03 Jul Stephenson Showcase: “Garden Party” by Bobbi K. Samples
The summer months are full of life. From blooming flowers and buzzing insects, there is activity everywhere you look. Artist Bobbi K. Samples will channel both the most passionate and refined summer moments through her July showcase exhibit, Garden Party.
While Bobbi is mostly self taught, she began exploring art by taking lessons with another artist, Maggie Shively. She credits those first lessons as having “remained invaluable” as she continues her fine arts journey. She has always been a creative person in mind and heart, having experience in dance, teaching, and design alongside her painting.
Florals have always captivated Bobbi’s imagination. She works large-scale to bring out the subject matter’s details. Working large also allows her to utilize large brushes in broad strokes. This creates an abstract effect “without losing the desired image.” Layers of saturated oil paints eventually build into striking blooms. If she’s unable to get the exact depth she’s searching for, she’ll use knives to add in texture. Once satisfied, pieces are typically finished with two coats of glaze, which makes “them glisten, as if in the sun.”
Bobbi notes that the recent works to be featured will channel “a time before movies when people got together in the afternoon for tea or champagne to stroll through the garden and talk. Ladies with their hats and parasols and gentlemen leading with their arms.” Viewers can expect bright and bold poppies, roses, peonies, lilies and more as they promenade through the Stephenson House gallery in July.
You can meet Bobbi during her reception on Saturday, July 13th, from 4-6 p.m. on the Noblesville Creates on 8th campus.
