Who is the abstract artist Sam Finley?

Answer 1

Born in Kansas in 1956, Samuel Finley started his career in relative isolation, living in what used to be slave's quarters behind a bed and breakfast. His studio was in a horse stall. The first time his work was exhibited was at the Bruce Watkins Museum in Kansas City, Missouri.

Finley quit high school the first day he legally could, his 16th birthday and began his career painting and making art from found objects. He studied journalism at Penn Valley Community College before working for Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus in the clown wardrobe department and about 72 other menial jobs and small businesses across the United States. He was given a full academic scholarship based on GED test scores to the University of Missouri in Kansas City where he majored in Liberal Arts. He was a deputy sheriff in Golden Colorado, a driver for Trailways/Greyhound and a sculptor's assistant in Herndon Virginia. He worked for Wentworth Art Gallery in St.Louis Missouri. While working as a carpenter in Cascades Virginia he became ill with Transverse Myelitis and began painting full-time.

Answer 2

This is the house that Hate built.

This is the black that lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the cat that absolved the rat

That jailed the black that lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the dog that paid the cat

That absolved the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the cow with the racist scorn

That bribed the dog that paid the cat

That absolved the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the jail all forlorn

That enriched the cow with the racist scorn

That bribed the dog that paid the cat

That absolved the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the man all tattered and torn

That filled the jails all forlorn

That enriched the cow with the racist scorn

That bribed the dog that paid the cat

That absolved the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the judge all shaven and shorn

That sentenced the man all tattered and torn

That filled the jails all forlorn

That enriched the cow with the racist scorn

That bribed the dog that paid the cat

That absolved the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the lawyer that crowed in the morn

That woke the judge all shaven and shorn

That sentenced the man all tattered and torn

That filled the jails all forlorn

That enriched the cow with the racist scorn

That bribed the dog that paid the cat

That absolved the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the market selling it’s corn

That paid the lawyer that crowed in the morn

That woke the judge all shaven and shorn

That sentenced the man all tattered and torn

That filled the jails all forlorn

That enriched the cow with the racist scorn

That bribed the dog that paid the cat

That absolved the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

This is the system the law and the court

That invested the market selling it’s corn

That paid the lawyer that crowed in the morn

That woke the judge all shaven and shorn

That sentenced the man all tattered and torn

That filled the jails all forlorn

That enriched the cow with the racist scorn

That bribed the dog that paid the cat

That absolved the rat that jailed the black

That lay in the house that Hate built.

~sam finley 06/2020

Answer 3

One Race Brown

I am not black... I am not white

I am the new day... comes after night

I am not yellow... I am not red

The race-divided human is dead

I am the living truth world ‘round

The human race... are shades of brown

The human race... are shades of brown

The human race... all shades of brown

We all are shades of one same color

Time to love... one and another

Time to make peace my sister and brother

Time to help the least of these father and mother

Time to live and lend a hand

Time to forgive and give all a chance

We all are born with a human face

We all come from this human race

Time to take a new look around

Time to make our one race brown

~sam finley

Answer 4

Artwork often the starting point for a great room

By Sara Long | Posted: Thursday, November 29, 2012 12:00 am

I am fascinated with the creative process of an artist. Recently, I was at equine artist Pat Barron’s loft. We were discussing a commissioned piece she was doing for one of my clients. I had an idea of what we wanted but was eager to hear her thoughts. She started pulling out files and a box of images. This was her idea stash, where she had saved magazine clippings, photos and rough sketches. She would comment that she liked the angle of the horse’s leg in one, or how the light reflected off the shoulder of the horse in another. As we talked, she started sketching, and I was in awe as I watched that nugget of an idea turn into such a stunning reality.

Surround yourself with the art you love. It can be your children’s art work or your own. Even the simplest drawing will gain an air of importance if it is nicely framed and given a place of prominence in your room.

I love to use art as the starting point for a room. It can be the catalyst for the color scheme or a standout against a neutral backdrop. I often use one piece of modern art in an otherwise traditional room or maybe a DaVinci-style sketch in a very modern room. The juxtaposition of styles gives the room a certain energy that I find lively. I want the art to start a conversation. That’s the thing about art, it’s subjective. Not everyone likes the same thing. Art affects people on a visceral level. You don’t have to know why you like it, just that you do.

That was never more apparent than at my art show. I watched a young man walk down the street and across the yard, straight to a painting by Sam Finley. He never paused to even glance at anything else. It was like there wasn’t another piece of art in the entire world. He was a young man and newly married. He called his wife and was telling her how crazy he was about this painting. Listening to just his side of the conversation, it sounded as though the cost of the painting was equivalent to their rent. She told him that if he liked it that much, they would find some other way to pay the rent. I wanted to hug her through the phone.

So the question becomes how we support the “creative miracle.” We can support it by buying the real thing. I think there is a general assumption that art is expensive. There is quality art to be found in every price range. Often, you can purchase original art for the same amount as a mass-produced print. Go find that piece of art that will start the conversation in your home.