Gary Samdaliri’s artistic prowess has been recognized on the prestigious stage of the American Arts Awards 2024.
His evocative portrait “Chief Sitting Bull” captured the judges’ attention, securing the second-place position in the fiercely competitive “Famous Portrait” section.
Additionally, his painting “Chief Running Antelope,” a testament to his skill in capturing the dynamism of the human form, earned a commendable fifth place in the “Figure” category. These accolades underscore Samdaliri’s growing reputation as an artist capable of creating works that resonate deeply with both critics and the public alike. His ability to breathe life into historical figures and imbue his paintings with a sense of movement and power marks him as a rising star in the contemporary art world.
"For me, being an artist is a spiritual path whereby I seek to capture the spiritual, ethereal and timeless elements of the subject. Being empathic and developing clairsentients has helped to fuel my creative impulse. The painting process has evolved over the years to allow the experience of joy, freedom of expression and, crucially, the ability to "tune into" spirit.
My goal is to create paintings that hold spiritual power and light, and therefore the image becomes instrumental in shifting the viewer to experience art from a higher perspective. The journey as an artist is constantly evolving and reaching new potential, and I feel blessed by allowing this process to unravel. Over the years I have painted landscape, fantasy, spirit guides, and abstract themes, however I have discovered my main passion is spiritually themed portraiture and sacred design."
Gary views painting as a Spiritual path, a process that generates great joy in creating unique works of art that can take many months to complete. He is driven to create art that inspires and uplifts – art which has the ability to shift the viewers’ awareness into inner realms, where power and beauty touches the soul.
"Interest in Native American wisdom was the inspiration in undertaking this portrait. By using an old historical photo of the great warrior chief, who was an iconic figure in American history, the goal throughout the painting process was to capture his fascinating life and what native Indians would term their "medicine" (spiritual power).
The love with portraiture is the ability of the artist to "psyche into" the portrait subject on a deep and penetrating level. At times, I could tune into the love Chief Sitting Bull had for great spirit.
There was also a sense of the anger and sadness he felt for the plight of his people in the face of encroachment by the white man.
Portraiture is a very demanding skill to master and can be mentally and emotionally draining, however the final results are exhilarating and immensely rewarding.
My personal technique in portraiture is to achieve high realism in depicting skin tones that hold the life force and the emanation of spirit. Clothing tends to be loose and abstract, but capturing the facial details, especially Chief Sitting Bull who had such a weathered and rugged look, was a timely but most rewarding process .
Completed in 2020, this painting has really transformed me and my approach ever since."
Now that Gary has firmly established himself as a professional artist, his works have been on display in several galleries, most notably the Hayloft Gallery, in Christchurch, Dorset. For portraiture and life painting commissions, please contact him directly for more details.
Gary Samdaliri’s life as an artist began in 2008 when he started to master the skills of Persian marquetry. Gary specialised in themes based on sacred art and mythology, inspired by both western and eastern traditions.
After many years of creating marquetry artwork, Gary felt an inner calling to explore art in other Media, and in 2015 he embarked on various courses and training programmes to develop his skills.
After experimenting with pastels, acrylics, and other mediums, Gary began to discover the radiant beauty of painting in oils, and has developed a unique artistic style that captivates the viewer.
Gary has a particular love of classical portraiture, having undergone intense art training with several respected art teachers. He also paints fantasy themes inspired by ancient mythology and, more recently, has started to develop new skills in the form of abstract themes.
Gary feels his artistic skills, as well as his empathic nature, are best suited to Portraiture. He is continuing to refine and perfect his skills since he paints from the heart, and each portrait painting he undertakes is, for him, an artistic and spiritual journey that nourishes his soul.
Portraiture involves a step by step process to achieve the best results. Gary begins each portrait painting with a detailed drawing of the portrait subject. Once the drawing has been completed, the first layer of colour can be applied. He uses a classical painting method called scumbling, where each subsequent layer of colour application is carefully designed to refine and bring together all the elements of the painting.
Gary invests most of his time in slowly building up the skin tone, whereby often five or six layers of colour are applied. This process really helps to highlight the radiant qualities of the facial features in particular. Finally, after three to six months drying, a final gloss varnish is applied to bring out the radiance of the painting.
"Rudolf Steiner was a philosopher - an esoteric, spiritual educator and one of the most enigmatic western thinkers of his generation, and his spiritual teachings have had a major influence on my spiritual outlook.
With the experience and skills gained from painting Chief Sitting Bull, I felt ready and compelled to challenge myself with this project.
For Rudolf Steiner, the Christ impulse was the core emphasis in his messages, therefore throughout the painting process my main goal was to tap into the Christ Monad that so deeply influenced Steiner's personal awakening, and which fuelled his super human qualities and immense capacity for lecturing on a huge range of spiritual topics.
Completing this painting was another milestone and has further fuelled my love of portraiture. The colours used on the palette are carefully selected at each stage to achieve the desired outcome.
Over the years, I have deeply immersed myself in trying to gain mastery over each colour within the visible spectrum. Every colour is totally unique, holding its own power, beauty and spiritual component."
The foundation of Gary’s abstract paintings are based on sacred geometry design principles. Abstract painting has helped him to further develop his skills as an Artist, allowing him to gain a much deeper understanding of colour and shape.
Firstly, the principles of sacred geometry to create a grid. This grid also known as the Armature allows the freedom for Gary to formulate his own compositions that are governed by structure, harmony, and mathematical principles.
Since undertaking abstract painting in 2018, Gary has undergone a major transformation as an artist, leading him to a greater understanding of the complex interplay of colour relationships, shapes, and form.
For Gary, his deeper interest in painting abstract is to create unique pieces that allow the viewer to shift into a more fluid, dreamlike, and spiritual state of being.
"Medicine Wheel was commissioned by a sound therapist, for the healing space that is used for clients, and in the last year I have been focused on undertaking sacred design commissions.
This painting was based on the Native American medicine wheel, however this was adapted to also include elements from other spiritual traditions that the client resonated with. Carefully calculating the composition of the painting by creating an inner & outer circle, the inner circle contains the heart sutra, infinity symbol, angel wings, a whale, and a heron, which are all very important elements for the client.
For the outer circle, the four cardinal directions are a crucial element within the medicine wheel, and each direction represents a season with spiritual significance, and also a distinctive colour.
With exact direction in mind, all of the totem animals and sacred flowers and plants were carefully arranged on the medicine wheel.
This painting needed a lot of focus and having a clear mind was an important element to energize and give life to the composition.
There comes a point within the process that the painting itself begins to communicate its will to me. Difficult to describe in words, it is a really incredible experience to merge with the painting and allow it to guide itself to completion."
"This, the most recent painting, for a local Light Workers' Pagan Group based in the New Forest.
This painting is dedicated to the lady who runs the group, as she deeply follows the old pagan religious path.
Taking time to meditate on this project, soon came the ability to tap into the ancient Celtic essences that helped to produce the complex layout.
The Celtic Year is divided into eight quarters of Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lammas, Mabon, and Samhain, with each phase holding a personal spiritual significance and deeply linked to the solstices and equinoxes, accompanied with the midpoints between them.
As the client has a strong affinity with the Green Man, it was decided to place him into the centre of the design. The Green Man represents the cycle of life, death and rebirth. He awakens spring after a long winter with the renewal of vegetation. The Celtic knot design also represents the endless cycle of life and death, and interconnecting life itself.
Painting both the Green Man and the Celtic knots was truly a very mesmerising and captivating experience, and I began to appreciate how the ancients viewed reality, incorporating the cosmic process into their lives. Calculating the colour selection of the animals and flowers made this project one of the most challenging to date . Completing this painting has been hugely influential in further perfecting my skills as a spirit artist."
Gary is also a musician, having learnt to play the Indian Tabla at Art Asia Southampton with Surjeet Singh. Also, Persian Tombak Goblet Drum and Daf Frame, where he was trained in Iran by a superb Iranian Drum Master named Hadi Footohy. Gary runs a Trance Drumming Circle for the Tipi Kota New Forest Group, and also occasionally in the wider area. He is also active in the Performance Drama and Acting Lamba course, which runs for several seasons each year.
