Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Lewis.
Hi Amy, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I am a self taught artist. I taught myself how to watercolor paint from a young age because I was in love with color and I needed a creative outlet. After graduating high school, I took a 5 week youth course at Gage Academy in Seattle where I learned classical methods of drawing and oil painting. While I earned my bachelor’s in business management, I continued to build my portfolio of watercolor and oil paintings.
Since graduating college, I’ve been in pursuit of showing my work wherever I can. I’ve organized many open studio and public fine art shows. I’ve been a member of the Women Painters of Washington group since 2022. And in the fall of 2024, I was featured in Create! Magazine (issue 46). I am proud to currently be featured in Excess Contemporary’s inaugural online exhibition. I am on a mission to bring joy and a sense of gratitude for the ordinary to everyone who experiences my work.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
There are always challenges to be faced when creating a piece of art. But those are temporary and they add to the strength of the work. The biggest obstacle to making the art I want to make is the financial challenge. My focus on realism, fine art paintings is very labor intensive. There are definitely some merchandising opportunities for my work which I’ve indulged in. But for the most part, my practice lends itself to the more expensive end of the art world, which makes it more difficult for me to find collectors for my work. I’ve spent many years balancing a part time job and my art practice. They cohabitated for a long time, fairly peacefully. But my practice could never stand the weight of real financial pressure. Just recently, exhausted by the stress of trying to squeeze money from my art, I made the decision to move to a full time day job and relegate my creating time to evenings and weekends. I think this has been the right move especially in this season of economic instability. I miss the flexible schedule and the extra hours to create but I do not miss the stress and uncertainty. Choosing full time work over the “small business artist dream” has freed me up to focus on the creative work that really matters to me. It would be amazing to return to part time work (or ditch the day job altogether). I love the idea of betting on my work and seeing that come to fruition. But the creation of the work is more important to me than proving I can make it a business.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am a watercolor and oil painter in Tacoma, Washington. I make and sell original paintings and prints. Occasionally I will do commissions or create art related merchandise. My work is hyper realism paintings focused on glamorizing ordinary life. I pair everyday objects with luxurious backgrounds, a juxtaposition that draws attention to the things we take for granted. In my paintings you’ll often see food, drinks, fashion and women in colorful, high contrast compositions. My work is a practice in gratitude. It is the cultivation of joy and an appreciation for the beauty that is all around us. I am inspired by fashion editorials, historic paintings of the aristocracy. Fashion editorials often use contrasting themes to create tension. Paintings of aristocracy, such as portraits by John Singer Sargent, are rich with examples of luxury from the satin slippers to the velvety curtain backdrop.
I am proud of my pursuit of excellence. I want my paintings to be the very best they can be from the sketch to the finished painting even if it takes longer to complete a painting. I take pride in my process of developing the reference photo myself and enduring months of work to give the painting the time it needs to be its best.
Are there any important lessons you’ve learned that you can share with us?
The journey has taught me to trust the testimony of my own experience. With every painting there are challenges that may seem insurmountable: my skill is falling short, my time is running out or there isn’t enough money. But amidst the present challenge there are the memories of all the paintings that have already been finished, the bad days that have already been faced. I am constantly forgetting my own history and needing to be reminded of it because those victories are gifts. The victories are reminders that I can do it again and the failures are reminders that even when there is failure, that can be overcome too. My experiences, whether good or bad, provide me with the confidence to endure in the face of adversity.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.amylewisfineart.com/art
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/superaimes/
