Sam’s artwork, the beaded forms, represent history, community and cultural exchange. I met her in Nova Scotia about 20 years ago and our first conversation was about a dream to develop an art program for our summer community. We began by connecting with the local French speaking University, the University of St. Ann, mixing art teachers from both the U.S. and Canada. Next step she bought an original one-room schoolhouse and had it moved to the back of her family property where summer workshops are taught currently. The cultural exchange has broadened. The last workshops had students from the U.K., Switzerland, as well as the U.S. and Canada. Just as Sam’s jewelry has become more complex and sophisticated over the years so have her workshops evolved from local to international. To arrive at the vintage 100-year-old schoolhouse is to be immersed in French Acadian culture. Bay St. Marie, part of the Bay of Fundy, astounds one with its’ beauty: intense blue skies, tidal rise and fall of 26’ twice a day, fabulous sunsets mirrored in the ocean landscape. Sam shares the cuisine, the music, lobster and scallop history with her students as part of her teaching. Her artwork now represents worldwide. To purchase a piece of her art means supporting in worldwide art collaboration and cultural exchange. Over the years I acquired three of her jewelry pieces. The first was a beaded brooch representing a piece of clay sculpture. Her beaded work was flat in form, a monochrome of earth colors, and, pattern may have been its’ strong point. Next, was a bracelet, again a flat form, wild in color, reminiscent of abstract expressionist art. There were momentos included, one being an oval bead cabochon. When I looked inside the Mona Lisa was staring back – smile and all. What a surprise! The last jewelry acquired was sculpture for the ears created in black and gold. They are 3-D wings ready to fly from a rhinestone chain. They are reminiscent of Calder’s early mobiles but these are feminine and playful statements. They are exquisite!

Rosa Kennedy Friend

Sam has been a part of my life for nearly 50 years. She is a remarkable artist and quite remarkable as a friend. The kind of friend that anyone would be lucky to have. The first piece of her art that I really paid attention to was a sculpture called The Shooting Gallery. Not being an artist or having any education in art I could not have said why I liked the piece so much. I just knew that it made me smile. For a period in the early 80’s I was blessed to work with her in New York City in a small clothing business called Edna Queen of Mars. She and my partner worked as a great team designing the clothing that I helped to produce. And we did many pieces that delighted the fashion coordinator at Bloomingdales. I know Sam to be a very dedicated instructor. Her teaching strives to give her students an education in art. But also in life. I’m sure her students become better at making art and at living life under her guidance. Of her jewelry I have nothing to say but Wow! I have many pieces and I occasionally wear the pieces that I feel I can carry off as a fairly liberated man. So I am able to say that not only are they beautiful. They are well made so that one can wear them without fear of someone touching them in admiration.

Keith Bupp Friend