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Art has the ability to draw you and I into the deeper questions of life. It allows us the freedom to express and question the world around us, and the opportunity to engage with creativity. Art can help us broaden our sight so that we can encounter and experience that which is unseen.

Allow me to introduce you to my friend, Michael Samson. Mike and I have known one another for almost twenty years. Mike and his family live in a small village in the North East of Scotland. The location lends itself to creativity. The rolling hills, the distinct North East of Scotland light and the harsh rugged coast line provides a wonderful canvas from which to draw inspiration.

Mike is an artist and a very accomplished one at that. Here’s his bio from his website (www.michaelsamson.co.uk):

“Scottish landscape paintings by Scottish artist Michael Samson. Known for Contemporary Scottish landscape paintings and drawings exploring expressive landscapes and seascapes throughout Scotland. Michael lives and works in the North East of Scotland; his paintings record the passing of time and season and it’s effects on the Scottish landscape.

Scottish born, he studied Fine Art at Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen, then toured Europe on a travelling scholarship with the Royal Scottish Academy. After returning to complete a Post-Graduate Diploma in Art and Design and Masters Degree in Fine Art, he now teaches, demonstrates and exhibits throughout Scotland.

“Our pace of life dictates that we observe our world through a veil, failing to pause and enjoy the depth and colour of our experiences. In producing these drawings and paintings it was my intention to experience each location as deeply as possible; in all moods and conditions, at different times of day and season. I find that completing the work on location expresses the passing moments with rawness; there are few artistic ‘tricks’, just an honest response to what I see and feel.””

I have watched Mike’s vocation from afar, appreciating his gift of releasing the Scottish landscape to his interpretation and providing me (the onlooker) a new lens for which to engage with my birth place. Despite the miles I am separated from the North East of Scotland, Mike has the ability to capture the heartbeat of a small part of the world that I miss dearly.

A few weeks ago I had the privilege of being able to engage with Mike by asking him some questions over email, and for him to share a little more of his story as an artist. Below is our conversation with only a few editorial corrections. Here is the man behind his brushstroke.

Phil (P) Tell me a little bit about yourself and your education. What drew you to pursuing art as vocation?

Mike (M) This is the easy bit… I attended a private school in Dundee from the age of 5 till the end of sixth year (17), everyone from my school went on to become a Doctor, Lawyer or play Rugby for Scotland, so art didn’t really major on the curriculum. That being said, the art department was quite good, but before I even went to school I filled rooms with drawings and paintings and my earliest memories are of painting and making things – it’s just what I did.

I wasn’t very good at anything other than art at school, in fact I wasn’t even outstanding at art – I only received a ‘C’ at Higher Grade Art, but the only thing I ever wanted to be was an artist so career choice was fairly easy. After failing entry to art school from secondary, I went to a Further Education College for a year, attended evening classes at the local art school and then applied again. I remember the exhilaration on the morning of my 19th birthday when I received an unconditional acceptance to Gray’s School of Art in Aberdeen! Four years later, I graduated with an Honours in Fine Art and won a number of awards at the Royal Scottish Academy, including a travelling scholarship to Italy.

When I returned I took a post teaching art at Aberdeen College and over the next few years developed classes at community centres, youth projects and prisons across the North-east of Scotland. At the same time, I returned to Gray’s to do a Post Graduate Diploma in Art and Design and a Masters Degree in Fine Art. Somewhere in between I married the girl of my dreams and fathered two boys.

(P) What is the subject matter of your art?

(M) Landscape and the passing of time.

(P) What is the artistic and creative process for you?

(M) I didn’t know the answer to this until a couple of years ago… I just knew I had a compulsion to paint and draw, but my eleven year old son told me the answer when we were on a family holiday.

I was drawing in a sketchbook in a beautiful location on Lake Garda in Italy and he asked me why I drew. I told him it was a good question and I didn’t know, but I asked him if he knew why. He paused for a couple of seconds and his actual words were, “I think you draw because it makes your life seem more real” – I just about dropped my pencil. I’d wondered why I had this compulsion to draw and paint for years and struggled against it because I thought it wasn’t the most worthwhile way to spend a life and my son had given meaning to my existence in a few words.

So my answer to your question is… the creative process simply but profoundly, affirms my experience of life.

(P) Is your creative process a form of worship? If so, how?

(M) Sometimes… I don’t want to be overly spiritual about this (bearing in mind I’m a ‘part-time pastor’ and church leader). The answer is tied up in the subject of my work.

I became fascinated by the passages in Genesis that talk about God speaking matter into existence and I got to thinking, ‘If matter is God’s words, then what is landscape saying to me?’ My experiences of both creativity and worship involve an honest, childlike questioning. Over time, the observation of landscape becomes a meditation on God’s character – something like prayer.

(P) What, or whom has had the greatest influence on your life as an artist?

(M) I could list an astounding array of great and obscure artists and theologians here… but the single greatest influence on my life as an artist has been the encouragement of family and friends.

(P) How has your art changed over the years?

(M) The marks I make have become more gestural… by that I mean, after a long period of concentrating on technique I’ve slowly let myself become more intuitive about the way I draw and paint. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s the most exciting thing in the world when you make a single brush stroke with a two inch brush and it explains more to the viewer than a week of intensive brushwork with a triple zero sable!

(P) You teach art. What is it that drew you to pursue that?

(M) I struggle a bit with the word ‘pursue’… Most of the ‘big things’ in my life I’ve given the space for God to push me into, I’m not really a pursuer.

Basically, art is so absorbing – it lifts people above the grind of everyday life and as an art teacher I get to be part of that. It’s a thrill to watch someone do something they thought they couldn’t do! One of the prisoners I taught at Peterhead Prison told me that art had, “…widened his horizons”. After serving his time, he went to art school – I hope it made a difference in his life.

(P) How would you define ‘an artist’?

(M) Someone who asks childlike questions.

(P) How easy it for you to receive criticism? Do you use it positively? What has been the lowest part of your journey so far as an artist?

(M) On the surface… I take criticism fine. Do I use it positively? Maybe eventually, after kicking against it for a few years.

I’m afraid that just about every painting I produce creates a new ‘low-point’ for me in my artistic journey. I’m starting to get used to the fact that there’s a point I reach in everything I do where I say, “God, what’s the point. I can’t do anything worthwhile!” It’s at those times I know, I’m about to do something worthwhile.

(P) How does your faith inform what you do?

(M) Everything is an act of faith… looking at a blank canvas is one of the most terrifying experiences and without faith, it would remain blank, but when you stop stepping out into the unknown, you’re just taking up space.

In terms of the process around my painting, I often feel we can be distracted from experiencing life in depth, but there are moments when we glimpse the true colour of what God intended for us and I try to convey something of that in my compositions.

(P) How would you encourage budding new artists?

(M) One word… persevere.

(P) If you were to choose one piece of art that takes your breath away every time you see it, what is it?

(M) I return most frequently to the seascapes of a Scottish painter, Joan Eardley.

(P) Why do they impact you?

(M) Because they seem so honest, she’s not showing-off. She just responds immediately and intuitively to what she experiences – ‘like a child’ (I’m sure I’ve heard that phrase somewhere before).

(P) How do you see your artistic expression developing over the years?

(M) I want to paint bigger subjects and ideas in simpler ways.

(P) Thanks Mike! I owe you a beer!

(M) Yes you do.

If you would like to engage further with Mike then you can leave comments here or head over to his website – which you can do by clicking here

Alternatively you could always go on an ‘Art Trip’ with Mike and others. From October 14th until 18th October 2013, Mike will be leading an art trip to Venice, Italy. More details of that trip and costs can be found here

Thanks for reading!

Phil