Sam Martin
Meet Sam Martin, the stained glass artist behind The Grain and The Glass!
Photo by Stephen Willey
Tell us a little about yourself!
Hey there! I'm Sam! I'm a Thomas, West Virginia resident who moved from Baltimore, Maryland about two years ago now. Though I will always be ride or die for Baltimore, I find the magic of this tiny, little mountain town to be like no other. Where the people, the arts, and the natural beauty make it a place worth living, and for that reason, I will always be grateful to be a part of it and contribute to the community!
Here in this tiny town, I spend most of my days growing my business and refining my skills in stained glass and woodworking (presently whenever I have access to shop tools, that is), both of which are my greatest artistic passions. Though a large portion of my glasswork is inspired by my love for nerd things such as Dungeons & Dragons, anime, gaming, fantasy, etc, it's hard for me to say I have any one specific style or "thing" that I make. My inspirations are pulled from anything and everything that fuels my fire of creativity, from the great outdoors to the weird and abstract or anything that just gets my brain buzzing. I just love to create regardless of what that looks like.
What drew you to your craft?
It may seem like stained glass is my one-and-only with the work that I do, but I've never seen that as the case. While the vast majority of the work I put out is stained glass, there is and always will be so much more I wish to create. I've always enjoyed working with my hands, and it's because of this love for hands-on work, paired with my lifelong passion for theatre, I found myself pursuing a degree in designing and building sets in college (Go Towson Tigers!), then moving on to working in the theatre industry of the Baltimore area.
At some point during that budding theatre career, my father taught me the ways of stained glass, and I took to it like a duck to water. I vividly remember this immense feeling of joy and satisfaction from taking these cut pieces of glass, grinding them to shape, foiling them, and then watching them fit together to bring my ideas to life. That rush, that excitement is what keeps me going today. I love getting to work with these very tactile mediums; glass, wood, metal, etc., because I'm taking these raw, essentially industrial materials, and giving them a purpose or function that are wholly unique in their own ways. When working with these materials, there sometimes comes a good deal of creative problem-solving as well, and finding these technical, yet abstract solutions have always been very compelling and enjoyable for me to discover.
Describe your studio space. Where do you like to create?
I work out of my living room! I feel very fortunate and grateful to be in a space sizable enough to have both all the amenities of a living room (couch, TV, lamps, etc.) on one side, and then a work bench, glass storage, and a drafting/ soldering station on the other. I wouldn't recommend walking around my space barefoot, but I keep tweezers handy just in case.
Photo of studio space by Rainforest Bollero
Five year goal, in a perfect world, is to move into a shop space that I can use for glass, woodworking, welding, etc., and make it a space that gives me the accessibility to bring to life any and all of the ideas swirling around my head. I think that sums up where I like to create pretty well; spaces that provide what I need for creating whatever I can think up. Right now, I just have the space for my glasswork, which is great! It's my primary artistic focus, and there's still so much to be had in creating and experimenting with glass. In the future though, that space will change, and provide so much more to aid me in setting loose all kinds of creations!
What is your favorite thing you have ever made?
To this day, my favorite thing I've ever made would probably be my coffee table. It was built for my final project for a stagecraft class I took in college. I had just gotten into stained glass a little before then, so naturally I was hoarding glass anywhere and everywhere that I found it. I found this giant, tempered sheet of glass leaning on a dumpster, and I said, "I'm gonna use this! I don't know for what, but I'm gonna!" A few months later, we were given this assignment and I knew exactly what to make. I used glass for the top, some nice oak to frame it, then welded a frame with legs going diagonally to give it some extra character. It's been about eight years since I made that table, but it still stands as my favorite because it has the three materials I love to work with the most: glass, wood, and metal.
What did you want to be when you grew up?
From the time I saw my older brother play the Tin Man in his 7th grade production of The Wizard of Oz, I wanted to be an actor. Being a very energetic youngin' who had a lot to say, acting was the perfect outlet for me. I was fascinated with the idea of becoming another person, seeing the world through someone else's eyes, and feeling feelings or thinking thoughts I normally wouldn't. I'm still interested in those ideas now only because I think acting is an effective practice in understanding empathy and perspective; peeling back the layers of our humanity to better understand what makes us tick, why we should find the beauty in our flaws, and why we should accept and love ourselves for being just the way we are. Theatre has always had a strong influence on my life, and though my time as a set builder in the industry has come to a close, theatre will always play some sort of role in my life.
How would you describe your creative process?
My process is pretty straight forward, I'd say: I get an idea or see something that inspires me, I add it to my ever-growing list of things I want to make, and when I find the time (emphasis on when), I'll get to it and make it. Considering myself as an "artist" is something pretty new to me, actually. Drawing has never been my strongest suit, so that's something I'm growing and learning in order to make glass patterns, but for the longest time, given my background, I've considered myself a craftsman first and foremost.
I'm slowly finding the median between the two: craftsmanship and artistry. Where I'm loosening the constraints of what my technical brain would tell me what I can and can't do, and leaning into and exploring more abstract concepts in what I can accomplish with these very physical materials. And it's in thinking this way, I was able to create 3D glass pieces like my paper planes, cootie catchers, and stars. I'm just scratching the surface, so I cannot wait to see where my ideas continue to take me!
What advice would you give yourself 10 years ago?
If there's any advice I could give to a 20-year-old Sam, about to go off into the world and make a name for himself, it would be two things: 1) go with no expectations. 2) Don't try so hard.
Both of these tidbits go hand in hand I think, but having no expectations for ourselves, our journey, or where we're headed, prevents any unnecessary disappointment, or that feeling of letting ourselves down. No expectations means being open to wherever our journey takes us, open to whatever opportunity comes our way, because who knows what could become of it? What we might have thought was best for ourselves, could turn out to be something completely different. Not trying so hard means not forcing something into existence, be it with what we do, or what we want for ourselves, where we wanna go, etc. Not trying so hard means letting things happen organically, trusting the process, and understanding that the things we put out into the world, the person we become manifests when we give it that time and space to grow.
Both pieces of advice I think are part of a much larger idea of just allowing yourself to exist just as you are. I believe that through giving yourself that grace and acceptance of being an imperfect human, you grow into something beautiful and wholly unique. When we stop and listen to the world around us, what it has to say, and let it guide us to where we're supposed to be, we can bring some of the most beautiful things into existence.
Why do you love doing what you do?
I love connecting with people. Be it with an old friend, a new friend, a family member, or some random person coming by my booth at an art show. Human connection is such a beautiful thing to me because we all have a story, we all have perspectives and insights, that can contribute to a much larger whole. And through connecting, we learn, we grow, we create relationships that further enrich our lives. My work is another way I get to connect with people, and seeing that glint of joy in someone's eyes when they connect with one of my pieces is what makes me love my craft. It's a huge reason why I love doing commissions so much as well, because typically the commissions are very personal to the recipient, and the joy they feel when they receive one of my pieces as a gift or something, brings me joy to know I've made such a positive impact on them. I just like putting things out into the world that help make it a little brighter. And piece by piece, in my own small way, I like to think that's what I'm doing.
Why is it important to support local artists and makers?
I could easily sum it up and say it's important to support local artists and makers because it helps us keep the lights on, tells us that our work matters, or lets us continue to keep doing what we love. And while all that's good and true, I feel like that's just scratching the surface. Let's go a little deeper. When you support us artists, you're supporting the human spirit; you're sharing the voice of an individual or collective that represents something larger than ourselves. Art is an expression of ideas, interests, passions, things that give us reason to find joy in the world around us; things that give us pause to ponder the meaning of said world around us. Art enriches our lives, creates character to our spaces, and can convey what we're about as people, as individuals, without even having to say a word. I think if there were far less support of the independent artist, the world would be a far less interesting place, and aside from the beauty of nature, a pretty boring place to be in.
You can find Sam’s incredible glass pieces in the shop!
