Ro Sammis was born in Brooklyn, NY in 1964. She studied art at FIT in NYC. After graduating she was drawn away from her job in NY to the cerulean waters of Florida and The Bahamas. South Florida has been her home since 1985 and she considers herself a naturalized native.
During her early years in Florida Ro spent much of her time on the ocean studying wild dolphins and diving coral reefs. Her painting ideas filled her dreams. In 2000 she became an art teacher at a private school in North Palm Beach, FL. Since then she has been sharing her passion for creating art by teaching young students to see and think like artists. During this time teaching, her own painting lay mostly dormant in her dreams. Recently she began painting for herself. Her many years of love for the color cerulean poured onto a canvas in 2017. From there her passion for the sea and her connections with the natural world and travels have inspired many colorful paintings.
It is never too late to express those quiet dreams out loud.
Ro begins her paintings with many layers. She usually does not commit to a vision or subject until a canvas has been painted, painted over, and turned over multiple times.
This practice enables ideas to be captured that allow for the viewers to interpret their own impression of my multi-layered paintings. Nature is always present in my work through subject or simply light.” ~Ro Sammis
Ro continues to teach, and she paints in her studio in Lake Park, Florida with her poodle Kobe as her companion and sidekick.