Collection: Tom Samson

I began this artistic adventure over 35 years ago by simply signing up to carve a duck decoy. Next thing I knew, I am in a carving club, going to a local show. I was told that to be on the cutting edge, one should go to the Ward World Carving Championships in Ocean City, Maryland. This led to 25 plus trips to Ocean City, with side trips to places like San Diego, Sacramento, New Orleans, Minneapolis and Westlake, Ohio, showing my decoys and seeking critiques from well-established artists to improve my work. This has become an ongoing learning process. I have switched from duck decoys to flat art. It may seem that I am “self taught”; however, it is a learning process with the assistance of fellow artists, art teachers, formal classes, workshops, long hours of observations and trial and error. My art focus has changed from carving duck decoys to watercolor and oil painting and now scratchboard. I found the scratching stroke to be very similar to the stroke of burning feathers on carvings. With the help of Cathy Sheeter showing me the basics, I am doing scratchboard fulltime.