November 2010 - Ramsay Community Association in Calgary

Your Ramsay NeighbourSam Hester has lived in Ramsay since 2004 and has seen a lotof changes in her house and her life since then. Her relativelynew boyfriend of the time, Scott, has become her husband,and a room upstairs in her 1911 home now accommodates atoddler. Wiring has been updated, new floors have been putdown, and a brand new shower stall means that she no longerneeds to crouch down in the bath under the eave of the houseto wash. Despite the changes, Sam is still the artistic free spiritI’ve known since elementary school.Sam was born in Toronto but moved to Calgary when shewas small and grew up in the city. When she graduated highschool at just 16, she spent a year as a Rotary exchange studentin Germany, followed by a year at the University of Calgary.She then lived in Toronto for a number of years, where shefollowed in her father’s footsteps to graduate from U of T, andspent a year at Ontario College of Art. She found herself leavingthe hipster circles of arty Toronto to take a job as a flightattendant for Air Canada, and for the last twelve years hasbeen making the regular journey from Calgary to Frankfurt.Sam greatly appreciates the flexibility of this route and her job,allowing her time to be an artist.One of her two main art forms is portrait painting. In herkitchen she displays eight pieces of a 19-portrait series, “TheBrothers,” (all musician friends of her younger brother MattMasters), which had its opening at ArtPoint in 2004. Downthe hall is a self-portrait that was a Top Finalist in the PortraitSociety of Canada’s 2006 International Portrait Art Festival.The walls and ceilings in the rest of her house are painted inbold colours, in mosaic style in some places and with brightsuns shining in others. Her other art form is indie comics,which combines her love of writing with illustration. A trip tothe San Diego Comic Con led her to meet some independentcomics publishers, and through those connections one of herillustrated stories has appeared in a junior high textbook. Hercomics are autobiographical, chroniclingthe adventures she has had (such as followingBob Dylan around the world tosee concerts in Japan, across Europe, andall over the USA) and the people shemeets along the way.Sam is fascinated with what she calls“teenager books.” She finds them to haveriveting plots intended to engage theyoung reader but that can be enjoyed byadults too. She likes illustrated storiesand books for this age group becausethey’re not quite for kids, not quite forgrown-ups. She says, “I think I just likean art form that defies a boundary ofsome kind.” She has done academic writingon the genre and once had to turndown the opportunity to do a Master’sdegree in Creative Writing in NewZealand. She would like to have the chance to pursue analyzingliterature again someday.For now though, she is enjoying taking care of her almosttwo-year-oldson and day-to-day life with Scott. She lovesRamsay for the friends she’s made in the 23rd Avenue Cluband the fantastic experience she had as part of the artists’ collectiveat ArtPoint. She and I both can’t believe she has madeher home near the bottom of the hill at Ramsay school, whereas kids she and I would come to a screeching halt after a terrifyingride on my toboggan.RAMSAY RESIDENTSSHARE YOUR NEWS• Musicians, artists, performers – let us know whenand where to catch you & see your work.• Enthusiasts – let us know about your initiatives.Email us at news@ramsaycommunity.ab.ca by the 15thof each month.Ramsay News page 14