At the heart of Sam’s work lies the elements — earth, water, air, fire, and the unseen spirit that binds them.
Through creatures, these forces are given a voice: a badger carrying the weight of earth, a whale moving with the depth of water, a hare grounded yet reaching toward the stars.

Together they ask simple but vital questions: How do we stay balanced? How do we live in harmony with nature instead of apart from it? And how much of the earth’s energies and the universe’s ancient mysteries do we ignore, dismiss, or forget in the rush of modern life?

At 16, I set out on an art path that always pulled me toward the three-dimensional — model-making, sculpture, form. Even while I explored illustration and design, I found my voice most clearly when my hands were shaping something solid.

Life carried me into 23 years of computer-based design work, and for a long time I ignored the frustration that came with it. By the end of the COVID pandemic, I knew I was burnt out. Clay became my way back to myself.

Working with clay feels like home: it carries the same playfulness I once had with papier-mâché and air-drying clay, but with permanence, weight, and a truth I can hold. It suits my three-dimensional brain — a place where ideas don’t just stay as sketches, they become.