Sam Carter – Bio

I was born and raised in Southern California, grew up in the City of Orange, in the shadow of the Matterhorn from that little theme park down the freeway. I have always been glued to pop culture, but not knowing that it was anything I can celebrate later in life. Being an only child, Smurfs, Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, He-Man, Transformers and Han Solo were pretty much who I hung out with on daily basis. I was the kid with the plastic Ewok Village, playing in the weeds in the back yard. As I got older and more “serious” about my art, I started seeing other artists out there who took these types of things we grew up with and turning it into Art blew my mind. I knew Pop Surrealism was for me.

Growing up I was glued to movies and TV, I found myself always having them on as background noise while I drew, which is probably why my brain memorized word for word most of these flicks. I have a feeling I have listened to more movies than actually watched. If a language existed that was based completely on movie quotes I would be fluent. So needless to say, as a kid I produced a lot of art based on these types of subjects. There are a few in every school, the kids that can draw Garfield, then later it was Bart Simpson or something. I never put any real thought into it, just for fun. It was fan art, which oddly enough I don’t care for. So it’s official, I’m a hypocrite. Hating fan art and seeing it as amateur as it is, is why I never thought I could do anything with it. It would be something the serious art world would not even look at. Plus most of it out there was dogfood. But what made it click for me when I got older was when they combined these movies with classic art. It’s a fine line, and I don’t always hit it on the head. But if there is a way to make a statement, or give tribute to something from one of the art masters I am a happy guy. It’s fun to paint, plain and simple. Which is why in the past few years I paint what I enjoy, and I enjoy all things Pop.

I learned a lot from Cal State Fullerton, graduating in 2004. I learned what I liked and more importantly what I didn’t like about painting. But the best part of going to College was having the 8 hours a day to crank out some pieces. And one of the hardest parts was bringing your paintings to the critiques. That was definitely a challenge, and even to this day something I struggle with. The weird thing is most of the time I agree on with the criticism, which is probably why it bothers me. I’m a lot more comfortable with it these days, either that or I know how to take it a bit better. My first Gallery was a Senor Show at CSUF, since then I have been a part of numerous group shows in Orange County and LA. There have even been a couple on the East coast and overseas in France. Although I can’t make it out there in person all the time, it still means a lot to me that I am a part of something like that. There are lot’s of talented people out there, and it’s comforting to surround yourself with them.

My goal with this site is to get a good collection of my work together as an on line portfolio, a little something to show what I’ve been up to. I also wanted an easy way to make my art available to anyone who wanted to purchase it. Check out the store tab at the top of this page if you are interested in getting an original painting or a reproduction. Thanks for checking out the site and reading a little bit about what floats my boat.

Enjoy.