Ellen Page and Samantha Thomas have been an item for awhile now–but, other than stepping out with her girlfriend, Samantha Thomas prefers to keep a low profile. The two walked the red carpet at the Toronto International Film Festival this past weekend, in celebration of Page’s latest film, Freeheld. Their obvious happiness led many to ask: Who is Ellen Page’s girlfriend, Samantha Thomas? Where is she going–and where has she been?
Samantha Thomas, 35, is seven years Page’s senior. She’s a Texan by birth, and an artist by disposition: Thomas graduated with a BFA from the Art Center College of Design in 2004, and has been displaying her work on the regular in New York, Paris, Miami, Houston and the greater Los Angeles area since her first show the year after graduation. Ellen Page’s girlfriend’s next solo show will take place at the noted Anat Egbi gallery next year in LA. Thomas’ latest series, “Texture / Parameter,” attempts to “explore the limits of the traditional canvas”–more on that shortly.
Ellen Page’s girlfriend is an avid surfer, perhaps because as a child she had no ready access to big waves–Thomas grew up “five minutes from the Mexican border” in central Texas. One thing Thomas did grow up with was golf: she was offered a full golf scholarship to the University of Tulsa, but turned it down cold in order to go to Pasadena and pursue her artistic dreams.
Page, for her part, can’t stop gushing about Thomas. Their red carpet debut prompted a blunt, blissful declaration: “I’m in love!”
While Ellen Page’s girlfriend offered no on-the-record comments to the press, Page herself couldn’t contain the good vibes: “Walking down the carpet holding my girlfriend’s hand is pretty special.”
She added, “It’s pretty awesome.”
The matching tuxes the pair wore to the Freeheld premiere certainly don’t hurt their cute couple image–nor do carnival shots like the one they shared just a few days ago:
And what about Ellen Page’s girlfriend’s art? Samantha Thomas has received a steady stream of positive reviews since becoming a full-time artist. Art In America says her work “strongly suggests the body in a variety of ways,” pointing out that “the canvas is far from flat, and materials form an entry point for testing a range of textures….Thomas’s vocabulary of orifices and sinewy coils…invites further bodily associations: a bulky girth of rope becomes entrails, the creasing and wrinkles of linen a protruding navel.” Complex further notes Thomas’ work’s broad appeal, saying “The pieces are minimal in color but create a maximum impact.”
Here’s a sampling of those works, courtesy of the artist’s own Instagram page:
Getting hands on in the studio #footdragger #regram ? @siglomoderno
A photo posted by Samantha Thomas (@redsquare7) on
Hey getting a little touchy there @ellenpage
A photo posted by Samantha Thomas (@redsquare7) on
(Photo credits: Ellen Page, Samantha Thomas via Instagram, WENN.com)
