Visual artist Pamela (Sam) Adams has roots in New Hampshire but spent her youth as an Air Force brat moving from one place to another. Despite the changes in location, Sam’s passion for art and music persevered from grade school onward, leading her to a career in graphic arts and sign painting. After thirty plus years in the field, and with the decreased demand for hand painted signs, Sam decided to shift her media focus and now specializes glass works, feeling that the sky is the limit when it comes to the design capabilities glass has to offer. Sam also utilizes other disciplines, and creates works in acrylics, pastels, mixed-media, and clay.
After many years of moving about, Sam is now decidedly a permanent resident of West Virginia. “West Virginia keeps calling me back,” she explains. “…I’ve often heard people say these green hills have an energy, a pull. I believe they do…It’s very easy to burrow into our little holler and literally drink in the green all around. I am inspired every day by so many things just walking out my door and looking around.”
Sam finds that the natural beauty of the Mountain State provides endless inspiration for her work, and her affection for her adopted homeplace is especially palpable in her stained glass composition “Where the Wild Fiddles Grow.” This piece, which is currently on view in Tamarack’s David L. Dickirson Fine Arts Gallery as a part of their annual “Best of West Virginia Open Juried Exhibition,” is filled with many beloved West Virginia symbols, and pays special homage to the diverse array of flora indigenous to the region. Sam explains:
I wanted this piece to represent my love for West Virginia. All of the plants are indigenous to West Virginia: the poplar tree leaves and flower in the upper left, under them, the dogwood flowers, the little purple violets that cover our lawn, and ginseng with its red berries. There are also the mittened sassafras leaves that turn a beautiful red in the fall, multi flora roses, and green hills that go on forever. The house is the house we built here many years ago, and the fiddle growing up in among the fiddle head ferns represents the old music of West Virginia.
Aside from the beautiful representations of traditional Appalachian motifs, one may notice a whimsical little fiddle player enjoying the idyllic scene. “That little fiddler is my muse,” Sam tells us. “I learned how to play fiddle here, West Virginia old time music, and it’s that old ancient music that sings the heartbeat of this state.”
Visual artist Pamela (Sam) Adams has roots in New Hampshire but spent her youth as an Air Force brat moving from one place to another. Despite the changes in location, Sam’s passion for art and music persevered from grade school onward, leading her to a career in graphic arts and sign painting. After thirty plus years in the field, and with the decreased demand for hand painted signs, Sam decided to shift her media focus and now specializes in glass works, but also creates using acrylics, pastels, mixed-media, and clay.
But after many years of traveling, Sam has put roots down in West Virginia. She finds that the natural beauty of the state, as well as Appalachia’s rich, traditional culture, prominently influences her creative process. Her designs draw beautiful parallels between visual art and a way of life, inviting her viewers to see West Virginia living through her unique creative lens. Currently, Sam is experimenting with a new series of miniature sculptures that explore the archetypal West Virginia homestead, three of which are currently on display in the David L. Dickirson Fine Arts Gallery. Despite being only a few inches tall, these structures possess all the fine details of the life-sized versions that lay tucked away in hills and hollers. Sam also uses these works as a way to celebrate a nuance of traditional Appalachian identity. Embracing the use of recycled materials, she translates the time honored concept of Appalachian resourcefulness into physical form:
West Virginians have ‘made do,’ and these houses were made with what was available. Using everyday items is a reflection on how resourceful West Virginians are, and it seemed a perfect correlation. Not only that, it was intriguing to think about what could be used for what purpose. [For example], on the old farmhouse, I made the clapboards out of a Dial hand soap box…the backdoor screen is a little piece of lace, [and] the window glass is made of cellophane from a candy bar… A beer can is also a practical material source. It is very flexible, cuts easily with scissors, and the inside looks like old metal, especially when you use it for a roof, crimp it, and paint it a rusty color. I also used it to make the little mail box and the little red mailbox flag.
Sam also appreciates the unique character the real-life homesteads possess and enjoys their unusual beauty. “Being from New England, where the houses are large, white clapboard and austere, houses here are much more interesting to me,” she tells us. “They really reflect West Virginia’s true heart… When I think about trying to make the same, reflecting New Hampshire houses, it would only end up a white square structure on a pile of dirt. Something is definitely lost in the translation!”
Above all, Sam hopes that what comes across most in her miniature homes is her love of West Virginia’s people and her appreciation for the culture. “I’ve always been drawn to the simple, hardworking humbleness of people and this is what I feel in West Virginia,” she explains. “I hope that in the [sculptures’] tininess, their sweetness is reflected. Making these little houses just seemed meant to be…the humble houses are iconic to this state.”
Sam’s sculptures will be on view in Tamarack’s annual “The Best of West Virginia Open Juried Exhibition” until August 9.
Who asked you to be their valentine, and who didn’t (thinking that they didn’t have to)?
Nathan Hale did, of course he did! He bought a whole box of those cheesy ones that are supposed to be for elementary students, ones with lots of hearts and funny sayings. He may be out the door before you on Valentines Day, but there are no shortage of cards on every surface of the house. It’s a lovely gesture that even though you need no remember that you are his, it still brings a smile that you can never forget.
Thinking he didn’t have to, because you had already been dating for like a year-Benjamin Tallmagde did not. He insists that he’s already asked you, and you said yes, so he’s already covered his bases. Of course, will still buy you flowers and shake his head laughing at you, wondering where you’ve heard this nonsense that he has to ask every year. However, he will seemingly ask you every following year, just to make sure that he’s still got it right.
Marquis de Lafayette thinks similarly to Benjamin, thinking that you’re already his valentine and he doesn’t have to ask twice. However, he finds the cutest card in a random store one day before the holiday, and he can’t resist the urge to not pick it up for you. He loves the smile it brings to your face, and he can’t help but laugh sweetly as you bob your head yes, accepting his proposal.
Ensign Thomas Baker definitely will ask you every year. It just becomes a sort of annual ritual, pretending that you’ve just met and handing each other homemade cards. It’s just an overall sweet idea that’s caught on, and Baker will surely ask you every year if you’ll do him the honor of being his valentine. You never fail him with the answer.
If you think Alexander Hamilton will, you’ll at least get a good laugh out of him. He’ll ask if you’re joking, and you may be so inclined to yank on his leg a tad. Maybe make him sweat a little bit. You nearly make him believe that how could he forget the most important part of Valentine’s Day, before whipping out a: “sike! Got you!” And running away, Hamilton chasing after. If anything, it was warming to see the worry in his eyes that he had messed up the holiday. (That he scoffed about, saying he didn’t care).
George Washington will not, but you know that there’s no malice behind it. He very well may forget that it’s even Valentine’s Day, but that’s only because he’s suffering behind his desk instead of being home with you. He’ll definitely hear it on the radio or from a co-worker before you ever have the heart to tell him, but he will definitely make it up to you a million ways to one. It’s a Hallmark holiday, and no matter how much you insist it’s no big deal, he’ll at least buy you flowers.
Caleb Brewster does, of course! In the most outlandish way possible, every year he outdoes himself. He’s never one to forget any small detail you share with him, so anytime during the year you mention a new favorite candy, flower, or even accessory, it’s sitting squarely so it’s the first thing you see when you walk through the door. He’ll ask you to be his valentine, forever and always.
SometimesRobert Townsend does. Maybe he’ll say it in a moment of insecurity or in a moment of yours, but usually, he does not. He knows you are his, and he is yours, and overall is the number one guy on this list to find the holiday a hallmark holiday, but if it means a lot to you, then it does to him. Maybe on the simpler side, but he show you just how much he loves and appreciates you, in a way that a card could never share.
Hercules Mulligan does! Sweetly, asks every year if you’ll be his. He’ll definitely buy you roses, and smother you to death with kisses of appreciation and love. You would not have it any other way, genuinely in love with how much love he has to share. Hercules does not care a single iota if he’s already asked you seven times, he’ll ask you twice over if you’ll be his Valentine by the end of the day.
John Adams does not, to any surprise. We aren’t really sure he’s ever asked you, so we can’t qualify him as someone who’s asked you once and thinks it enough. Most definitely working if the holiday falls during the week, and probably will still be shuffling papers if it falls on the weekend. But this comes with the territory—while John loves you with his entire heart, you and him both know that he’s hardly any good at expressing it. He definitely does remember to pick up your favorite takeout on the way home though.
Sam Adams should, could, and would announce to any person in his immediate vicinity that you were his valentine. And maybe you weren’t in that immediate vicinity to catch his rather loud shouts, he’ll come home fast enough to make sure you know, with no doubts, that you are his valentine. He doesn’t even ask. It’s a fact, not a question.
Our lovely Doctor Joseph Warren absolutely does. He will greet you good morning with a sweet kiss and mumble goofily against your lips if you’d be his on this lovely holiday. Warren well and good knows that you are his and he is yours, but he can’t help it when the question makes you laugh, and he gets to see that amazing sparkle in your eyes. Of course, you’ll be his, and not only today, but every hour of every day.
A true coin toss, Paul Revere is a man of mystery that you can’t quite figure out sometimes. You’re half inclined to believe his forgot, but then the other half leads you to believe that he’s just pretending to make you think he forgot. Did he actually forget, we will never know. He will never own up to it, even if he forgets from time to time, and always buys you flowers. Some years, you may be able to tell if he’s forgotten, because he asks you to be his forever and always. (The answer is always yes).
John Hancock…does not. While I am ready to believe that he is this lovey-dovey romantic, I also feel like he would definitely be the first to forget, after Washington and Adams. The kinda “oh shit, that was today?!” Kinda vibe. But Hancock is a very loyal person, and an extremely kind-hearted man, and you know that he’s just got a lot on his plate. He would always be so appreciative of your forgiveness, and while he may never ask you to be his valentine, he definitely knows that he is yours forever.
William Daniels originated the role of John Adams in the musical 1776 when it debuted on Broadway in 1969 and also starred in the film version of the stage show. Four years afterwards, PBS produced a thirteen-part miniseries titled The Adams Chronicles in which Daniels played John Quincy Adams, the eldest son of John and Abigail Adams. Daniels then went on to play Samuel Adams, John Adams’ second cousin and fellow revolutionary, in a 1978 made-for-television film called The Bastard.
“At that point,” Daniels says, “I felt I had achieved a lock on the Adams family. I had played every one of them except Abigail.”
I couldn’t find any pictures of him as Sam Adams (tragically), but the fact that William Daniels dedicated three years of his life to playing John Adams and then played his son in an Emmy-winning miniseries just a few years later is pretty incredible imo!
