5 minute read
Shining a LIGHT
IT’S EASY TO BECOME ACCUSTOMED, almost blind, to natural beauty when you grow up and live amongst it every day. Often it is only when you see it through the eyes of others that you can reconnect to how wonderful it really is - and how important it is - and Ōhope based artist Sam Poots’ work, which focusses on the natural world around us and has a strong environmental theme running through it, is a perfect lens to do just that.
Samantha Poots is popularly known simply as Poots - “It’s one of those names that just stuck,” she says, “and I was never really in to ‘Samantha’” - was born on the Central Plateau but has lived in Wanaka and Hawke’s Bay to name just a few locations.
“I didn’t really have a huge interest in art at school,” she says. “I did have lack of ability at school however! Well, actually I liked the practical stuff, like wood work, but I grew up in National Park and was more interested in skiing. I’m dyslexic and was partly homeschooled, so me and my sister spent a huge amount of time skiing.”
When she says ‘a huge amount of time skiing’ she doesn’t just mean leisurely traversing the slopes, she means serious competitive skiing, including the 2012 Innsbruck Olympic Winter Youth Games.
“That was pretty much my life, but then I had a serious injury - and that was a bit of a penny drop moment as I suddenly had to think, what am I going to do with the rest of my life now! I’d always been creative so I did a fine arts degree in Auckland, and there is a stubborn side of me that thought, well, I’m going to do this. I don’t want to have an arts degree and be working in a shop, nope, I’m gonna make a job out of this.”
“The main style of work I do now is pointillism. I’d dabbled in that before going to art school, but once you get there everything is super contemporary and you talk a lot of crap to get through! And I struggled with that and once I got out of school I basically returned to pointillism. Sitting in an office at a desk is the exact opposite of who I am. We’re quite outdoorsy - we do a lot of hunting and free diving and surfing - so my surroundings have always been my biggest influence. So a lot of my art is based on the relationship of the human theme and nature.”
“My passion for the environment is something I see as a huge part of my art journey, from land based trapping, pest control, animal management, and understanding the human impacts on the ocean like shark fining, fishing quotas, plastic pollution, marine management, and sustainable harvesting. Each artwork can represent a certain part of the environment that is being impacted, and where appropriate I donate part of my art sales to trusts or organisations helping these certain species. But pointillism takes a LOT of time! And as soon as you make art your business you are essentially self employed, and that puts lots of pressure on the creative process. You have to wear so many hats to be an artist in New Zealand and finding the balance is never easy.”
Sam is also passionate about the arts community, both locally and nationally, and this has seen her shift into event management, particularly for the fledgling but growing Light Up Whakatāne event.
“Light Up Whakatāne is our local arts trail,” she says, “and while I’m not participating in it as electrical stuff just goes way over my head - I’m a real pen and paper girl - it has been a very cool platform to be involved in. It is a collaboration between Arts Whakatāne, the Whakatāne District Council and EPIC, the business support group here. Whakatāne is seen very much as a summer destination and what it needs is an event to draw people here in winter as well, because it is a great winter get-away-from-it-all destination.”
“We really wanted to make it arts focussed, a curated event of local and regional artists, with some really amazing pieces. This is its second year so it’s good to be humble about it, but it has so much potential. And obviously being an artist I’m keen to see a thriving arts scene here. There’s some really good sorts out there who put in some really great work, and the support from local businesses has been incredible. There is so much creativity out there, and so many people who want to be a part of promoting art in the area. That is really refreshingI just wish I could find more time to do my own work!”
To check out her work go to www.artofpoots.com
