THE GREEN SPACE FEATURE ARTIST Sammy Ann

SAMMY ANN'S STORY

day dreamer. mother. lover of the sun and surf. explorer, admirer, adventurist. ARTIST. owner of permanently salty hair. 

"Painting and creating has always been a big part of my life. Art is my passion. I was crazy about art all throughout school, so it goes without saying that I chose to study a Batchelor of Fine Arts at Monash University. However my journey into becoming a full time artist did not begin until Melbourne's first lock down in 2020. Being new to the area, I had no family or friends close by. So the kids and I spent week after week exploring our local beach. It was during these quiet moments, that I pulled my old sketchbook out and started to draw. It felt so good to have something that was mine to accomplish in the day. Later on, when the kids were napping, I picked up the paint brushes and began to paint my memories of the day. Some days I would get to paint for hours, others only minutes. But it was my time, and I cherished it. Day after day, slowly and steadily, I started to find my artistic voice again and grew the confidence to start showing and selling my work, leading me to where I am today.

I now sell my work both on my own website and through stockists in Melbourne, New South Wales and America. Recently I have recently been selected for the Southern Buoy Landscape prize, asked to sell work through the Block Shop and have had three exhibitions - all such massive highlights for me!​

I have such a BIG love for the ocean and all the life within. The concept I have been investigating lately is the abstraction of water. I'm mainly focusing in looking at the way water moves around rock pools and reefs from an aerial perspective. Through a variety of lines, swirls marks and curves, I try to bring in some elements of abstraction into my work to create a sense of  calmness, connection and flow.. 

My draw towards painting the ocean comes from a deep place of peace and calmness I feel when I'm at the beach. It really is the only place that is able to settle me and allow me to take a step back from my life, and just “be”. Some of my happiest memories consist of visits I have done around the ocean, diving in the reef, paddle boarding at my local beach, exploring the sand dunes with my kids, surfing or swimming in the icy winter waters.

I choose to paint from an aerial perspective, to give the viewer feelings of the vastness of our ocean and allow them to get lost in the world I have created. My long term goal is to continue to create more and more connections with people to the ocean, through my artwork. Whether it be a painting that reminds them of a beautiful moment they had watching whales breach, or the peaceful moments they had paddle-boarding all alone in the ocean - my paintings aim to honour these special memories and remind people of the beauty of our planet and ultimately our need to protect it. 

​The ocean quietly unites global communities in a profound way. And yet, the ocean faces more threats today than ever before in history.

People continue to carelessly develop, pollute and overfish the world’s biggest ecosystem. Today, only 6.4 per cent of the global ocean is protected, and only 2.7 per cent of it has strong protection against harmful activities. I think we can do better!"