Sam Holt has a laugh like no other. A full hearted laugh that bounces around the walls and ceiling of his paint splattered studio in Annandale. And why the heck not? 

The man’s got a lot to be happy about these days. He’s one of Australia’s up and coming contemporary artists, with a unique style and a stack of admirers.

We’re talking about how only a few years ago he would spend his hours selecting the right yellow for a Commonwealth ad, and be taken to task if he didn’t get it spot on.

He now adds streaks of colour to canvases that are full of energy, obey no rules and follow no guidelines.

"What made you decide to quit?" we ask him. "The day my Chief Creative Officer asked me which of the people in the agency I'd like to be in the future. I couldn't think of a single one. And that got me thinking about what I was doing in this industry."

Sam’s artworks are born in the moment. He doesn’t set out with a sketch or a plan of any kind and lets the mood dictate the strokes of his brush and the splatter of his paints.

His art has started getting noticed in all the right places. He’s just won a huge scholarship to travel around the world and further develop his craft. And a residency in Spain. Lucky bastard!

He shows us the paintings he’s working on for an upcoming show. He shows us a board covered in paint a metre thick. He sticks it up on a wall, opens its two tiny doors and ta-da, it’s a dart board.

He tells us about a screen play he wants to write. We speak about a kids’ book we could work on together.

“Anything you miss from that world?” we ask him.

“Yeah, drinking beers and watching stupid stuff on youtube on a Friday with mates,” he says. And then that laugh fills the room once again.