Sam Ralston

Art is a big part of my life. It gives me purpose and direction. I’ve always felt the need to be creative. It makesme feel different…in a very good way. Sometimes if I haven’t drawn or painted in a while I start to feel ordinary.

People think my work looks like internal organs, creatures or some form of sea life. I play on that. They’reusually free form sketches where I let my hand go where it wants, as if it’s on autopilot. Some of my sketchessit around for years, while others are used, often combined and then translated to paint.

At first, the shapesweren’t important. I was more interested in creating a mood with color, a balance with high contrast. Theshapes were almost secondary. Now years later, the shapes have become much more important. I want themto be believable, not necessarily representational. I want them to be recognizable, even though most of mysubject matter doesn’t exist in nature. I want my work to stand out, almost glow.

Many people have asked what inspires me. I get my queues from nature, underwater environments, sciencefiction and Art Nouveau. Recently my painting has changed, evolved and I’m excited to see what happensnext. I’m an artist…that’s who I am.

Exhibitions

Biography

I was born in South Amboy, NJ, in 1967. After moving several times, my family settled in Monroe Township,NJ. I started painting in my early twenties. I dabbled in illustration while still in high school, but didn’t trulyfind my niche until the late 1980s, when I began taking classes at DuCret Art School in Plainfield, NJ. This iswhere I experienced my first oil painting class.

I enrolled as a part-time student at Kean College in Union, NJ, in 1989. I took night classes to become an artteacher then changed my major to graphic design. Over the years, I’ve displayed my work in different venuesand have won a number of awards. I’ve sold many oil paintings to private clients and have been commissionedon a number of occasions. I now work full-time as a graphic designer and paint in my free time. I hopeto one day be able to make my hobby, my profession.