Today we’d like to introduce you to Samantha Price.
Hi Samantha, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Absolutely! I’ve always been very keen on storytelling. Whether it was reading, writing, or performing/working in theatre, I was always aware of the beats, tones, and pictures painted when a compelling yarn was spun. About two or three years ago, I noticed I wasn’t as artistically fulfilled as I thought I would be. I had tied a lot of my self-worth to a career that wasn’t giving much of anything back. I decided to give myself permission to try new things, to fail at a few, and find something that really made my heart sing.
In the summer of 2019, I finally found my medium–embroidery. Through needle and thread, I could calm my racing mind, create something beautiful, and tell a compelling and textured story.
Flash forward to now (through some serious forced indoor time that enabled me to practice and fall deeper in love with this ancient art); I decided to take this hobby to others and offer custom pieces. From family portraits and photograph replication to pop culture homage and poetry, I work to bring my client’s ideas to life and give them a final piece that they can cherish for a lifetime.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Ah, no. I’ve fallen prey to the beast that is social media and constant content production on more than one occasion. I’ve doubted myself plenty. I definitely accepted more volume of work than I could handle. But through it all, practicing embroidery, playing with watercolours, and creating these snapshots in time has reminded me that while our culture is fast-paced and demands so much from us, taking a moment to slow down (in a VERY slow craft) is sometimes just the medicine the mind, body, and soul need to keep forging ahead.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
Someone once told me when I was starting out that my work is very “deliberate”, which I thought was a great way to describe it. I’ve worked in marketing, directing, theatre, and graphic design, so I suppose the skills that come from those areas make me keenly aware of the thoughts and emotions any single artistic choice can evoke within someone looking a piece.
I’d also say my work has a quality of understated opulence. I love color, and I saturate my pieces with texture, watercolor, and heaps of thread. I’ve tried to keep things simple on a few commissions, but you can always see a bit of “muchness” creeping in at the edges.
We’d love to hear about what you think about risk-taking?
I think before this point, I would have said that I’m not a risk-taker. I’m certainly a risk-averse person still, but…starting this new venture, in general, was a risk. I have a full-time career, I live very far from friends and family (making keeping up relationships a full-time job itself), I love being outdoors…so deciding to take the time to really slow down and make art for others was a bit of a gamble. I didn’t know starting out how much attention and requests I would receive–I went in blind as to how to make a creative business works. And you know what? Still figuring it out. And that approach is a far cry from the meticulous way past-Sam kept her life. But that’s what gives me my newfound spark, I think.
In my art, risk-taking doesn’t appear on the surface. But the amount of trial and error involved in teaching myself new techniques, or exploring new ways of doing things, takes me out of my comfort zone and expands my framework of what this historic medium can be.
Contact Info:
- Email: thespricedstitch@gmail.com
- Website: thespricedstitch.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thespricedstitch/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheSpricedStitch/
- Other: TikTok and Reddit: @TheSpricedSttich, Commission me on KRFTR.com!
