We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Samantha Schneider. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Samantha below.

Samantha , appreciate you joining us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?

I was very fortunate to be born into a supportive family. I was never pushed to persue anything or told I had to get good grades, get into college to find a 9 to 5 job. My dad had become an FX artist and travled to California to work on movies while he was still in his teens. Needless to say unconventional jobs and creative passion was passed down. In high school I had no idea what I wanted to do for work. I was an A+ student in art class and always sketched during other classes, I just never thought I could make a living as an artist. It was actually my mom that suggested I go to art college. I was hesitant because of the cost but her confidence in my work made me see past the worry of debt. In most scenarios it’s the kid trying to convince the parent they need to go to art college, not the other way around. I was grateful my parents saw my potential and encouraged me to persue a career in the arts.

I also think of all the art fairs my mom took me to as a kid so I could share my work with the world. Trial and error, my works never went over well at art and craft fairs so I’d always leave feeling a little discouraged. But, my mom held an unwavering confidence in me. always saying “It just isn’t the right venue. We will find your audience.” I find myself looking back at all the things I tried that didn’t work out. Without my parents support I probably wouldn’t have made it this far. So I’m beyond grateful to have people that help my find my way.

Samantha , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am a 26 year old oil painter creating massive figurative works that explore the many complex facets of my own human existence. My paintings are generally 8ft by 6ft self portraits, in which I portray a wide range of characters like an actor within paint. In 2024 I was invited to participate in the first ever triennial exhibition ‘Proximity of Fate’ at the Mansfield Art Center. Where my work showed alongside nationally and internationally known artist such as Shantell Martin and Kehinde Wiley. My success started when I sold out of my work right before the end of the exhibition. 2 paintings within the show and a 3rd that was displayed in the hall of the art center. Not even a month after the exhibition came down 3 more paintings sold and I was invited to attend a month long residency in Brooklyn, New York. Since then I have begun gaining more traction within the art world.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The joy of creation on it’s own is enough to drive my creative journey. Always exploring and seeing how I can push my work further. To grow, to learn, to try and understand who I am on deeper levels. I want to make art of all kind for the rest of my life and I really can’t see myself doing anything else with as much heart and soul. The mission I suppose, is to create so I can keep creating. Lighting sparks of feeling and passion in others as I do the same for me in the process.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Just because you work more doesn’t mean you get more. For a long time I believed in hustle culture and always having to do more than I was already doing. Burning the candle at both ends and any time I stopped to rest my brain took that as being lazy. A couple years after college I began looking to the wisdom of self help books and realized frantic action gets you nowhere real quick. its like baseballs being thrown at you and you are wildly swinging your bat back and forth thinking “there is no way I can miss this ball if the bat keeps moving.” you keep swinging and missing and getting frustrated while exerting the most effort with little to no results.

Instead I began prioritizing rest and inspired action directed towards very specific goals. I started seeing results pretty early on, feeling like I was getting so much more done with far less effort. It was hard to unlearn frantic action and sometimes I still find myself falling back into it. But, now I am more easily able to spot it and catch myself from spiraling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://samfineart.com
• Instagram: @sam_the_painter
• Facebook: @SamanthaSchneiderFineArts
• Youtube: @samschneiderfineart

Image Credits

Tim Black, Samantha Schneider