We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Samantha Zimmermann. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Samantha below.
Alright, Samantha thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. When did you first know you wanted to pursue a creative/artistic path professionally?
Ever since I was a kid I absolutely loved art, I would constantly be drawing- sometimes on the walls to much of my parents’ chagrin. Both of my parents worked for NASA/Lockheed Martin as technical drawers and mechanical engineers. I think both of my parents thought I would end up going down a similar path, but as I got a little older I always felt that I wanted to be a professional artist. Being that there was never any sort of creative professional in our family, you know the typical stereotype of being a “starving artist” would come up, but more so that it wasn’t necessarily a job but a hobby.
So with that lingering in the back of my mind, at 22 I attended USF as a double major in Pre Med and Studio Art. Along the way, I remember sitting in anatomy lecture, drawing in my notebook; that always helped me remember the lecture details. I had a few classmate approach and always comment, “Why aren’t you pursuing your art?”, and at the time it just didn’t seem possible. I always feared that it wouldn’t go anywhere, and that I’d be stuck in a 9-5 I would absolutely dread if I failed. After my 3rd year, I came to the realization that the pre-med path wasn’t for me- which was really difficult because I had invested time and money towards it, and I actually really enjoyed the science. I finished my degree in Fine Art with a focus in Printmaking, and I started to looking into ways I could make a living as an artist, so I looked into doing a tattoo apprenticeship!
When I was about 16 I had a tattoo apprenticeship offer, it was something I was interested in but it just wasn’t the right place or time to step into that facet. Fast forward to when I was 26, freshly graduated with my BA, I was lucky enough to sit down and meet with an incredible tattoo artist named Steve LaMantia thanks to a referral from his daughter. Steve owns a tattoo studio named Ever After Gallery with two other artists, Michelle Gallo, and Dee Dee Seruga!
Steve and I had a long conversation about the apprenticeship process, and to be honest I wasn’t sure he would take me under his wing- but he did! I was his apprentice for 2 years before becoming a fully licensed artist, and when I wasn’t busy I would be painting, working on tattoo designs, or commissions. My perspective started to change a lot on the professional artist mentality, here I was working amongst 6 of the most incredible artists who were making a living off of their art.
At this point I was tattooing full time, sometimes over 6 hours a day, and then working on paintings until 2AM afterwards. It got to a point where I started to sell some originals, which was a huge deal for me- and then more commissions were coming in. Finally I reached a point where both were so busy it’s like I was working 2 full time jobs, and I had to make a decision on what path I wanted to follow. That was the turning point for me- that’s when I finally knew I could take my painting and turn it into my full time career. It goes without saying that it was an extremely bittersweet moment, Steve and the entire crew at Ever After Gallery had become my family, but it’s massively in thanks to them them for giving me the space to blossom into a full time artist, and for giving me the courage to to give it my all.
Samantha, 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 professional automotive and motorsports artist based out of San Antonio, Florida! I originally got into motorsport back in the 90’s, my dad and I would spend Sunday’s watching Formula 1, and later on my husband introduced me to endurance racing. The first race that I attended was the 24 Hours of Daytona, and from that point on I was completely infatuated with the sport, historic and current! I primarily create oil paintings and graphite drawings of motorsport events, specific cars, or driver portraits as well, both current and historic; I have a soft spot for vintage racing. The most prominent theme in my work is a sense of motion and depth. I also work in the creative marketing side for IMSA, and IndyCar by creating poster artwork, t-shirt designs, liveries for cars, original artwork for charity, and unique social media content!
I absolutely love being able to help my clients commemorate a special car for their personal collections, or to create an eye catching design for a race! Being that we live is such a connected world now, I really enjoy offering the content creation related to the art for social media, it feels really authentic.
One of the things I’m most proud of is the partnerships and friendships I’ve been able to make this year. I think it’s so important to keep traditional fine art present in this fast paced world, and with those partnerships I feel like I’ve been able to help do so. Earlier this year I created the poster artwork for the Mobil1 12 Hours of Sebring, and that in itself hosts some huge names in the niche of motorsport art. Being that I really started this journey as just a fan of the sport, it’s truly a special experience to have had the opportunity to work with Sebring on this project. I’m still pinching myself! I truly hope that this inspires others to pursue their passion for art, and that it’s a reminder to always believe in yourself because anything you set your mind to is possible.
For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?
I think the most rewarding thing about being an artist is being able to look back at the journey and to see the progress. Being a creative and being “good” at something isn’t necessarily something that happens over night. There are so many people that come up to me at events and will say, “Oh I can’t even draw a stick figure.” Or, “Oh you’re so gifted to be able to do that!”, it means a lot, but realistically it’s so much practice. As creatives we spend so much time behind the brush, and it genuinely does take hundreds of hours to hone a skill like painting or drawing.
Secondly, I think seeing a client’s reaction to a finished piece! Being that I create a lot of historic pieces, it’s an amazing experience to almost relive the moment with the client, like winning LeMans! There’s so much emotion involved with endurance racing, and when it ends on the podium it’s even more special to capture.
We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?
I don’t feel I have a massive following, but I can certainly try to help with what has worked for me! Social media can be tricky, time consuming, and frankly exhausting. I sat at around 3,000 for as long as I can remember, and I had been looking at Reels, trying to find a trend I could hop on to showcase my art, or personality. I created one reel, with a trending audio, that was less than 10 seconds, and it ended up taking off. It wasn’t my art, but it was something I felt very passionately about and fell more into that personality category.
I think there is such a mass production of stuff on social media now, but I think the best way to set yourself apart is to be genuine, let your audience know who you are, make some behind the scene content, make tips/tricks videos, and be SOCIAL! After all, it is social media- albeit the algorithm is always changing, it seems to help to engage with other accounts regularly.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.samanthazimmermannart.com
- Instagram: @zimmy_arts
- Facebook: https://Www.facebook.com/samanthazimmermannarts
- Linkedin: https://Www.linkedin.com/in/samantha-zimmermann-0b36b094?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=ios_app
- Youtube: @samanthazimmermann6289
Image Credits
Jessica Johnk
Rafael Torres
Austin Swan