Samantha Vanderwyst is a painter who works primarily in acrylic ink on reclaimed wood and also ink/watercolor on paper. She uses the homesteading life she has created and the surrounding forest with all of its flora and fauna as the inspiration for her paintings. Her work can be described as spirited and illustrative with a rich botanical influence and a great attention to detail. Strong black line work is a common theme.
As she applies brush to canvas in her home studio, the smoke from her wood stove billows into the wind outside and piles of washed wool from her flock of sheep are spilling out of baskets in every corner. It is from these two simple things, symbols of a joyous, hardworking country life, that she derives her greatest happiness, and hence, the name Woodsmoke and Wool.
She is a self-described artist, wife, homesteader, shepherdess, maker, homeschooling Mama, lover of hot tea, history, nature and a simple, handmade life.