We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Diane Brown Sampson a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Diane, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

Very soon into plunging myself into painting, a local businessman asked me to do a watercolour painting of his childhood home. The reference photo was extremely poor, dating back to around the 70’s. I struggled with the painting but it had such a heart with the sentiment behind it that every effort was a joy. I needed to conceptualize in places, and when I did present him with the completed painting, we were both so astonished and thrilled to learn that the areas where I had conceptualized were just as it had been back in the day before the building was sadly demolished. It is a wonderful thought that he cherishes the painting as it is such a happy reminder of his childhood home.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

From adversary came advance. I was made redundant when the business I worked for closed it’s branch. Without a job and really feeling intensely afraid, I happened upon an art class in my neighbourhood and I knew that doing art would bring me peace of mind and heart. I threw myself headlong into it, practicing as often as I could. The day I finished the course, my painting project was posted on social media and I received an offer of purchase. That stroke of good fortunate gave me such encouragement and motivation. I never stopped painting. I created a Facebook page and have sold quite a few paintings since.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on NFTs. (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)

I am old-school and do not understand the concept of NFT. Because my art journey is personally so fulfilling, I prefer to stay within my scope and that is to paint for the passion and pleasure of it.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

Not having a business background, and being inexperienced in the art world led to a couple of incidents where I was bitterly let down and disappointed. Through my naivety too, perhaps . I was disillusioned to encounter competiveness, which should not exist in the blissful world of painting, and with my innocence and lack of knowledge, there were people and their actions that did not sit well with me. I thankfully managed to shrugged it off because it would surely have taken from the joy I found in painting. None of it was, should be, or ever will be enough to spoil my colorful and happy journey forward.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @loveandlifeatmulberryhouse
• Facebook: Diane’s Watercolours
• Linkedin: Diane Brown Sampson

Image Credits

Diane Brown Sampson