Samantha Gosling started running for the feel-good factor but found it boosted her creativity.

Four years later, she’s training for the New York Marathon.

Running the 26.2 miles was at first a personal goal, but she’s now hoping sponsors get on board and help her raise cash for the children’s charity Unicef.

“Unicef is an amazing organisation,” she said. “They’ve been around for 70 years, saving children’s lives who are victims of war, people who don’t have any options in life, who were dealt a bad hand.

“There are a lot of horrible things happening to children in the world, especially with the recent refugee crisis. I feel really strongly about helping children out in general.”

The artist left Bermuda for New York a year ago.

“New York is a very tough place for anyone to start out in, so I always knew it was going to be challenging, but I’ve been having so much fun, I think because I was so ready to come here.

“All my friends are here. I’ve really enjoyed the challenge. I needed it.”

At the moment, she juggles her painting with shifts in the service industry. She will pursue a teaching degree next year with hopes of working with high school students.

“I feel really strongly about kids who are on the verge of making a huge, life-changing decision about college and being influenced to do something that they don’t necessarily want to do.

“I’d really like to be that person that helps someone realise they’re talented and make the decision to go to art school over business school.”

She considers herself fortunate that she was never faced with that dilemma.

“My parents were so supportive of me as an artist,” she said.

“They were always telling me that I should pursue my art and that I should do what makes me happy. I wouldn’t have done any of the things that I’ve done if it weren’t for them. They were the ones who suggested I apply to [Rhode Island School of Design]. My mom drove me all over the place looking at just art schools. They even sent me to [Williston Northampton] boarding school for its great art programme.”

She painted Mayor of Hamilton Charles Gosling’s official portrait in 2013. The cousins had not met previously — the commission came after he saw examples of her work online.

The move to the Big Apple has seen a departure from her traditional portraiture, to a focus on more contemporary work.

“They’re works that I can produce a lot faster than I was producing portraits,” she said.

“I am still very interested in portraits and I love figurative work, but it will be a lot more abstract and contemporary, a combination of realism and surrealism.”

Her latest series combines architecture and botanical painting. Another, inspired by Bermuda, uses abstract water reflections gathered during trips home.

She shares a studio with fellow Bermudian artist Jon Legere, who she considers a mentor.

“Jon’s been so nice in letting me share his studio. He’s been really supportive. He was in the same position that I am at this age,” she said.

“I try to go to the studio whenever I can. I have to work when I’m inspired and sometimes that happens at a weird time in the day. I’ll go in at 8 o’clock at night and stay there until six in the morning because that’s when I feel like doing it.”

She is following American runner and Runners World contributor Hal Higdon’s training schedule to ready herself for the big day. Each week, she goes for three shorter runs and one long one to improve her strength and speed, averaging a nine-minute mile pace.

“I do want to make a good time,” she said. “It’s amazing what our bodies are capable of. I want to really push myself.

“I started running a few years ago because it helped me stay positive and now it’s turned into this.

“[It] helps me focus. I’m more productive when I’ve been running. It’s really good for your body and your mind.”

To donate visit: www.crowdrise.com/TeamUNICEFNYC2017/fundraiser/samanthagosling. To view Ms Gosling’s work visit www.samanthagosling.com