Sam Woodward Verified listing

Two pink and grey paper-mache Galah fly over a 3 dimensional dot painted landscape. The Galah is one of my spirit animals. The two Galah in this artwork represent the life journey of my grandmother and me and our connection to Cootamundra and Wollongong. This painting is about escape , freedom ,female constraints and links to my Aboriginal heritage. The Galah on the left is my grandmother one of the stolen generation who is escaping Cootamundra and the Galah on the right is me re-finding my identity and freedom and returning to Cootamundra. I am the cheeky Galah who is now free to be an artist and free to fly upside down if I want to. Having escaped an abusive relationship with a man who burnt my portfolio and photographs of my work when I left him I am now rediscovering myself in the work I create and I am recording my journey. The yellow in the painting symbolizes the yellow of the Cootamundra Wattle and the pink symbolizes the colour of femininity and my happiness. The wattle is formed using balled up paper which I have painted yellow, stylized wattle patterns on material and clippings of wattle I have collected from magazines. The background is made using several layers of paper in circular patterns that form walls of paper. I have developed a series of stylized stamp patterns which I have embedded into my background patterning on raised round discs of recycled materials. The Galah's are sculpted using wire armature, glue, paper and acrylic paint. I have developed this technique as I enjoy using depth in my paintings and the lightness of the paper allows me to create maximum depth. My work in its third dimension is not just relief carving but protrudes off the wall to a depth of over 30cm.This painting has been chosen to be printed in a collection of collage by women artists by the Art of Hearts Project in late 2025.

Where I now live I am surrounded by country wire fences and paddocks. My painting is an exploration of the never ending fence that connects my new life to my past and speaks of a duality and of having two homes. Four Magpie sit across a barbed wire fence on the boundary between the paddock and a country garden strangled by weeds. The foliage thick and tangled contains over 300 plants I have individually sculpted using paper and wire to build a 3 dimensional garden. The garden longs to escape it's canvas, it is alive and sways in a breeze and is kinetic like a real field. The Four Magpies that sit on the fence I have nicknamed the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse as they swoop my dog daily. There individual names are Tom, Dick, Larry and Boss Man Limpy. Limpy is central in my painting and he sits a top the star picket. His eyes follow the viewer and as the viewer you become the dog who is connected to the magpie and the doggie birdy game.

The painting True Blue represents a Blue Bottle riding the crest of a wave. The painting is called true blue as Australian's have a collective memory of Blue bottles as the majority of our population lives on the coast. The blue bottle reminds me of summer. And to say something is "True Blue " is to say something is Australian. I have tried to recapture the translucent opalescence that shimmers in sunlight and the vibrant electric blue intensity of their colour. The vibrant blue tendrils are layers of pattern which I have sculpted out of various art materials that glow in the dark. Within the wave, layers of epoxy resin hide sculpted plankton, dot mandalas and bioluminescence which are seen in depth at night. My work is unique in that I don't just layer epoxy I paint and sculpt epoxy. My painting is about light, dark, beauty, pain and hidden worlds that inspire me.

I feel very passionate about trying to conserve the critically endangered Australian Swift parrot and my painting aims to inform the public about Swift parrot issues so that we can work together to help conserve them. It is imperative that we wo9rk as citizen scientists to track the parrots, crowd fund to build boxes that will keep out Sugar gliders and pressure the government to put an immediate halt on logging of old growth forests and Swift parrot habitats. My painting is of a maze and within the maze is bird watchers, a barren landscape of logged tree stumps, sugar gliders killing eggs, birds, fledglings , nest and a child. In the centre of the picture is a Swift parrot nest. Within the nest is the last swift parrot being stolen by the hand of Sugar Glider while a girl child watches on in horror. The girl represents my inner child which is horrified at the thought of the loss of the Swift Parrot through inaction. The painting is 3 dimensional paper sculpture and is in a naive style giving reference to children's stories,

Pelican Mandala is a 3 dimensional artwork on canvas that has been hand sculpted using paper and mixed media by Australian artist Sam Woodward. The background Mandalas are formed using beads ,holographic glitter, paper, acrylic paint resin and hand painted fish scales. The pelicans feathers are 3 dimensional and are made using paper and epoxy resin. The feathers are stylized dot patterns and are not trying to be realistic but symbolic of my Aboriginal heritage. In painting the water that lies behind the Pelican I was trying to recreate the patterns of ripples I could see forming around the Pelican when the new Pelicans arrived on the water. I am from Wollongong a seaside town in Australia. I have always felt a connection to Pelican's as they have always been present. The Pelican is floating on Coomaditchie Lagoon an Aboriginal Official camp area which my extended family lived on for 14 years.

Turtles necklace is a Acrylic and epoxy painting on canvas by Australian artist Sam Woodward. The painting is of a green sea turtle that is surrounded by rows of pattern which form her necklaces. Sam paints with her epoxy to build up the layers of the turtles shell and scaled body. The scales are metallic and pearly and glisten in the light like Oyster shell. Sam paints with blues and greens in a contemporary way as she comes from a coastal town.

In the painting Pelican's futures fly away Australian artist Sam Woodward questions whether global warming , pollution, loss of habitat and overfishing is effecting the survival of the Pelican. We need to be wildlife warriors and act green if we want the wild ones of our planet to survive. We must protect the top predators also if we want to survive as we are all connected.

In the acrylic and epoxy painting Pelican Opal Australian artist Sam Woodward paints a Pelican floating on Coomaditchie Lagoon in Wollongong, Australia. Sam in this painting experiments with painting pattern and movement in water. The patterning within the water with it's colour and shape resembles opal thunder eggs.

Pelican Reflection is an acrylic and epoxy painting on canvas by Australian artist Sam Woodward. The stylized pelican is reflected in the water that it glides on. The painting is both restful and vibrant. Sam's use of patterning and the depth she creates with her layering of epoxy gives her painting the illusion of movement.

Pelican Ripple is an acrylic painting on canvas by Australian artist Sam Woodward. The painting is a dot painting of a pelican and is boldly patterned and a reflection of her Aboriginal heritage.

Pelican Mandala is mixed media acrylic on canvas of a Pelican by Australian artist Sam Woodward. Within the painting Sam creates her mandala patterns by hand painting on fish scales.

Mother Jellyfish is a 3 dimensional painting of a bloom of jellyfish by Australian artist Sam Woodward. The mother jellyfish is ethereal and heavenly and is surrounded by light like a guardian angle and the subject is calming and I feel warm and protected in it's glow .