about
Amy Lewis is a self taught artist. As far back as she can remember, Lewis has been captivated by color and the need to be creative. Driven by these incentives, Lewis taught herself how to watercolor paint. After graduating high school, she took a 5 week youth course at Gage Academy in Seattle where she learned classical methods of drawing and oil painting. While she earned her bachelor’s in business management, Lewis continued to build her portfolio of realism, watercolor and oil paintings.
Since graduating college, she has been relentless in her pursuit to show her work wherever she can. Over the past couple of years she has organized many open studio and public fine art shows. She has been a member of the Women Painters of Washington group since 2022. And in the fall of 2024, she was featured in Create! Magazine (issue 46). Lewis is on a mission to bring joy and a sense of gratitude for the ordinary to everyone who experiences her work.
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’m constantly exploring ways to portray ordinary life as glamorous.
Fashion editorials and historic paintings of aristocracy are rich sources of inspiration. Fashion editorials often use contrasting themes to create tension. Paintings of aristocracy are rich with examples of luxury from the satin slippers to the velvety curtain backdrop. My biggest source of inspiration is John Singer Sargent’s portraits. His portraits are so expressive and luxurious in light, texture, fashion and composition.
I pair everyday objects with luxurious backgrounds to create a juxtaposition which sparks an appreciation for the things we take for granted. For example, my piece that started this series was a glass swan bowl filled with French fries sitting in front of a red tasseled curtain as a woman’s hand, richly adorned, reached down to grab a fry. My work explores how we can find contentment in our everyday lives no matter how much or little we have if we can have gratitude and appreciate the beauty in the ordinary.
CV Highlights
Press
2024
2023
Summer 2023 edition
2020
A award of winning 1st place in Create! Magazine's Glam Exhibition curated by Alicia Puig.
Gita Joshi's magazine features emerging and mid-career artists in her beautiful print edition magazine. It was an honor to do an interview for Art Seen Magazine.
Grit City Magazine reached out to me. They wanted to do a collaboration with me for the poster insert in their 10th print edition. I painted a watercolor inspired by Art Nouveau featuring 20+ Tacoma landmarks.
Shows
2024
I co-organized a fine art, pop-up art exhibition in downtown Tacoma that featured Lydia Jewel Gerard and myself.
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2023
2023
Nick invited me to show Abundance in his anniversary show themed "Celebration"
I organized a group pop-up art exhibition in downtown Seattle that featured 10 Tacoma artists (including myself).
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2022
Vol. 2
Curated by Jeremy Buben, Hideout bar and gallery is a hot spot for contemporary art. It was a thrill to be a part of the group show. My piece "Ivory Tower" was featured and was also on the cover of the print catalog of the show.
membership
2022
The Women Painters of Washington was established in 1930. They currently have a gallery space in the Columbia Tour in Seattle. They host events and connect artists with galleries and opportunities.
awards
2024
First place in Create! Magazine's Glam Exhibition curated by Alicia Puig.
Education
2015
Gage Academy of Art, Seattle
I am a self taught artist, meaning I did not attend a high school, college or graduate school for the arts. However, I did attend a youth program at Gage Academy. It was a 5 week program (titled "Portfolio Intensive")that introduced me to classical methods of drawing and oil painting. Most of my knowledge is from experience but Gage was a life changing experience for me.