We recently connected with Sam Wiener and have shared our conversation below.

Sam, appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

I grew up in a very creative family where imagination was highly encouraged. My Grandpa made his money from painting, my Grandmother from playing piano, and my father from playing with sounds. My mother was always doing projects and filled our home with moments of magic. However I also knew that knowing business was important, so the beginnings of my professional exploration were trying to combine the two, finding full time jobs where thinking outside of the box were celebrated. At some point, I realized I wanted a bit more control over my own life, and painting was bringing me so much joy and piece of mind that I decided to focus most of my energy there.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve always had an obsession with my hands. Unfortunately, I got into the habit of biting my nails when I was younger, and the only thing that would keep me from doing that is to distract them with tasks. I picked up latch hooking as a kid, then started sewing and making clothing. From there I went to College for Fashion Business but took endless creative classes on the side. When I got out of college, I got super into drawing and then drawing turned into clay and making jewelry and I had my first foray into making a business out of something that I was making from scratch. There is no better confidence booster than having someone love your art enough to spend their money on it!

My creative endeavors then circled back to latch hooking – in a more fluid form from when I was a kid – and this is where my style began to form. I love the abstract and found a lot of inspiration from seeing the world without my glasses on (I have terrible eyes). Seeing blurry shapes in everything around me and translating that into different mediums. I have experimented with embroidery, textiles and clay, but my favorite medium is paint.

Painting is the thing I have gotten the most out of. It’s become such a meditative process for me, one of the only times I can completely shut off my mind and let my hands talk. It’s a very improvisational process for me, I don’t plan anything out. I am super grateful for it and thankful to everyone along the way that has encouraged me, and enjoyed my art enough to have it in their home!

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Oh my gosh, there are so many things that make me feel so lucky. One of the most rewarding things is having a strangers love my art. As an artist, you spend most of your time in a solitary bubble doing your thing, unaware of how people will react to what you’re making. Whenever I get feedback from someone, it makes me feel connected to the world! On top of that, I love looking at my life as something I can create. I can make the place Im living feel a certain way, the air around me feel different. Looking at life as a piece of art that you can change as you go makes it feel completely open for you.

Another huge reward is that I get to be available to the people around me whenever they need. I feel so lucky that I have the ability to own my own time, and the option to work whenever I feel inspired to. Im not sure Ill ever be able to go back to a “normal” job!

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

Interact! Just having people look without a reaction, without a comment, is great – however even just a simple “like” of a photo goes a long way. Getting any boosts of confidence creates the want to do more, make more.

On top of that, its hard to stand behind the value you put on your work. I find myself always de-valuing pieces I make so that they are more approachable, because the ultimate goal is that people have my art hanging in their homes, creating their own lives around the art. I hope that the price of great art becomes a bit more normalized, because it does take a lot of time to create one piece. As an artist, you give little pieces of your soul away to each piece, so not only are people purchasing your work, their also purchasing a part of you.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://samwienercreations.com/about
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oddfolx

Image Credits

Jeff @sacred.pixels (i dont know his last name)
Alexis Wiener