Samara (Sam) Barks or Mixed Hues, professionally, is a freelance illustrator, muralist, 3D artist, and mentor. Her art career has taken her many places. She’s gone from her hometown of Detroit to Pittsburgh, Miami, Houston, and for the last four and a half years, East Austin has been home. Her illustration and fine art styles are a mix of exaggerated realism with a graffiti feel. Through her art, she creates work featuring people of color, specifically black people, in spaces where they aren’t likely to be seen or represented. Initially, she created Mixed Hues to fill a very real need of seeing more representation of black people in two communities she’s passionate about: art and roller derby. Since then, it has branched out into so much more. It encompasses all of her passions where she gets to create the world she wants to see.