A few months back I went to my local food and art market in South East London where I saw Samantha's eye-catching art of South London. I was amazed by the colors, the style, and the detail that went into her work. I bought not one but two of her art pieces for my home.

Every time I have friends or family around they see Samantha's work up on the wall and they always compliment how amazing it is and how it shows off the main attractions of the area for example the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park to the Betts Park sign in Anerley. At ReVamp we love to support artists and creatives that I wanted to interview Samantha on how she became an artist, who she's inspired by, and other artists she recommends we should check out.

Samantha! Thank you so much for chatting to us at ReVamp! Your work is absolutely amazing. We like to support small businesses here. When did you know you started to like drawing illustrations? 

 Thank you for inviting me to talk with you.  I've loved drawing from an early age, as long as I can remember really.  My ambition was to be a designer so I studied design at university (specialising in print and textiles) and have continued to work in the design industry since. Still love it!

What made you decide to draw different parts of South London? 

I'm a born and raised South londoner. From Tooting to Croydon to Sutton. While living in Croydon, I got involved with a local volunteer group and started to design banners and posters. At the same time I was selling textile designs at local markets and realised there was a gap in the market for Croydon prints. My collection expanded rapidly as requests came in for other parts of London and it's grown pretty organically.

The colours and the detail in your drawings are really beautifully done. Very eye catching! What made you decide to draw like this? 

Thank you! The architecture in London is very diverse and fun to draw. I select various landmarks in each area and play with perspective so they have a slightly futuristic feel. I don't veer too far from the real life colours of each landmark, I might slightly brighten them, but really I drawing from what already exists, which is pretty beautiful.

Do you remember the first drawing you sold? How did that make you feel? 

I've sold many drawings over the years. I remember my first ever design that was developed onto a garment when I designed for M&S (one of my first jobs after uni). It was a colourful spot print and that feeling was amazing. I then went on to sell my drawings (florals, animal prints, abstracts etc) to brands and every sale felt like an enormous accomplishment. To now sell my own designs, completely original for my own company is such a wonderful feeling. From my Scene In London collection, my East Croydon print was really well received and got lots of positive feedback. This gave me the confidence to keep going when I first started Scene In London.

Do you have any artists you get inspired by? 

 Absolutely. For mood I love Edward Hopper and the Bloomsbury artists. I studied them at school and always find myself coming back to their work. I love David Hockney and Wolf Khan for their colour explorations. A couple of my favourite exhibitions are Lee krasner at the Barbican and Cutting Edge (in particular Cyril power and Sybil Andrews) at Dulwich Picture Gallery.

Lastly, to help other small businesses like yours. Are there others you want people to see? 

Yes! I share a studio with a very talented artist, Lis from @lineandwash  I love Ben's work @Albionworks and Kellyanna's too @kellyannalondon I really enjoy watching how they develop their creative work on Instagram.

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