Artist Bio
I was born in Minneapolis, MN USA in 1971. I was a weird kid. Very quiet, shy and I kept to myself most of the time. I had a wild imagination as most kids do. Very early on I was told (I also felt the same) I was going to be an artist. I was never sure about how it would manifest.My family and I moved around a lot and I've met many truly wonderful people. I was very close with my high school art teacher. She was extremely talented, smart, funny, loyal and completely unappreciated. We encouraged each other and I owe her a lot.When it came time to decide what I would do with my life, art was at the forefront. I chose to go to a small graphic design school in Arizona. The school was great. Very intensive program. I went there four hours a day five days a week for a little over a year. I received my associate arts degree in commercial art in January 1992.I've been working as an artist (and many other things) since. Most of my professional artistic experience has been working at apparel silk screening companies. The work is fun, sometimes tedious, but overall a very nice fit for me. The places that I've worked for have been small companies. The latter, Cold Side Silkscreening, is very small and the atmosphere is generally relaxed. It's definitely not a suit and tie or skirt and heals sort of a place! I'd been through some hard times between the two places and getting back into a place like that gave me a renewed look at creativity.I met my husband at Cold Side. He left to work at an ad agency, I took his place, he came back to visit, they got us together and viola. Jim returned to Cold Side about a year later to work in the office. We worked together (and lived together) for about two years. Shortly before our son was born I stopped working. That was just about three years ago. I've been a stay at home mom ever since. My days have been devoted to raising him. It's not easy. We're working hard to get by on mostly one income. We wouldn't have it any other way. I'm lucky to be able to spend as much time with him as I do.Today, I still freelance for Cold Side. I've been working on art when I can. It hadn't occurred to me until recently that I could sell my art on my own. I'm not a gallery person. I don't have the ability (or at least that's how I see it) to do that whole scene. Selling my art always seemed out of reach. After having my son, my perspective has changed. We do for ourselves for sure, but our boy comes first. Just know that if you do purchase a piece, you're investing in a wonderful little boy's future!The art that I do spans lots of mediums. I've painted, etched, illustrated, done graphic design and more. There are many things that I've yet to try. I come up with lots of ideas and have collected material for future projects.I've always loved photography. I'm drawn to it. Maybe I'm a frustrated photographer, I'm not sure. I come from a family of many creative people. Some have realized their abilities and have pursued them as careers. Some have played with it on the side. Some have happened upon them by accident and probably never knew they had the ability!I have many wonderful family photos that are works of art in their own right. I've always wanted to do something with them. Over the years I've created a few series. I've continued to create more and am deciding on which to offer for sale. Of course I'm influenced by Andy Warhol. I've rarely committed to a particular 'style' as much as I have with these pieces. I seem to have styles related to the medium I'm using.As for my illustrations, they are influenced by botanical art, microorganism imagery, biology imagery and vintage woodcuts. There's something strangely appealing about them. The woodcuts and botanical art in particular are created so skillfully as to look hyper-realistic, sometimes photographic. Yet, there's something sinister and surreal about them. I'm generally attracted to odd images. That's where the idea that 'there is art in everything' is so appealing to me.I started working on websites more or less by accident. I'd opened my disgusting art online store and began learning HTML and CSS on the fly. I've had GoLive for many years, but never really messed with it. After working (and re-working) on my storefronts I became less intimidated with building websites. My sites have changed many times as I learn more about the process. Plus, I'm never satisfied. It's been a wonderful creative experience.My initial intension with my storefronts was to sell prints of my art series. Eventually it occurred to me that creating designs for apparel and housewares was another attainable option. It's something that I've always wanted to do (especially having worked with silk screening garments). I'm excited for the opportunity to create on my own terms. The response has been very encouraging. If you've read all of this, bless you! ;) I encourage comments and feedback. I'm also available for contract, commissioned and freelance work. Whether it's a piece of art or a t-shirt design, please feel free to contact me with your info and requests.If you are an artist and want info on how to offer your work for sale, visit 'artist resources' for some information I've gathered.Best Wishes,Amymydisgustingart.com
