Sam Toft and her Wonderful World of Mustard

Artist's Journal

  • July 31, 2026

    Hallo Hallo!

    By Sam Toft

    Hope you’re managing in this heat! I must admit, I’m wilting a bit…

    I carry a water spray, a little fan, and a posh skin tonic everywhere I go. My dog LOVES her early morning hose down and I’m enjoying the juicy ripe blackberries (in July??!) I’m so grateful that my studio is cool, dark, and quiet. New work is coming through nicely, next year’s calendar is already done, The BIG PICTURE is trundling along (November release), and preparations for my London show are going really well. 

    But I’m not a fan of this heat, are you? Every day is like walking into sauna. I’m so busy and it’s almost too hot to concentrate. And still the thieves continue at TEMU, ART IS BETTER, SHEIN and ALIEXPRESS.

    When everything starts to get on top of me and I’m already too busy to think, I have a few strategies to get me through. The first thing I do is take on another ‘busy’ thing, and the second is doing something nice (and preferably time-consuming) for someone else. Both strategies help take my mind off the original thing, although with rather predictable consequences... I’d honestly be an exhausted mush if it weren’t for my 3rd strategy… I’ll share more about that one later if you like? But for now, to help get me over the hump of ‘too busy to do anything right,’ I’m bundling all my strategies together, and doing something that I love, which is also generous, but I really don’t have the space for. This offer is necessarily time limited. Just one weekend. This one. 

    Special Pet Drawing Offer

    Have you ever wanted a special drawing of your pet? Commissions usually start at £650, which is out of reach for most—and only then if I have time to do them. But for 48 hours, I’m offering a personalized drawing of your pet on the title line of a limited edition print, priced only as a Special Remarque. In other words, you get a personalised pet drawing for the price of a regular drawing.  And if you’re among the first to order, we’ll include one of FIVE tiny original drawings I have in my stock.

    This special offer is open to everyone, but Club Members can use their discount codes to save upwards of £50 per print with their 20% sign up discount! Join here.

    To take part:

    1. Choose a print from the full range at https://www.cd-fineart.co.uk/sam-toft.
    2. Email Louise at mustardshop@aol.com with the name of the print(s) you’ve chosen, a photo of your pet, and your pet’s name or any special message you’d like included.
    3. Louise will raise an invoice for the print plus a £200 Special Remarque charge.
    4. Your print will journey from Hampshire to Brighton to Cornwall, then to you! Order by midday Sunday 2nd August to receive your exclusive package within 2-3 weeks.

    A Gift for Club Members

    If this offer is not within your budget, please accept a free calendar with every limited edition purchase at www.samtoft.co.uk between 1st and 14th August, or with each new/early sign-up for 2027 at www.littlemustardclub.com while stocks last.


    Strategy 3

    Strategy 3 is a simple one.

    No matter how busy I make myself there’s a list of helpful things I love doing and I try to do them all at least once a week. I believe everyone can find five minutes every day for a ‘number 3’

    Some of my favourite helpful, healing things are:

    • Walking in the woods
    • Being goofy with my dog
    • Dancing in the kitchen and pretending I’m a superstar
    • 10-minute meditations
    • Deadheading flowers
    • Slow cooking
    • Early nights
    • Asking for help
    • Time alone
    • Picking burrs out of my dog’s fur
    • Watching clouds
    • Acknowledging that I tried my best
    • And drawing—I absolutely love drawing!

    But here’s a new one I’d like to share—I’ve been cultivating a relationship with two crows in Stanmer Park. It’s taken months but just a few minutes a day. I started by singing “Hallo Hallo!” to empty treetops, then leaving a treat in a special place. And now they sometimes follow me without my even calling. And sometimes they don’t come at all of course. One day when I lost my way, I followed their cawing and they were waiting. At Crow Log. So cute and so moving. I’ve a feeling the dear hearts might be leaving gifts too. A smooth round pebble, a fiery red leaf, a shiny, empty snail shell - all found in the particular hollow where I leave their food and water. 

    The more time I spend with them, the better I feel. Even when I wake feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders, my early morning time at The Log heals me. It feels magical. May I crown myself The Crow Lady? 

    And may I wish you all the best with your own ‘number 3s’ - I’m hoping you’ll share some with us for inspiration. We can learn from each other. 

    But for now, I’ll get on with a bit of gardening in the cool of the evening. Thank you so much for listening to my stories and offerings. It means the world,

    Big love,

    Sam x

    Links and details

    • Join our Club 
    • Visit me at Braithwaite Gallery 20th September
    • See my exhibition in London 11-20th November at Panter and Hall.  Contact Panter and Hall for information.
    • Take advantage of our pet drawing offer with a chance to win an original drawing — closing midday Sunday 2nd August 
      • Choose a print from the full range at CD Fine Art.
      • Email Louise at mustardshop@aol.com with the name of the print(s) you’ve chosen, a photo of your pet, and your pet’s name or any special message you’d like included.
      • Louise will raise an invoice for the print plus a £200 Special Remarque charge.
      • Your print will journey from Hampshire to Brighton to Cornwall, then to you! Order by midday Sunday 2nd August to receive your exclusive package within 2-3 weeks.
  • May 12, 2026

    Yes, we have no pigeons!

    By Sam Toft

    There are no pigeons this year. 

    I think I have blackbirds nesting in the hydrangea and sparrows in the ivy, but absolutely no pigeons. 

    Some of you may remember me leaving my spare room window open when I went to visit my folks in Cornwall last year. Upon my return I found a makeshift nest in the corner behind the coat stand. It looked like it had been put together from my houseplants and a fair amount of additional homemade sticky matter. Two big bald babies blinked at me from the untidy pile and two proud but anxious parents flustered about on the windowsill. It was surprising, shocking, and quite exciting actually … a bit like when I found a baby fox under my sofa.  And quite a talking point when I had people round: Come upstairs and visit my indoor aviary!

    They took ages to fledge. I left fresh seed on the sill each day for the parents, and they came and went through a small gap I left in the window. Pretty soon the pigeonlets had built a little avenue of detritus along one wall and a second nest in the other corner under a sizeable weeping fig. A real home from home. They learnt to fly by jumping from successively higher shelves of a well-stocked bookcase, and my carpets became their safe soft landings. I’ll need to do a big tidy up of course, but instead, once my birds had flown, I just closed the door (and windows!) and left it all. What I’m thinking is, it can be an expensive job for another time and I’ll not worry my head over it. One day I’ll likely do a makeover on the lovely little room at the top of Toftie Towers. Meantime my handsome pigeons will sit tapping on my bathroom window, no doubt hoping to be let in for a rematch. Very cute. 

    Isn’t it funny how some jobs (new carpets, painting ceilings, cleaning books) can wait, whilst others (updating the flower boxes, trying out new recipes, painting pictures) absolutely cannot? Our lives grow shorter by the day and I’m so grateful to have the energy for long walks in dappled woods. The things I really don’t fancy doing can wait, is what I mean. Where’s the harm in that?

    I’ve found my Mojo once again (what an excellent name for a wayward dog, methinks) and once more I’m back to my splishy sploshy paintings at the studio. For all of my Online Specials I’m giving a little flavour of what I’ve been up to: a mini show at the end of May. Pop over for a browse at SamToftOriginals in a few weeks where the new work will appear as if by magic 29th May. And if you wanted to buy but happen to miss out on these eight lovely new paintings, I have a big London show at Panter and Hall, Pall Mall mid-November, and they send worldwide, so that’s a bonus.

    It’s my first London show in three years and I’m really enjoying making the work. There’ll be a set of original drawings from my Big Picture project and lots of new paintings large and small. I’m hoping some of the ideas nestling scruffily in my sketchbooks will take flight at last like my fat little pigeons.

    For the Panter and Hall show please join their mailing list at the bottom of their page here, mention my name and they’ll keep you up to date with private views, pre-sales and such like. 

    By contrast, for my own small online shows at SamToftOriginals we operate a separate priority list, comprising previous Sam Toft Originals buyers and Club members, who get access 24 hours before. Details of 2026 membership here.

    For small gifts we have a separate website Mustard General Store at mustardgeneralstore.co.uk There’s lots to see but our gorgeous luxury cushions will be discontinued very soon. The current supplier is going out of business- a last-minute thing with no notice - so the final date for ordering those is 15th May. It’s a UK only service but my sister who runs the shop at samtoft.co.uk may be getting together some hampers for our US customers, watch that space!!

    Thank you for reading.  I know I don’t write often but I think of you a lot and appreciate you being there.

    Big love,

    Sam Toft

    X

     

  • January 25, 2026

    It's a New Year!

    By Sam Toft

    Dear friends,

    I hope you’ve been well?

    I heard that one of the days last week was hailed as the bluest of the year. I think they meant sad, not rude or azure. Wouldn’t it be great if we truly knew that the worst was over? I really like that idea.

    All’s well here in Brighton. The sea is wild, the wind fantastic and the rain is bountiful.  Life is full of greens and browns. In my local park the early bulbs are getting trampled almost before they’ve started growing. Hiding there in the mud where multitudes of dogs run free and squirrels forage, those precious shoots get nibbled or squished. But in a few weeks’ time I know I’ll see a confetti of purple and yellow beneath the trees. Tissue-soft snowdrops will nod their dear little heads in gentle breezes against all odds, and soon the scent of wild garlic will fill the air.

    And it’s time for us all to bloom again, following the seasons. I know so many people yearn for the light long days of summer but I don’t yet feel ready to let go of the cold and dark. I love my hats and scarves. Getting cosy with candles and a fire. Enjoying the early nights. I always get a bit grumpy when the days get longer. I don’t like change. 

    I’ll be back with news of a small originals show and studio sale. But for now, I’m deciding on new directions. Sometimes life leaves us a bit trampled upon. Some things are lost forever. Some things change and grow. Sending big loves to you, wherever you are,

    Sam Toft

    X

  • August 12, 2025

    Help Required (apply within)

    By Sam Toft

    Today I’ve been making an Advent Calendar of all things. Gluing two pieces of card together and cutting small doors to see tiny drawings beneath. For no good reason other than I thought it would be fun, and I’ve wanted to do one for ages. If it’s any good I might just publish it!!

    I’ve been setting myself new challenges and getting absorbed in them as a way of calming myself. Times move so fast I often don’t want to reach out and seize the day. It’s hard sometimes, isn’t it? There is so much happening out there and most of those things we can’t control. So instead, I’ve been looking after the baby pigeons who came to stay in the top bedroom. I’m making a grand gesture and slowly weeding the whole street. I’m learning to run. And I’m making time to do 24 tiny drawings for behind little cardboard doors. But still I worry. Are you a bit like that? 

    I decided to send a quick note to share two of the things I’m getting asked about. Both of which are beyond my control.

    There’s an American import tariff coming soon so our online shop will be out of reach for many of our customers… 

    There will be no widely published 2026 calendar by Art Group…

    What can I do? 

    I could encourage those people living in the US to look up our new exclusive offerings at MustardShop before the tariffs hit, 29th August.

    I could publish my own calendars, spend a bit of my own time and money on it?

    I’ll write a proper letter soon, but I just wanted your opinions on these things… Would you be interested to buy a 2026 calendar for say £20 if I made one? And how’s this tariff going to affect you?

    Meanwhile I’ll keep busy preparing for a small online show in late October at Sam Toft Originals. And I’ve another new project drawing hundreds of your pets on one piece of paper. Let’s see how that goes at Little Mustard Club

    Don’t buy from Temu by the way. 

    They have stolen my pictures and lots of other people’s as well. And my publishing contract with Art Group will not be renewed this time. 

    Sending lots of love across the pond and sky. Wishing you strength and hope and a bit of fun along the way… 

    Speak soon!

    Big love, 

    Sam x

  • May 09, 2025

    The Big Picture

    By Sam Toft

    A funny thing happened to me the other day.

    I’ve been at home, away from the studio for quite a while, and everything needs a bit of a spruce up. It makes me feel so much better when my workspace is shipshape and that includes the flowerpots outside. So I bought purple pansies for my hanging baskets, pink pelargoniums for my troughs, orange osteospermums for the pots with lime-green succulents and electric blue lobelia. If ever a girl needed a lift of colour right now, it’s me.

    So here I am in my gardening gear on my hands and knees with everything everywhere as you can imagine. A huge bag of compost, a giant (very helpful) puppy and a tablespoon, as I always forget to take my trowel down there. Then one of my neighbours passes by. 

    "Looking beautiful Sam," he says, and with that exuberant-theatrical air kiss and hand gesture I usually reserve for when I meet a particularly good pizza. I smile back weakly while Birdy pup demolishes another plastic plant pot and knocks over the watering can. We go inside for a time out and while she is chewing away contentedly on the biggest bone in the world, I wash my hands and look at my hot sweaty face in the bathroom mirror. Beautiful, huh? Well he was probably just being nice, wasn’t he? But I splash my face and check it carefully. It’s cool and dark in my studio and I think I can definitely see an attractive little twinkle in at least one of my eyes. I look for that nice pot of fragrant moisturiser and some emergency lipstick. I put them on, dislodge a piece of wet compost from behind my ear and smile at my reflection. Beautiful? Me? 

    Well as we all know, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and sometimes you just have to accept things at face value. I look over at my sleepy puppy and can’t resist a snuggle because she is so lovely when she is tired. Although I have a lot to do, I take the time for a little snooze on her extra-large dog bed. Then, feeling loved up and with a fresh cuppa I head out into the wall of sunshine to start again. Feeling quite a lot more perky, actually. Maybe this tired face and baggy body still has a little something going on!

    So when my neighbour passes again at the end of the day while I’m sweeping up, I give him a proper smile this time and thank him for his compliment earlier. It really made I difference I say. Which it did. Strangely I feel like I have the energy to do a bit more drawing. And I’m being kinder to myself too, proud of my window boxes and how nice they look. A few new picture ideas come flooding in too.

    “Aw yeah Sam, like I say, them plants is looking beautiful,” he says.

    And when I reflect on what happened at the end of the day, what I notice is that when he said Beautiful I really thought he was talking about me. And that takes some hutzpah when you’re face down in the mud. I must be feeling better than I thought I was. And I’ll pour it into my pictures, that precious spark of joy.

    Because Art is important. It’s a beautiful thing. I love that human beings make it and I love that other human beings support it. 

    Sometimes I feel like a gardener who creates beautiful spaces for everyone to enjoy. But at the moment it seems whenever I turn my back the weeds take over. And that can be overwhelming. 

    We live in a world that is unable to stop what can only be called bootlegging thieves (TEMU, SHEIN, ALIEXPRESS and others) stealing artists’ work and selling it for their own profit. It has got to a point where in the last three years my income has been reduced to a quarter. But then why would someone buy the genuine article when they can get a cheap stolen knock-off copy from the far east for a couple of pounds at the click of the mouse? TEMU are currently offering my work for £00 if you sign up now and that’s hard to resist 

    And of course it is not just me who is affected - this is happening in different ways to hundreds of artists, writers, musicians. The creative people are increasingly being left out in the cold while the fat cats warm their toes. 

    Rather than waving our fists angrily into the abyss, it’s important we realize how much power we have as consumers to change things. 

    You have choices. You could send your hard-earned cash to a faceless guy in China who’s just stolen my ideas and get lots of shoddily produced tinny replicas for your walls and an empty feeling in your stomach. But if you’d like to live in a world where there’s still a few corner shops, sometimes you have to pay a bit more for your pint of milk.

    So, with that in mind, do you want to be part of the bigger picture? 

    I’ll be starting work on May 12th 2025 and I won’t stop until it’s done. This is the second biggest creative project of my life. Read on.

    Why is this project so important?

    This is my stand against TEMU and the rest of the far east bootlegging rascals who have been wrecking the lives of creative individuals with their unlawful thefts. My confidence has been knocked but I’m too tired to be angry anymore. So I’m deciding to fight them off with my trusty pencil, a magnificent new project and a huge show of kindness. 


    Will you help me spread the word? 

    Do you have a friend with a pet who may like to get involved? Or maybe it’s YOU?!

    I have an idea to draw all your pets on one piece of paper. Hundreds and hundreds of tiny drawings made with love. It will be my new obsession. Inspired by YOU. Sounds crazy but wouldn’t it be amazing? A Love Letter to Animal Lovers all over the World. My homespun remedy to help restore faith in Art as a universal healing language. Pet lovers of the world unite! 

    But how could I possibly draw all of the hundreds and thousands of pets from our mailing list and followers on social media? It will work because I’m asking you for something in return. I’m asking you to join our Club, and that’s not for everyone I know. But I’m hoping against hope that some of you will join and help make a difference.

    Club membership is £22 for 2025. 

    It’s the lowest price we can manage. 

    Research all the perks here … your membership fee also helps to run a free community gallery space in my hometown of Brighton @dogandbonegallery on Instagram.

    I’ll even leave a small space on each print in case the love of your life is not a pet but a kiln. Or a spoon. Or a big fat cake. I can add them by hand on the deluxe version. No one gets out of here alive!! 

    How long will it take?

    I’ll start with one day a week aiming for around 30 finished drawings a day, 120 a month. For each pet I’ll need to do multiple sketches to get the feel right before adding them to the Big Picture at about half inch high. It will be a true labour of love. I may add an extra day a week, aim for 250 a month even?!?

    When will it be finished?

    Hopefully by the end of the year, when prints will be available at a range of different price points… large and embellished, small and signed. But please don’t think you have to buy a print. It’s the being involved that really matters to me.

    How do I join in?

    Sign up to our club here and send in your photo!

    One photo, one pet (and please include their name size and species and your membership number) to Amber at littlemustardclub@gmail.com The title of your email should be THE BIG PICTURE, so it’s easy to spot the entries and get you ALL in… You may even make it into one of my paintings!

    But drawing hundreds of pets is not going to keep my own pup in the style to which she has grown accustomed. So I’m working towards small originals show. I hope you’ll like the new work! 

    -----

    DATES FOR YOUR DIARY
     

    THE WANDERER RETURNS Friday 6th June. 

    After 5 months away from the studio, the originals are BACK with a small online show opening 6pm on 6th June at www.samtoftoriginals.co.uk 

    There will be an online private view with prior access from Thursday 5th June. Our priority list includes all previous buyers from our online shop SamToftOriginals and members of Little Mustard Club. Look out for your secret passcode in an email sent to you the day before.

    And then as I’m going away on a painting holiday, they will be available for collecting from my lovely studio in Brighton (or packaging and sending) from Monday 16th June. I’m trying (and failing) to learn to paint with a brush. I usually use my fingers and thought it would be lovely to acquire a new skill.

    VINTAGE PRINT LAUNCH Friday 9th May

    I’m particularly excited to announce the first THREE of our exclusive vintage releases. You’ll find them in the Very Small Editions section at www.samtoft.co.uk My sister and I have been trawling through the archive to choose our personal favourites. There’ll be two or three prints released every couple of months in editions of just 7 or 8, so there’s something fresh each time you visit our online shop. Highly collectible and exclusive to MustardShop Online, you can use your Club discount codes. These first three were inspired by Loss, Boston and a Very Special Wall. Let me know what you think of our choices! 

    PERFECTLY FORMED 7th-14th May 

    I have donated two original pieces for an online auction to support the charity TREATMENT BAG who create bags of luxury gifts for cancer patients. We are raising money for the bags they donate monthly to 7 NHS hospitals. These thoughtful gifts are specially chosen as antidotes to the side effects chemotherapy. I received one of their bags when I was ill myself. It was just perfect and really lifted my spirits. Pictures this size have sold in galleries for up to £1650. I hope you bag yourself a bargain!  Find them here - https://www.galabid.com/perfectly-formed

    -----

    CLUB MEMBERS ONLY
    (details in your June Club newsletter)


    FOREVER LOVED: To celebrate my birthday month each year we do something special. Our June collection of teeny tiny original pictures at Club room www.samtoft.co.uk will be on the theme of Forever Loved. Just £20 each, strictly Club Members Only, one purchase per household for this unmissable offer

    THE BIG PICTURE: Every Club Member can have one pet included

    RAINBOW BRIDGE prints available soon. Use your Club discount, and all preorders get a free personalized remarque of their pet (launch date and details of around 30 pets included in your Club newsletter)

    -----

    A HUGE big thank you if you stayed with me to the end of the page. After months of silence it seems I had a lot to say!

    Big love to you from the quiet comfort of my studio sanctuary in Brighton. I hope you have a special place you can retreat to when you need it. Whether it’s a special bench in the park or at home with your head under the covers, I’d love to hear your news. And thank you again for your support,

    Sam X

    If our range of bespoke prints and originals are beyond your budget, you can find the full range of samtoft items to suit all pockets at Braithwaite gallery in York where they do excellent mail order at www.yorkartist.com

    Let me know of your own legitimate supplier and I’ll give them a shout out x

  • February 04, 2025

    Enjoy Every Moment

    By Sam Toft

    My life is different than it was before.

    All the things at the edges are now in the middle.

    Things like cooking, cleaning and caring for myself. Making sure I’m in bed early and awake early for meditations and Morning Pages.  My self-care and morning routine has never been more important to me. Because now I am facing one of the biggest challenges (and joys) of my adult life. I’ve adopted a small horse. And she wants to live in my bed.

    Dear Birdy has made a takeover bid for Toftie Towers. I haven’t made any art in months. I cannot take her to my studio as she would likely eat my paints.

    Everything has changed. I hope I’ve developed more patience. I certainly have a new respect for single mothers and people who choose to become parents later in life. Perhaps my age has something to do with how hard this is?  I know we’ll get through the tough bit, but it’ll take a while and there may be less art until we get there. I eat, sleep and dream this puppy. And I’m looking forward to the day I have the energy to draw properly again. Birdy has already made her first appearance in paint (before we picked her up). Maybe you can find her if you have the (sold out) 2025 Club calendar?

    Sometimes I get so tired everything goes a bit surreal. Only a few months ago I was footloose, fancy free and with a gorgeous German Shepherd. And I thought, dear Betty is getting to the age now when we could just start looking for the ‘crossover dog’.  And after a whole lot of searching I found Birdy on a farm in Devon: the perfect mix of every dog that’s meant a lot to me. Newfoundland, Bernese Mountain dog, poodle and German Shepherd (of course). Then Betty died suddenly and I found myself with an extra large puppy and a big hole in my heart.

    I don’t remember anything being as hard as this. But then I haven’t been through as many griefs and challenges as most of the people I know. My career and social life have gone into a dark place: a holding pattern from whence they will be retrieved one fine day I’m sure of it. 

    Given my age and strength this will likely be my last big dog. Definitely my last puppy. (remind me I said this when I go get another). So I’m trying to live in the moment, one day at a time, do what needs to be done and feel the gratitude and joy (which is huge). And if people want commissions and new work, new ideas, new collaborations, charity donations, a new book, more social media. Let them. That’s just not happening right now. Doubtless things are unfolding just the way they should.

    I heard once that we don’t get the dog we think we want. We get the dog that will teach us what we need to learn. Well one of the things I’m learning is that I’ve been doing too much.

    That said, new for February we have SIX brand new prints from C&D Fine Art. It’s a lovely collection - they’ve chosen well - and it’s the first in a limited series of smaller editions they’re releasing throughout 2025. You can peruse them on our website at www.samtoft.co.uk in the Remarqued Editions section, where they come with a complementary drawing. We have only THREE of each of these prints, so Ready Steady Go! And if tiny original drawings and handmade cards are beyond your budget, the rest of the edition can be found at these selected stockists:

    I say ‘selected’ advisedly as each of these are small, independent, well run (often by family) businesses who offer excellent customer service, no pressure sales and an opportunity to see all the new work in situ with great online presence and more besides. This is where a sale builds a relationship, it’s not just money in the pocket of a multinational. But hey, I’m sure those poor ole multinationals need our support too.

    And I’ve felt moved to add a bit of extra love and value for our Club members this month. We have more free tiny drawings (in exchange for your colouring-in expertise!), a 20% join up discount active across Mustardshop online, and coming soon some incredible additions to Clubroom too. There’s an exciting event in May where I will draw your pets live, and another opportunity to see your pets in my pictures during 2025. All details in your Club newsletter.  Little Mustard Club membership is here. 

    So these are all good things.

    Like puppies and spring bulbs and someone (anyone!) bringing you a cup of tea in bed of a morning. Or a cappuccino and a coconut macaroon in the afternoon (aren’t I the lucky one?!).

    But there are a few bad things too. I’ll not dwell on them too long, but I feel I need to share.

    There’s a new batch of forgeries/frauds/frustrating copyright infringers on TEMU we are trying to head off with little luck. It’s upsetting. Their sales are huge. The quality of what you receive is disappointing. The pictures are of products that do not even exist. It’s all a big lie and what you get is absolutely not what you see. Once we bring one down another pops back up. My efforts to chase them have exhausted me. And because of their huge influence in the marketplace, I am considering withdrawing completely from all open edition publishing after this year unless something can be done. I’m not receiving any money from many thousands of sales. My beloved imaginary friends and my 30 years of hard graft are going to line somebody else’s pockets. My new work is paying for fat cats’ dinners. That’s not too smart of me, is it? I’ll keep you up to date and please continue sending any information you find as it is very helpful if upsetting. 

    Of course everyone has to make their crust. And I don’t begrudge the few market traders I see standing in the cold all day selling stolen photocopies of my work to earn a few bob. But these multinationals, operating cloak and dagger often out of China, do take the biscuit. They ask me to prove who I am (a passport, a signature and a video of me painting the very piece they are pirating does not suffice). Copyright laws cannot help. Solicitors can spend months bringing down one offender and 24 hours later another suspiciously similar one appears. TEMU, SHEIN etc support other large businesses and not the artists that make the work they are selling. It’s a sign of our times for who can resist a bargain? And I honestly don’t blame you if you fall for the lies and the excellent marketing. We’ve all done it. But I have no control over what you’ll receive and if the quality is not good, please send your complaints to the people you bought from, not me.

    It’s upsetting, it’s frustrating, and you’d think it would be illegal and easily preventable. But perhaps I just need to accept it and make other plans (I’ll let you know what they are!).  I have a warm home, my good health, friends, family and loved ones, a small horse of a puppy and a community of good people who know the truth. Thank you for being there. Your kind words and support help more than I can say.

    I’m loving my slow walks through city parks on short cold days with my darling girl by my side. I’m loving how she turns and runs back to me when I call with her floppy puppy legs. I’m loving how everybody assumes she’s a full-grown labradoodle, whereas me and you know full well she’s only halfway there. I’m training her as a therapy dog. It may take some time. One day I’d love you to meet her,

    But until then I’m sending lots of love,

    Sam 

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