Good afternoon friends.

We have a very special feature today on “The Good News Channel” — Say hello to Samantha Bennet. Shes a very talented and successful artist also know as; “PainerSam.  Samantha’s story is a story of heroism and resiliency. Through all her trials and tribulations, her art always bridged her back to life.

John Lennon, Acrylic portrait painting with mixed media collage.

Before we start, I emailed Samantha last night telling her how moved I was by this story. As everyone knows we have featured all kinds of artists from all over the world. And we salute them all. But Samantha’s personal and artistic journey has been a story of triumph.

Samantha and a rescue.

Here’s a direct quote from her;  “My scars are my story and I am proud of them. I embrace the curious stares of strangers. Most of all, I hope they stare at my art and see that I am following my dreams.”      — Story Continues below;

Samantha’s Mona Lisa, created for her first solo exhibit titled “Scar Portraits and Beyond.”– Mixed media Oil Painting.

Samantha’s passion for art did come from conventional ways. At just nine Months old, Samantha survived bacterial meningitis. The disease resulted in some fingers, toes and half her right foot being amputated. As a result of such horror, she had many reconstructive surgeries during her early years. Spending much of that time recovering is where she was drawn to sketching people.

Amy Winehouse, oil painting and collage

Samantha can draw Life like looking paintings just from seeing a person’s photograph. She remembers during high school she had doodles of eyes and flowers all over homework and everywhere else imaginable. Although Samantha has missing fingers she continued to pursue an art career by attending the Columbus Collage of Art and Design.  She majored in Fine Arts and studied painting. During these years is where she really grew into her own style and let loose with her backgrounds and colors.

Samantha’s niece and a painting I did of her when she was a baby. 

Early in Samantha’s career she often asked to create artwork that was Not really colorful. She felt bummed out by the lack of colors in her project. It took years of being a commissioned artist before she finally reach a point in her career when she began to create work that was her “Interpretation” of the subject she was painting. Today Samantha has become so established, she paints it her way, or No way, lol.

Martin Luther King 

Also playing into Samantha’s artistic background was being a Navy Officer’s wife for 10 years and travelling all over the place. She spent weeks in London and in Paris. A week in Italy and even went to Slovenia. Not to mention most major cities in the US. She went to art museums in every city theyvisited too! Needless to say, Samantha loved the art museums in Florence, the MuseeD’Orsay in Paris and local artists in London. Those trips really encouraged and inspired her to continue to paint.

Me with 20 dog paintings I created for an exhibit at McGraw-Hill Education. I created these paintings within a month and started painting the show after having reconstructive surgery 2 weeks before. It was a healing experience!

As for her dog art, it kind of evolved on it’s own. Samantha had always been know to paint people. But her dog Duke was always by her side. So Samantha figured to take a shot and paint him from time to time too. People started to take notice of Samantha’s paintings of her American Bulldog in her portfolio. Her dog art became so well known that McGraw-Hill asked if she can create a solo exhibit of all dogs.

Zoe the Pibble, from Chicago, she’s an ambassador for her breed and raises positive awareness for “pit bulls”. 

Samantha created 20 paintings of giant dog portraits for McGraw-Hill Education’s corporate building in Columbus Ohio.  I mean is that impressive or what. Needless to say, from there her dog art took off. All of the dog art projects were very refreshing for Samantha as normally she only painted people and cities and such. Since then she painted hundreds of paintings for people from all over the world.

These are my boys— Murphy ( giant dog), Nolan and Archer

As if Samantha’s story was not impressive enough, she is also known for her Butterfly Portraits. This series was started about 8 years ago when Samantha and her husband lost their first child at 2 days old. She donated this Butterfly collection to other parents that have lost a child. Samantha speaks about what rough time in her life this was. But her art carried her through where she was able to take her loss and give back to hundreds of families.

This is Ted from Australia and his PainterSam portrait. 

Friends I hope you all enjoyed reading this story as I did writing on it. This story is so much more than Samantha’s brilliant art work. In the face of a deck of cards stacked against her, she rose to the challenge and became the victor rather than the victim. As I said earlier, I am blown away by this story. Sammy & Family needed to hear this and she how her life and her craft transcended.

This is my husband Jason, me and one of my great friends JD Urban. He’s an amazing photographer from Brooklyn that I met through my art. We are at a the National Meningitis Association Gala in NYC.

Samantha is been a privledge and an honor featuring you on “The Good News Channel” today. You lead by example and have made the world a better place with your compassion and resiliency.

Seattle 

Painter Sam’s website;  http://www.paintersam.com/

On Facebook;  https://www.facebook.com/paintersam11/

On Instagram;  https://www.instagram.com/paintersam/?hl=en