Feature Artist SamanthasArtStudio

As I was in the Etsy Forums, I came across a posting from SamanthasArtStudio that sparked my interest. It was about outdoor art show tents and canopies. While I checked out Samantha's Blog, I decided I wanted to learn what type of art she created. I fell in loved her avatar which had paint brushes with bright lime green paint on them, and

I was instantly curious in her store. Once I took a peak at her items, I had 

to click on each an every item. Her use of bright colors and depth perception made me even more interested in learning about her personally. 

First tell us about yourself 

I've been drawing and painting all my life, ever since I was able to pick up my first crayons! The subject matter hasn't changed much as I've always loved to draw bugs and animals and anything I could find outside... Especially bees! I now prefer acrylic paints or colored pencils to crayons (but still love to get my hands on a nice pile of sidewalk chalk), and use most of the 

same bright colors I loved as a kid. I enjoy painting flora and fauna I see around me in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and hope to bring new awareness and light to plants and animals that people see frequently. I also enjoy painting tropical rain forest plants, as their bright colors lend themselves so well to my color palette of choice, and their beautiful shapes make for stunning compositions. Since I've always loved nature, I care very much about the environment and have been working hard to turn my art and business (and life in general) in a more green direction. My prints are being switched to packaging in biodegradable plastic sleeves, with backing board made from 100% recycled content. (Some prints are offered on Hahnemühle sugarcane bagasse paper, which is a byproduct of sugarcane production.) I hope that when others see my paintings of nature, they're reminded of how beautiful and unique each part of the environment is and will take small steps toward conservation themselves. How long have you been an artist? I seriously

can't remember a time I wasn't drawing or painting something! I was an only child until I was 11, so a whole lot of my childhood was spent reading or drawing by myself. Or writing... and illustrating my stories. Stuff about giant ticks, bees who played rock and roll, spiders that puked on everything.

I tried to make my parents proud. 

In your Etsy shop you mention "30 Bugs in 30 Days" Series, how is your process going so far? And what types of obstacles have you come across?

I just completed day 5 of my series (May 20). So far the only obstacle seems to be on particularly busy days when I don't have a lot of time. I've got a few ideas for upcoming bugs, and I may do some sketches on days that I'm short on time, I can do a bug in a hurry! 

If you were to pick a favorite painting, which one would be yours? 

A favorite painting of my own? That's a tough one! For some reason I really like this one, but I have put it up for sale before. I can't say I'm disappointed that it hasn't sold yet. Bird Of Paradise At the time, it was different than anything I had ever done, and sort of paved the way for a couple of things: painting tropical flowers, and not being adamant about my paintings having to be photorealistic. This was the first time I actually WANTED the viewer to see brush strokes! :) 

You are also very active in helping honeybees, what do you want to educate most about honeybees? 

When people hear about CCD and that the honeybee population has been decreasing, they might think that unless they're a beekeeper, there is nothing they can do. But everyone can do something! If you have a yard, you can plant a wide variety of plants and flowers that will bloom throughout the season. You can also start buying organic foods, which prevents so many chemicals from being released into the air and environment. If you live in an apartment and can't have a garden, and organic food is too hard to find or too expensive, you can always find and support your local beekeepers. Maybe your local grocery store carries honey from local beekeepers, but probably not. You might have to go to www.honey.com to find a local beekeeper.