I have known of the art of Sam Naughton (nee Wortelhock) since the mid-1990’s when I purchased a “gallery” of prints from Heaven and Earth in the QVB Building in Sydney. “Modern Inconveniences”, ”Reaching for a breath of Fresh Air”,  ”Green Issues”, “Hanging Out”, Humpback whale and calf and coral reef scenes in Sam’s unique style have featured in my home ever since. As a novice scuba diver and sea tragic I was most deeply impacted by the 3D original of “Cod Almighty” that hung in the gallery. I was celebrating a new chapter in my life and I purchased Special Artist’s Edition 1/50 of “Cod Almighty”. To say Sam’s art spoke to me is an understatement. The years rolled by and my sons each slept under “Green Issues “ and “Hanging Out” from the days they were born. The years rolled by and I came to hang “Cod Almighty” in a sunny sitting room off the Kitchen in one of a succession of new homes. I didn’t appreciate in our busy life how sunny the sitting room was when I wasn’t there and how much sun “Cod Almighty” received over the couple of years we were there until I took it down to move to the next home. I  was disappointed to see that not unlike the coral reef it had suffered bleaching of its brilliant colour and the interaction between the light penetrating the surface which a scuba diver knows, captured by Sam. The years rolled by and I still treasured my Special Artists Limited Edition Print but as a new chapter in my life beckoned, in which I would be living with my two adult sons ( 19 and 21), I had cause to celebrate. I reached out to Sam though Breakaway Art explaining that to celebrate this next chapter in my life I hoped to secure a refreshed print of “Cod Almighty”. Sam was wonderfully responsive and sympathetic and made enquiries of her printer to find that the digital version of “Cod Almighty” was no longer available. As my circumstances had improved I boldly enquired as to whether Sam knew the whereabouts of the original and whether it was for sale. Sam had  no knowledge of its whereabouts after all these years which is probably just as well as my circumstances had not improved that much ! What to do ? Sam kindly and generously offered to paint an original in oils and she had a canvass that would be “just the ticket” – a bargain was struck and an original commissioned but not a copy of “Cod Almighty” an  original featuring those wonderful Potato Cod ( Epinephelus tukula) as seen at the Cod Hole dive site at the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef. But Sam had a surprise – there would be three Cod ! Sam shared the journey of her work from blank canvass to finished product by photos, also featuring her dogs Duncan and Dougal. It was amazing and a privilege to see Sam transform the blank canvass to three Potato Cod ( it had been a while since “Cod Almighty”) in their reef setting, literally “Cod In Heaven” and get to know Sam in the process. She shared some of the fantastic murals she was working on into the bargain. The beautiful original of “Cod in Heaven” now hangs unframed over our dining table in our new home, unframed because Sam completed the scenes on the edges of the canvass.  Sam was absolutely right , the original is at another level to the wonderful prints and the connection with it through being included in the journey from blank canvass to unboxing on deliver is deep and personal. Whilst serendipitous that the digital media of “Cod Almighty” was not available and the whereabouts of its original remains unknown I couldn’t be happier with the experience of commissioning an original from Sam and another commission is in the pipeline ! I can also confirm that Cod has not been on the menu at our table and never will be  😉

David Drummond, 12 May 2021