We caught up with the brilliant and insightful SAM BRAMBLE a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

SAM, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. How did you learn to do what you do? Knowing what you know now, what could you have done to speed up your learning process? What skills do you think were most essential? What obstacles stood in the way of learning more?

My journey learning how to work within the the various mediums I like to work within as an artist (drumming, photography and collage design) stems all the way back to my childhood . A huge pillar in my journey has been the privilege of having a mother and father who are artists themselves and raised me in a very creative environment, encouraging me on a daily basis to experiment expressing through painting, collage, drawing and other mediums . Because of this, by the time I was entering my teen years, I had an instilled confidence and passion for creating as well as furthering my abilities as an artist. Thanks to this sense of myself creatively, I was able to comfortably approach mediums that were new to me at the time but would soon become burning passions i’m lucky enough to have.

Knowing what I know now, my suggestion to speed up the learning process is to NOT second guess / question my creative instincts. To NOT require myself to define what the artwork is about and why i’m feeling inspired by the subject(s) / theme(s) before even starting the project. An artist should take advantage of the beautiful fact that the Whys, Whats, Whos, Wheres DO NOT need to be understood to justify making something and/or sharing something with the world. In my personal experience, a favorite part of the process for me is discovering the context and maybe some whys, whats, whos, wheres DURING the construction of the artwork. Also after it’s finished while listening to other people’s thoughts and feelings about what i’ve made.

An additional recommendation would be to – enforce better self discipline towards practicing more frequently and with more intent. There’s skills i’ve learned, but were learnt at a slower pace because i’ve never really formally rehearsed my craft and diligently explored important skills within each medium, regardless of how I may find it boring and/or time consuming . Instead, my skills have been growing slowly at a consistent speed over the years due to constant opportunities to create, collaborations and accepting commission gigs . If i were to in addition commit to practicing for the sake of practicing while continuing to collaborate and work, this would no doubt have sped of the “learning process” .
Most essential skills as an artist include,
*Music
– sense of keeping time as a drummer.
– sense of “feel” or “groove” as a drummer. Executing the role well as a drummer doesn’t just have to do with mastering the first skill listed (sense of keeping time) but a skill I consider even more key to drumming properly and tastefully is the style and swagger in which you go about playing the kit.

*Photography
– sense of depth of field
– I believe my skill of being socially comfortable with strangers has been an essential skill supporting my photography and the results I get from shoots.
– focusing the lens properly on the subject

*Collage Design
– clean cutting with scissors
– patience
– the skill of confidently advocating for a collage i’ve finished and chosen to share with others,
regardless of the oddness .

A significant obstacle that comes to mind that stood in the way of me learning even more would be the psychological obstacle of being insecure and overly sensitive to what others think about me and about my artwork.
This is still an obstacle I can recognize and wrestle with sometimes. A common obstacle for most artists
new and old, I believe.

SAM, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a 29 year old photographer, musician and collage artist, proudly born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
My biggest intention when working on something wether it is a commission for someone, or just a personal creative project, is to approach it in a unique way and produce a finished piece that’s unlike anything people have experienced before, wether it be the lens and angle i choose to photograph a portrait with, the design and themes included in a new collage or the sound and style of a drum beat, it is necessary for it to standalone and exhale its own unique energy.
The strong emotion and experience of nostalgia has also been a huge muse and ingredient in my artwork over the years which I’ve embraced, specifically with the collage + photography.
I enjoy collaborations with others which is primarily what I have been using my skills as an artist to work on for close to a decade now. I continue to accept paid commissions for my collage and photography from many different types of people/brands, with different needs and reasons for the collaboration.

Art has been present in my day to day life ever since I was born thanks to being raised and encouraged by two artists.
My first engagement with making art began with drawing, I was stimulated by the wide selection of tools and materials to chose from to sketch. Pencils and oil pastels primarily were what I liked, some acrylic paints as well.
Also at very young age, I was introduced to the creative possibilities presented by collage thanks to my mother who had a long history working with mosaic design and casually creating with analog collage too .

By the time I was entering my teen years, expressing myself creatively and being stimulated making things was excersized daily in an organic and unforced kinda way.
This consistent habit of creating and exploring comfortably as an artist on a daily basis, made it easy for me to kindle my new found interest in drumming and begin my journey as a musician at the age of 12. My dive into being a musician was also triggered ofcourse by music I was beginning to really identify with as a pre teen, such as Gorillaz, Radio Head, Green Day, Led Zepplin and Brother Ali, to name a few . I found much pleasure and satisfaction doing my best to drum along to these artist’s CDs in my parent’s basement.
Another huge spark towards my passion for drumming was thanks to being a student of the great, Wilbert Dugas at Walker West Music Academy in St.Paul off of Selby . I took lessons from my friend Dugas for the first four years of my journey as a drummer, and I have no doubt in hindsight those lessons and more so Dugas’s spirit, played a pivotal role as I was starting out playing music at the age I was at the time. All love and respect to Wilbert Dugas, who in recent years I have rekindled a relationship with, and am fortunate enough to still enjoy time with him.
As my years drumming with Dugas finished, my venture of playing in bands and on stage began . I still remember my first ever gig with the first band I started . Such a special memory of mine and i distinctly remember the adrenaline I felt that night having performed live and knowing things would never quite be the same, i now had a sense of who i was as a person. A truly invaluable experience that event was, so forever near and dear to my heart .
Fast forward to today, I’ve been in a diverse variety of bands, each with a diverse and enlightening journey.
I am currently involved with a band i’m more excited about then any i’ve done previously which is called, FénixDion.
We released our debut album “Sugar” in October of 2022 and soon will be releasing fresh music as 2024 begins.

Photography began around the same time as drumming did . I’m confident my dad ingrained the interest in me because he was present with an attractive Pentax film camera from the day I was born.
Since the early days of my photography, the images have centered around people, events and music . In recent years I’ve preferred capturing candid moments more and more instead of posed and coordinated shots. One likely reason candid has become my favorite type of imagery is because I really like to have lots of movement displayed within my photography. Movement included in photos brings the image to life and I believe can even help give context to the photograph even though it’s a frozen representation of something / someone. Additionally, the subjects featured in the photograph tend to have a more interesting expression on their face and more expressive body language than if the photograph had been posed prior.
What’s most important to me about pursuing photography is how all photos gain value over time and it’s a privilege for me to be the person capturing the moments that turn into these priceless images for those involved later in their lives . I know that this specific reward photography offers will have me committed to photographing for the rest of my life.

Thirdly, collage has been a stimulating medium for me since I was young, but it was during the early 2020 Covid-19 lockdown period that collage really developed into a frequent and expressive medium for me. I appreciate collage still being a lesser known / understood medium in the arts. I believe the medium’s general oddness adds to the content within the piece and enhances a person’s curiosity about that collage. I enjoy digging through magazines and books, allowing the unpredictable content to inspire a new collage to work on.
A unique and consistent element found in the collages I create is a three dimensional effect included in the original collage. By attaching different sized blocks of foam behind individual pieces of the collage, the piece is thus given depth and dimension and makes the piece arguably more of a sculpture constructed of paper material rather then a traditional 2D analog collage. I am excited to see where collage takes me as an artist and what opportunities become available due to it. My work with collage has already lead me to doing stop motion music videos, album covers, set designs, t-shirts and as the new year of 2024 begins, I am working for two separate patrons on large scale, permanent murals .

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect to being an artist has been having creative outlets i feel i can best express myself and my feelings with in a more effective and pure way that words just wouldn’t communicate nearly as richly .

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Two goals driving my creative journey are –

To inspire others to nurture their own creative expression, in particular kids and younger people .
It’s been amazing, validating and encouraging hearing from people that my art has influenced them in some way .

Secondly, another big goal driving my creative journey is to one day be able to support myself financially exclusively via my artwork and creative skills!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.prettyclutterstudio.com
• Instagram: @sammybramble
• Other: second instagram for my collage – @prettyclutter

Image Credits
Vincent Balbo Arnold Rossa