Recent work by Sam Colt on exhibit at Axel’s through Nov. 19

Oct. 28, 2022  |  By Whitney Aldrich

Quietude by Sam Colt

The First Figure by Sam Colt

The Mountain by Sam Colt

Before taking the leap of becoming a studio artist, Sam Colt studied the old European canon of decorative arts at the Isabel O’Neil Studio for the Art of the Decorative Finish. Colt learned gold-leaf, faux-bois, grisaille and the like and graduated to running her own business installing grassello finishes – otherwise known as “Venetian plaster” in high-end environs there for 10 years, tackling massive projects for the likes of Rolex, etc. 

The early pursuit of technical excellence paired with the rangy looseness developed in running large-scale jobs eventually rotated into a study of traditional Icon writing.  

These three threads evolved jointly into a full-time studio art practice in Montpelier, Vermont.

In the studio, Colt uses trowels, knives and brushes to apply multiple coats of Italian marble plasters – “grassello” – on Masonite panels. With knives, she zips around through the grassello surface while it’s still wet to reveal under-stories, sometimes burnishing ashes from a fire or a cremation into the matrix. 

The resulting complex grounds serve as backdrops for quick sketches of a fairly unhinged inner cartography peopled by ships, key-stoned bridges, architectural ruins and phantom hermitages.

She uses oils, gold leaf, gouache, charcoal, shellac and varnishes to punctuate and/or disguise.

In her words: “I make work in a bid to amplify and make visible to myself the knocking from within.”

See her work on view at Axel’s Gallery and Frame shop through Nov. 19. An artist reception is planned for Friday, Nov. 11, from 6 to 8 p.m. Free.

Axel’s hours: Wednesday-Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. More online at AxelsGallery.com.

Whitney Aldrich is owner of Axel’s Gallery and Frame Shop.