ART BIOGRAPHY AND RESUME

When I was a child, in Oakland, CA, my siblings and I watched horror movies; I was scared and couldn’t sleep; I would sneak downstairs, turn on all the lights, and draw faces from record album covers.  After a while, I got pretty good at it; I learned where the face contoured, where shadows fell, and the relationship between the elements of the face.  I sold a painting for $5.00. 

In grammar school, I was selected to paint a Halloween design on a storefront window, and every time I went by that store, I knew I wanted to be an artist.  In high school, I learned the technique of sculpting and printmaking.  I received a certificate of merit in a city-wide art contest, and someone bought my woodcut.  This encouraged my desire even more.

I graduated from the University of California at Berkeley, with a BA in Physical Education; while participated in many sports, and being a member of the track team, I began to paint athletes posed for their special sport.   I entered the Westwood Semi-Annual Outdoor Art Festival, in Westwood, CA, and was awarded first place (the judge said it was for originality of design).  I continued to enter art shows, festivals, anything I could to build my art resume.    

In my art studio I composed a set of 6 designs commemorating athletes at their Olympic sports, and made presentation to the 1984 L.A. Olympic Committee, hoping to be an official Olympic artist.   My designs were not accepted for distribution.  I learned to silk screen onto clothing, and I marketed my own designs on silk screened clothing and limited edition prints.  I had a one woman show at the Gibraltar Bank, and was designated their official Olympic Artist.  I was also given a one woman show at the Kaiser Hospital, in Los Angeles.

My resume includes:  The Westwood Semi-Annual Art Fair (awarded first place for painting);  The Long Beach Art Show at the Queen Mary Landing; The Playboy Art & Jazz Festival, Hollywood, CA; The Art & Soul Art Festival, Sacramento, CA; Gibraltar Bank, Inglewood, One Woman  Show of Olympic Art and sports themed clothing; Falkirk Cultural Center, First Annual Art and Craft Show, San Rafael, CA; Santa Paula, CA, Blanchard Community Library Art Show, Kaiser Hospital, Los Angeles, One Woman Show of Olympic Themed Art.

I have traveled America and Europe, including France and Amsterdam, painting and absorbing art cultures.  In Paris, I sat in doorways at night, sketching scenes of Parisian nightlife.  In Amsterdam, I sat at outdoor cafes, drinking Heineken beer, and sketching the Holland scene.  My painting style aspires from the works of Vincent Van Gogh, and the Impressionists, and the paintings of Ernie Barnes, Official Olympic Artist.   My paintings include nature scenes, boating and water scenes, people and portraits, plants and foliage, and abstracts. 

Thank you for viewing my work.

Elaine E. Sampson

Artist

(626) 529-4146

www.Youtube.com/elaineSampson

jazzeee94610@hotmail.com

ARTIST STATEMENT

When I was a child, in Oakland, CA, my siblings and I watched horror movies; I was scared and

couldn’t sleep; I would sneak downstairs, turn on all the lights, and draw faces from album covers.

 After a while, I got pretty good at it; I learned where the face contoured, where shadows fell,

and the relationship between the elements of the face.  I sold a painting for $5.00. 

I've always lived near water, the Oakland/San Francisco Bay area in Northern California, and have been

fascinated by water's colorful changes yet, when held in the hand, it's shimmering and

clear.  For years I have studied and practiced painting water scenes.  The techniques I’ve found

 particularly appealing are the Impressionists techniques of using brush strokes and color

application to represent form; Van Gogh’s frantic brush strokes and thick application of paint to

present emotion and visual effects.  I have learned that water is a non-color liquid, that it’s

form and visual colors are composed of everything around it, within it, and beneath it.  I have

learned to be free of re-creating a standard view of water, and to involve atmospheric influences,

the sun’s rays, vegetation surrounding and within/under the water, and to give water its life

through colors, brush strokes, and my emotional eye.

And people; I wanted to be a credible portrait artist; again, thinking I had to represent exactly the

original photo; give back through a painting exactly the image in a photo.  Copying from those albums

I realized the shape and form of the human face, where shadows were cast, and the relationship among

elements of the face. 

Next, understanding facial coloring.  I painted one color over another, trying to recreate the tones and

colors in a face.  And, as with water, I had poor success.  From working with water, I learned to step back

from copying and analyze the environment of the face, and that facial coloring is influenced by

atmospheric and situational circumstances.

Picasso's techniques taught me that exaggeration and even distortion can still create an image

recognizable as a specific form. So when I approach a painting, I dissect the subject matter,

tearing it into shapes and colors, then try to reconnect it all in a colorful, emotional,

 design. Through brush strokes, shapes and color choices, I try to convey the beauty, energy,

feeling and emotions, evident in the visual world.  

I have traveled America and Europe, including France and Amsterdam, painting and absorbing art

cultures.  In Paris, I sat in doorways at night, sketching scenes of Parisian nightlife.  In Amsterdam, I sat

at outdoor cafes, drinking Heineken beer, and sketching the Holland scene.  My painting style aspires

from the works of Vincent Van Gogh, and the Impressionists, and the paintings of Ernie Barnes, Official

Olympic Artist.   My paintings include genre, nature, water, musicians, sports, portraits, florals, and

abstracts. 

THANK YOU FOR VIEWING MY ART

Elaine E. Sampson (Jazzeee)

Your Artist

(626) 529-4146

www.Youtube.com/elaineSampson

jazzeee94610@hotmail.com