Art Medium(s): Ink, pencil, acrylic.
How do you describe your art? If I can be honest, I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about how to describe my art. It is what it is and it comes out the way it comes out. Once the work exists it belongs to the people who encounter it. Their interpretations matter more than mine. My role is simply to make the work. I’m just the doodler.
Were you always interested in following a creative path? Always. It was what I thought I would do with my life from the very beginning. The first career goal I ever had was “artist-astronaut.”
What does your “day-in-the-life” look like? I’m currently a full-time student studying art history, so a lot of my time is spent reading and writing. Drawing itself is slow work for me. Most pieces take many months and several drafts to complete, so there’s always something to adjust—some corner of the image to rethink, some line to needle into place until it feels right.
Where do you get your creative inspiration? Art history, music, words I come across and things I have always wanted to describe visually. Sometimes inspiration comes from very small observations: light hitting a building, the shape of a tree against the sky or a moment that feels strangely quiet or suspended in time.
Why do you love what you do? Art is miraculous. It has no business existing. It serves no practical purpose. You can’t breathe it or eat it, it won’t keep you warm or cure disease—yet it may be the best thing we do. It can reach everyone in some way or another. Even if you hate something, it has still reached you. That ability to communicate across time, culture and personality is extraordinary. There are an unlimited number of ways to see things in art, and every artist has a different way of seeing. Being part of that conversation is endlessly fascinating.
One thing most people don’t know about being an artist, in your opinion: The newest drawing I’ve made is the most important drawing I’ve ever made—until it becomes the last drawing I made. Then it becomes completely unimportant and the next one takes its place.
Early bird or night owl? Early bird.
Last movie you watched or book you read: I don’t actually watch many movies. Most of my time lately has been spent reading.
Is the glass half full or half empty? Half full. Unless you’re very, very thirsty.
What makes you happiest? Quiet moments of observation. Empty streets, changing light, the shapes of buildings and trees, or the feeling that the world is continuing along whether anyone is watching it or not. Movements inside movements. Those moments of stillness are often where ideas begin.
Find Samantha on Fine Art America: fineartamerica.com/profiles/samantha-ducas