Sam has created an amazing collection featuring her now infamous characters, "The Mustards", Ernest Hemingway Mustard and his dear lady wife Violet along with their much loved eccentric friends and pets. This page showcases Sam's mounted open edition miniatures.
Ernest lives in a not-so-damp flat on the Brighton/ Hove border with Violet, his dear lady wife, and Doris their grumpy and rather portly Jack Russell Terrier.
His work as a part time Hurricane Predictor and Professional Tuneless Hummer has made him lots of friends along the Prom: the beautiful Audrey - could she be Ms Hepburn reborn as a sheep?- Horace Duck, and the lovely Rover, a melancholy goldfish with tunnel vision and a good heart.
The Braithwaite Gallery has been lucky enough to work with Sam for a very long time. She sometimes she comes to York for exhibitions, sometimes just to say hello. She has been generous with her time and talent, particularly in helping us with charity fundraising.
In 2020 Sam created “Looking After Eachother (a picture for Jake)” in memory of Jake Braithwaite, which helped the Gallery raise £5000 for mental health charity, Mind. In 2022 Sam sent us ‘Time To Make Memories’ - an original artwork plus four uniquely remarqued limited editions from an exclusive set, which helped us fundraise in aid of PAPYRUS - a charity focused on prevention of suicide in the young. We raffled edition number one, and sold the other three to raise funds for this excellent cause, with a huge donation from the sale of the original. You can still make donations to this worthy charity via our JustGiving page - in May 2026 the total stands at almost £19,000, thanks to the generosity of our artists and customers.
Sam’s 2026 calendar was self published as a limited edition available only from Sam herself, her local bookshop in Brighton and The Braithwaite Gallery, here in York. We were thrilled to be part of this exclusive club. Sam generously donated £1 from the sale of each calendar to charity PAPYRUS, a charity we have both supported since the loss of Jake. Together we can make a difference!
© Sam Toft
