking at it to enjoy it too. Not be confused by it or intimidated by the price.

Q. How did your unique style and characters come about? A. I’ve always studied art and other art based subjects. I've also always been influenced by comic books and cartoons from my childhood. I think all I've done is combined little bits and pieces from all aspects of what interests me. My characters all start off the same as little doodles, then if I am happy with the basic sketch I will refine them and take them further.

Q. What work do you most enjoy doing? A. I don't really have a favourite. I honestly just enjoy painting and drawing so anytime I get to do that it's a good day.

Q. We see from your social media pages that you're creating lots of new artwork. Have you found some new inspiration or can we expect some of your regular characters at the exhibition? A. There will be some of the regular characters and a few new ones. But everything is being kept a secret so you will have to come to the show to see what I have been working on.

Q. When you create your artwork do you know how you want the end piece to look from the start or is it a work in progress? A. I use a lot of found items and recycle a lot of materials.  My ideas come from finding these objects and creating pieces that work with what the object is.

Q. When we saw your work, we noticed you like to paint and draw on everything and anything. Can you tell us what type of canvases we can expect to see on the opening night? A. There’s a little bit of everything at this show. I paint on everything as I see something that is being thrown away and I  see it as a waste. So expect to see a mix of pieces and a lot of colour.

Q. Do you have any rituals to get yourself in the mood before painting? A. Make a brew and get as much done while my daughter naps and it's not raining.

Q. We’ve heard you like to work with young artists, helping them get their work out into the world. What made you start doing this A. I just offer advice to youngsters that ask. When I was starting out there wasn't anyone around that did that so I had to learn from my own mistakes which put me off trying anything new. I want people to get inspired and want to try painting and drawing not meet someone that's got an attitude and be put off being creative.

Q. It’s your first solo show, what's the most important thing to you about an exhibition and in particular this one? How do you measure the success of it? A. Well this show is the chance for everyone to see my work in real life rather than just on a phone screen. Also see the price and realise I price my work so everyone can enjoy it in their own home without having to spend hundreds on a single piece. My success has already happened which is someone liking my work enough to want to show it - anything else after that is a bonus.

Q. And Finally, why robots? How did you come up with your beakerbot character? I’ve always loved robots, just something about them. I think it's because there are no limits to what I can paint to include a robot. Beaker bot got created by me sketching out a few ideas. I liked the shapes I had created then put some eyes, legs and arms on it and there was beaker bot. I realised once it was done that the shapes resembled the beakers I used to use in chemistry lessons at school and that was the name sorted.