Today we’d like to introduce you to Sam Bartlett.
Hi Sam, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today.
I was always more comfortable drawing than reading or writing or doing math. Now that I have three kids, mostly grown up, I can look back and see that I had some undiagnosed learning disabilities. I’m 60 years old now and I just grew up in an old-school way of thinking: work really hard and you’ll figure it out and succeed. I busted my ass and did really poorly. I got a C- in one of the few art classes I ever took, even though I loved it, because I didn’t follow the syllabus correctly. I somehow made it through college though it was mostly a mystery to me, and I worked as a cider maker and truck driver for about three years, then I moved to Boston and got hooked into the very vibrant traditional music scene there. I grew up playing the banjo and mandolin and basically became a full-time professional musician. At the same time, I was working on drawing projects and making a lot of zines. I was also visiting folk artists around the country in my music travels and starting to make my own crude art, especially out of dumpster supplies, cast-off paneling, and plywood. I moved to Indiana after I met my wife, and continued being a musician, and creating plywood art. I also published several books –both self-published and by Workman–and got hired by the city of Bloomington to paint a bunch of public pieces of art. When the pandemic hit, I lost my source of income–performing mostly—and I went crazy making artwork and selling it over social media. That is largely how I make a living now.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I have some learning problems, no sense of direction, and I am terminally unable to follow directions. Making a living as an artist is hard, but it’s just what I need to do.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am known a traditional musician on banjo and mandolin, as a folk artist and public muralist, and as a writer, drawer, and performer of Stuntology. That word I made up a long time ago to describe things people do to amuse themselves with whatever the world offers them…I have made over 600 plywood sculpture cutouts, as well.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
My tremendous fortune has been to meet amazing people who have helped, inspired, and hired me! The list is so long, but: Peter Schumann, Howard Finster, the band Wild Asparagus, Mary Lea, Kate Barnes, Will Mentor, Cullen Strawn, Pete Sutherland, the Clayfoot Strutters, Sue Sternberg, Abby Ladin, Rick Good, Sharon Leahy, Evie Ladin, Eric Merrill, Dirk Powell, Julie Belcher, Jane Hamilton, Sean Starowitz.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://sambartlett.com/
- Instagram: realsambartlett
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/160483762427
- Other: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Bartlett
