Art & Life with Cindy Sampson

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cindy Sampson.

Cindy, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’m an opinionated, eccentric, self-sufficient, junk-hoarding artist. I find artistic inspiration in vintage bits and pieces, “found” junk and re-use materials, and trying new techniques…sometimes coming up with methods and new combinations on the fly. My creative journey started with a simple set of paints that I received from my family for my second birthday but has evolved to embrace any material or subject that captures my attention or fuels an emotional response.

I’ve always used my creative talents to pay the bills and put food on the table. In my twenties, I started buying furniture at auctions to refurbish and hand-paint to re-sell. Eventually, I opened an antique store to sell re-styled furniture and one-of-a-kind antiques. I also sold re-styled pieces at shows in the Chicago area for about four years…sometimes selling everything I had in my booth to collectors and interior designers before the show was open to the public! My work was discovered at the Kane County Flea Market by an art publisher and I began creating folk art paintings that were distributed worldwide as prints and merchandise. For eight years, I was one of the top folk artists in the home décor business and my work was published in magazines including Better Homes and Gardens, ARTnews, art press, and Country Living, and seen on television shows including The King of Queens, Trading Spaces, and several HGTV programs.

But commercial success was followed by several life blows…a fire, a flood, and the loss of a family business, a home, a vehicle, and over two hundred pieces of original artwork made for some dark days. I spent two years trying to recover financially and emotionally from our losses. Eventually, I discovered that making sculptures and mixed media pieces with junk and recycled materials inspired me to think about art in a way that I’d never done before.

I’d always been able to make photorealistic and folk art style paintings but I envied my father’s ability to create amazing abstract art. Working with cast-off stuff and unusual materials made me lighten up about how I thought about making art…if something is already “junk” it’s o.k. to twist it into a different shape or cover it with paint and end up with something entirely different. I began selling this new style of art and also jewelry pieces made with repurposed materials at shows in central Illinois and around Chicago. My work is now recognized for combining materials in surprising or unusual ways.

While my life has been a drive on a crazy, twisted, up-and-down road, art has always been my saving grace and the place in my life where I could pull over and take a breath. I think discovering that I could use junk to make art probably saved my life and my career as an artist. Without that realization, I don’t think I would have made it through the literal fire-and-rain that life has thrown at me. And making art, especially out of junk, is always cheaper than paying a therapist.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I’m constantly experimenting with different mediums, textures and colors. My latest obsession is colored resins over mixed media layers.

Any advice for aspiring or new artists?
Listen to your heart and not the naysayers or inner critics.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
I post my show schedule on my Facebook page. There is a wonderful show coming up at a local vineyard the end of September that I will be participating in. http://www.sleepycreekvineyards.com/new-events/2018/9/29/sleepy-creek-vineyards-art-music-fest

Contact Info:

• Website: Cindysampson.com
• Email: delilahzart@yahoo.com
• Instagram: https://Instagram.com/sampsonndelilah
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Sampson-N-Delilah-116400738425233
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/delilahzart

Image Credit:
Cindy Sampson

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