Samantha Grenier, whose artwork is on display at Vital Provisions in Peterborough, is a product of Maine.

“I grew up running around the fields, crushing crab apples from the tree by our deck and exploring the woods,” she said.

While she has spent most of her life in New Hampshire, her most-playful adventures come from 1980s Maine woods. Grenier recalls loving the way her brother Larz drew and thanks him for her creative career trajectory.

“In the early ’90s, we would watch Bob Ross on Sunday mornings, then move on Commander Mark on ‘The Secret City.’ They taught me that anyone can learn to draw, but my brother was the first to teach me to draw rainbows!” Grenier said. 

Grenier received an education in graphic design and in illustration, first at Rivier College and then at Savannah College for Art and Design. She has developed her artist statement to read as follows: “Driven by texture and inspired by the whimsy of children’s book illustration, I believe simple shapes carry a great personality. I love depth of field, whether working with a shallow picture plain of an illustration, or macrame wall hanging, I engage with the visual space using a punch of color or embrace the transparency of shadow and light.” 

Although Grenier has recently found herself sketching humanlike figures, the pieces selected for Vital Provisions have a focus on animals. She uses cut paper, acrylic paint and digital software to create her work. She often uses her own cat as a subject.

“I love animals and I gravitate to them for illustration because there is an innocence to them,” she said.

Grenier draws wonder and fascination with the work of Eric Carle, the artist and illustrator whose books included “The Very Hungry Caterpillar.”

“The surfaces of his illustrations always feel like there’s something more hidden in the paint strokes,” she said. “The blend of painted surfaces give his work dimensional and creative depth.” 

Art is an outlet for Grenier, and her advise for fellow artists is to stay consistent.

“I use art to quietly recalibrate my emotional overload or wiggle through a creative block,” she said. “Draw, sketch, and doodle freely and frequently.”

Looking forward, Grenier would like to step away from working digitally and use traditional media such as graphite, paint and collage.

“The illustrator in me is drawn (pun intended) toward editorial illustration,” she said. “I would like to explore magazine and book cover art.”

To learn more about Grenier and her artwork, visit paperknotstudio.com.