Hi friends! My name is Samm and I’m the artist behind Underground Creative.

I studied Marketing + Finance at the Campbell School of Business at Berry College. And while I remain fascinated by these topics, with a focus on consumer behavior and how social media impacts financial markets, I always felt like something was missing. Like I was riding a train that would never reach its destination.

So I jumped.

I started doing design for a local church that was in the process of restoring an abandoned school into their new campus. I found myself stepping into a chapter of my life full of graphic + web design, along with creating + painting murals. And it was here that I fell in love with empty spaces - there’s just something so special to me about the potential of it all.

And so, Underground Creative was born out of a love of color, words, + people.

“Underground” comes from the book that has continued to shape how I see the world - The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

In this story, the protagonist starts out as a young, timid girl afraid to connect with the world around her. Her family’s basement is the place she learns to read, love, and dream. Most importantly, she finds the power of her own voice. As she grows up, this once unused, forgotten, underground space turns into a space of warmth, healing, and creativity.

So that’s what this is for me. A space to dream like a child again, to build something out of nothing, to look into empty spaces or blank slates with a sense of wonder and imagination.

In the same way that it’s so wonderful to see the final product, it’s also a gift to be able to stand in an empty space and dream about what could be. Even the most broken or dull spaces can become ones of inspiration and renewed life with a little help from the freedom + joy of color.

Lately, nothing excites me more than a blank canvas, an empty space, and an open heart - because it’s in those spaces that we find ourselves. And, if we’re lucky, we might find each other too.

My greatest hope for Underground Creative is to foster the courage to dream like we used to, through color + creativity.

Thanks for being along for the ride!

xoxo, Samm