'I feel that my paintings have evolved from the heavily textured and architectural paintings of art school days and years of constructing furniture and clocks from papier-mache to their current form - softer, emotive and ethereal in nature.
I strive for space but also tension in these emotional landscapes which are either based on memory or imaginings.I am always 'chasing the sublime' in my own way - trying to create impact on the senses where words won't do'.
Amanda has a BA Hons degree in Fine Art (Leeds Polytechnic )and her artistic career has included murals; surface pattern design for fashion designers and art galleries including Manchester City Art Gallery; paper- mache furniture and grandfather clocks; and painting. Her work has been featured in leading Interior magazines, Sunday supplements and on TV.
Amanda is represented by Hicks Gallery in London, Murus Art and The Art Buyer in Surrey.
EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS 2022
2023
‘Home’ group exhibition, in Association with ArtCan, London, SW9. ‘My Summer in Portland’ Collection, Hicks Gallery, London,
The Summer Show, The Art Buyer, Surrey
Spring Show, The Art Buyer, Surrey
Winter/Spring Show, Silson Contemporary, Harrogate, Yorks
2022
Legacy, The Crypt, London
Chroma, the America Square Conference Centre, London Stories 02, Kroll, The News Building, London
Explore 01, East 5th Avenue, New York City, NY, USA Summer Show, The Art Buyer,
Kingsgate Project Space, London, NW6 'Winter' - Group Show Bankside Gallery, London, RWS Open
2021
Hicks Gallery, SW London - Christmas Show
Regency Townhouse, Brighton and Hove - Group Show, 'Out of the Blue' Affordable Art Fair, Battersea, London With The Art Buyer
Hicks Gallery, London -June Show The Art Buyer - Spring Show ( online)
Mall Galleries, 208th RI Painters in Watercolour Exhibition 2020
Solo show, 'Inside, Out', Sprout Arts, London
RWS Open, Bankside Gallery, London
2019
Roy's Art Fair, Truman Brewery, London Roy's Art Fair, Oxo Tower, London
RWS Open, Bankside Gallery, London 2018
RWS Open, Bankside Gallery, London
2017
National Original Print Exhibition, Bankside Gallery, London Winner of The Intaglio Printmakers' Award
My landscapes are emotional spaces, driven by my desire for open spaces and solitude to think and clear my head of ‘noise’.
I want to convey a silent drama, a powerful yet quiet punch to the gut and yet it is also important to me that there is a sense of joy and beauty in the work too. It is the tension of these elements working together that I find the most exciting.
Seascapes are often suggested in my work; where I have been most content and which appear to me in profound dreams – dreams where I am searching for and often find, an often elusive feeling of intense well-being.
My process is very much one of call and response: stripping away and adding; reacting to colours, forms, marks.
I often use the colour pink in my paintings – the colour of nurture, comfort and for me, optimism. Conversely, I am also drawn to working in monochrome – Indian ink, charcoal, blue hues, etc.
I enjoy painting in layers and creating tension between them and the mark- making. A thin thread of pastel can suggest frailty and fragility and I like to contrast these with strong, dark, opaque forms.
I will use photos, sketches and collages as my inspiration for beginning and then use a mixture of intuition and purposeful exploration – creating the mood of the painting through the push and pull of the process.
I consider my work to be semi-abstract as there are often figurative or recognizable elements that I feel the need to include – a tree, a goalpost, a bridge – and yet there are also naïvely drawn motifs. I feel this conflict adds to the tension.