Amy Lewis' Breakfast in Bed is an oil painting celebrating the wonderful luxurious experience of eating eggos in bed. Oil on cradled wood panel 48" Round, 1" deep 2024 Available, inquire now A little bit about the painting Life is filled with inconveniences, frustrations and disappointments. I am often jealous of others, tired, discontent+ But I’ve found little solace in gratitude. If I can revel in joy over my morning cup(s) of coffee, flowers I bought myself, or breakfast in bed… then I should. And I should let it fill me with hope and gratitude for the beauty and privilege it is to be myself in my circumstances, loved by a God who created me. I am first and foremost a created person made to love and glorify God. I don’t fully understand why he has made me to create and also made it soo difficult to do so. But I think it is partially to continually push me back to himself. By revealing my weakness to me, he shows me all the ways he sustains and loves me. I hope my work can bring him glory and I hope it brings you joy. It’s not just breakfast in bed, it’s the joy of being alive. shop prints Breakfast in Bed- Giclée Archival Print Abundance- Giclée Archival Print Coffee Date- Giclée Archival Print Fine Dining- Giclée Archival Print The Tea- Giclée Archival Print Afternoon Snack- Giclée Archival Print Lunch on the GO- Giclée Archival Print Smoke Break - Giclée Archival Print Breakfast- Giclée Archival Print Ivory Tower- Limited Edition Print Don't Look Up- Giclée Archival Print Those Cookies- Giclée Archival Print Oh Nuts!- Giclée Archival Print Frosting with a Side of Cake- Giclée Archival Print Blow Pop-Giclée Archival Prints Ringpop-Giclée Archival Prints Gummy Worms-Giclée Archival Prints Sunflower- Archival giclee print Just Banana-Giclée Archival Prints Cutie-Giclée Archival Prints Cupcake - Giclée Archival Print Butterfly on a Gerbera Giclée Archival Prints Single Fern- Giclée Archival Prints Fern Family- Giclée Archival Prints Baby Fern Fronds- Giclée Archival Prints Pink Rose -Giclée Archival Prints Sunset Rose- Giclée Archival Prints Savoy Hotel Rose - Giclée Archival Prints Shop Now

Amy Lewis' Ivory Tower is a watercolor painting reflecting on the covid-19 pandemic. This pandemic painting features a woman rolling her eyes and wearing a large fur coat and jewels to go with her transparent sparkling mask. Ivory Tower Watercolor on paper, mounted on wood panel 24x30" 2021 AVAILABLE, COLLECT NOW A little bit about the painting Ivory Tower is a watercolor painting on Arches cold press watercolor paper mounted on a cradled wood panel and varnished. She is 24x30x2" with a wire on the back, ready to hang. She would look gorgeous in a gold floating frame. She downplays issues that don’t affect her, derides others and scorns others’ wishes. She is just so over this pandemic. Too often I've been her. Ivory Tower reminds me to be empathetic and use what I have for others. My work is focused on gratitude. I draw attention to the modern luxuries we enjoy to evoke a feeling of gratitude and contentment in our everyday lives. shop prints Breakfast in Bed- Giclée Archival Print Abundance- Giclée Archival Print Coffee Date- Giclée Archival Print Fine Dining- Giclée Archival Print The Tea- Giclée Archival Print Afternoon Snack- Giclée Archival Print Lunch on the GO- Giclée Archival Print Smoke Break - Giclée Archival Print Breakfast- Giclée Archival Print Ivory Tower- Limited Edition Print Don't Look Up- Giclée Archival Print Those Cookies- Giclée Archival Print Oh Nuts!- Giclée Archival Print Frosting with a Side of Cake- Giclée Archival Print Blow Pop-Giclée Archival Prints Ringpop-Giclée Archival Prints Gummy Worms-Giclée Archival Prints Sunflower- Archival giclee print Just Banana-Giclée Archival Prints Cutie-Giclée Archival Prints Cupcake - Giclée Archival Print Butterfly on a Gerbera Giclée Archival Prints Single Fern- Giclée Archival Prints Fern Family- Giclée Archival Prints Baby Fern Fronds- Giclée Archival Prints Pink Rose -Giclée Archival Prints Sunset Rose- Giclée Archival Prints Savoy Hotel Rose - Giclée Archival Prints Shop Now

Amy Lewis is a self taught fine art painter in the Pacific Northwest located in Tacoma, Washington focusing in watercolors and oils about Amy Lewis is a self taught artist. Driven by her love of color and the need to create, 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. 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. resume FULL CV Press 2024 Create! Magazine issue 46 2023 Art Seen Magazine , Summer 2023 edition 2020 Grit City Magazine 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 Revel 2023 Tacoma in Seattle 2023 Basecamp Studios 2022 The Hideout, Vol. 2 I co-organized a fine art, pop-up art exhibition in downtown Tacoma that featured Lydia Jewel Gerard and myself. I organized a group pop-up art exhibition in downtown Seattle that featured 10 Tacoma artists (including myself). Nick Ferderer invited me to show Abundance in his anniversary show themed "Celebration" 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-present Women Painters of Washington 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 Create! Magazine Glam Exhibition 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. 2024-PRESENT Spaceworks In 2021, I participated in Spacework s' business cohort program making me a Spaceworks' alumni, which is an honor. In addition to that, last year I joined the steering committee for Spaceworks. We meet monthly to discuss programming etc. I'd love to hear from you! First Name Last Name Email Your message > Thanks! :)

When you and a friend decide to throw the Tacoma art show that you want to see. All photos shared in this blog post are taken by Phil Lewis Photography. The set up -- Lydia and I were able to spend all day on Friday arranging and hanging the work in preparation for Saturday. We were meticulous about how the work hung together to draw out comparisons and contrasts in each other's paintings. Everything went relatively smoothly, it was a lot of work but it paid off, we were very pleased with the quality of the show. We were giddy about how our work fit so well together. Despite being so different and having created the work over almost a decade, our work had so much in common. The show had an energy and a life of its own. It was fleeting but so beautiful. So how'd it go? Day one was the grand opening where we welcomed you all to come see the art, chat, shop and enjoy the local wines of Structure Cellars. We appreciate everyone who stopped by. We are so proud of how the show looked and felt and we just wanted as many people to enjoy it as possible. It was a cozy little opening with lots of good chats about our work and how it fit together. The first night was great, but we were looking forward to day 2. Day 2 Day 2 made all the work and expense and stress 1000% worth it. Day 2 was really special. At 3 we opened our doors and guests wandered in. But everyone really showed up for the concert at 4. This small little venue was filled to take in the live music of the string quartet. Live music is kind of magical and visual art is magical-- so it made such an extraordinary pairing. The quartet performed a mix of fan fav pieces alongside Christmas music. Watching them play from just a foot away, I was so proud of this event. It was a little sparkling breathtaking moment where we all just reveled in the joy of beauty. We also enjoyed having Outer dark Coffee, which we badly needed. (they are located on St Helens as well, they have very good coffee and food). Another thing worth mentioning is the sale of one of Lydia's large paintings (pictured below on the left behind the quartet). YAY! **if the quartet had a name I would tell you, but they don't have name yet. If you want to hire them then you need to contact Nico Roberts. Thank you. We are so grateful to everyone who came and enjoyed our Tacoma art show. We are so grateful to Jess for the use of her beautiful space, Atelier Tacoma . Of course, thank you to the vendors - Structure Cellars and Outer Dark Coffee. 100x thanks to the quartet for gracing us with their talents. I am thankful to Lydia for throwing this show with me. And so thankful to my dad for capturing these amazing photos of the event. Hire Phil Lewis Photography. See you next time :) <3

Revel is an art exhibition happening December 14th & 15th of 2024. But why and how? lore- In 2023, I organized a show in Seattle that featured a total of 10 Tacoma artists titled Tacoma in Seattle. See that here.   Lydia was one of those artists. I had chosen her to be a part of the show but I didn't really know her. After Tacoma in Seattle, we met for coffee to debrief about how it had gone. We discussed the coming year and everything we were hoping and planning for. It became evident that there wasn't anything we were really  excited about. I didn't want to walk away without something to look forward to, so I suggested that we just plan our own show.  ​ This is Lydia (above). Photo by Jana Early. hatching plans- Tacoma in Seattle had made it clear to us that we really wanted to have fine art shows in Tacoma. That show had been something special and I'm so glad it happened but we are both living and working in Tacoma so we want to cultivate and participate in a more local art scene. We want our work to be seen, experienced and enjoyed by our own city.  We both really love planning and throwing our own show is very exciting. But we have run into a lot of road blocks. We wanted the show to be 1-2 months long so that we could host many different events, maximizing our effort and the amount of time the work gets seen. But space in Tacoma is hard to come by, especially space for a long period of time, especially especially space that works for the type of art show we had in mind.  This is me (above). Photo by  Jana Early. ​ it's not happening - Sometimes (often) we got discouraged. But we kept getting leads that kept our spirits up. Eventually, however, we admitted defeat.  We just couldn't find a space to host us for as long as we had in mind and without grant money or some other funds we couldn't afford to pay full price for our dream space. it's happening - We still had a fire under our butts though. So when Atelier Tacoma opened, we were re-inspired. Atelier is a beautiful downtown event space opened by Jess of Still Life Studio , a successful local photographer with big vision. The space is perfect for a luxurious art show. It's a historical downtown building with large windows facing the street. Atelier is full of everything we needed. The only thing was compromising on our dream timeline. Out of our dream to have a 1-2 month long show we downsized to a weekend pop-up and we named it Revel . Revel as a title, captures the feeling we want to inspire in our guests. It'll be a wintery weekend. You'll be stressed from all the things you have to do for the holidays. But we want to invite you to celebrate. Come into the warmth, into a room filled with beauty and light. Revel in the luxury of friends, family and fine art experienced in person. We hope you leave inspired and encouraged. Details- December 14th 5-8 pm Tacoma artists Lydia Jewel Gerard and Amy Lewis invite you to indulge in the luxury of experiencing fine art in person. Revel is a group exhibition featuring the works of Gerard and Lewis, offering an immersive encounter with the beauty of color and light in its many contrasting expressions.  December 15th 2-5 pm Join us for an afternoon of art and a live performance by a string quartet. Let yourself be inspired as you view the fine art of Revel and take in the enchanting music of professional cellists. The concert will start promptly at 3 pm with viewing and mingling before and after.  Please RSVP via this link , as seating is limited. (if there is no link yet, that's because I haven't set the page up yet. it's coming) ​ ​ ​

If you are not framing a watercolor painting (maybe you mounted it on a panel) then it is probably a good idea to varnish it. Varnishing can protect your painting from dirt and gives it a little bit of protection from those UV sun rays. If longevity (being pristine 200 years from now) is most important you might need to commit to framing your watercolor painting. Traditional framing is the best way to protect your watercolor painting. However, if you like to live a little more on the edge then you can mount your watercolor painting (shown above). When you do that, then you should varnish it. I scoured the internet to learn this process. So I hope you've found this post and you can now stop your search for information. I am sharing my process. This is what has worked best for me and I hope it's helpful. I'm in love with watercolor paper so for me, the trade off of truly enjoying my painting while shortening its life span is worth it to me. #1 Preparatory step- Gather materials Things you're goin' want The painting a well ventilated room with no wind and minimized dirt. A table for the painting to rest on Golden Spray Varnish (I prefer Semi-Gloss, but that's up to you) Golden Isolation Coat Brush little container to pour isolation coat into (plastic lid, palette or plate etc.)   Tip 1: It's best to let the piece dry flat. I have previously used a garage. If your studio is pet free and has windows, congratulations, you're already ready. Outside is well ventilated but the atmospheric conditions will probably result in an uneven finish because you're going to be spraying the varnish. #2 Eliminate dirt The first step is to dust off your painting. Use a clean dry brush, your fingers or a lint free towel/shop towel to remove dust, dirt and cat hair. Anything left on the surface is about to become permanent. #3 Spray Okay so we are actually varnishing now. Hold your spray can about 6-12 inches above your painting and move back and forth in even motions. You have 2 goals: you want to get your painting evenly coated but you don't want to spray too heavy of a layer down. If your layer is not even then some areas of the painting will be exposed and when you brush on the isolation coat then that paint might bleed. If you do a very heavy layer then it may effect the look of the painting (a bit blurry and muted). Each spray layer needs at least 20 minutes to dry . I do 6 spray coats to ensure that the whole painting is covered. You may do a few more layers if your painting is heavily pigmented or if it is very large. Side Note: **I've heard of artists doing this whole first step using Fixative spray instead of varnish. I think that probably works, but since I know this way works I've stuck with it. Fixative spray would have the benefit of not sealing in dirt for those first 6 layers (although it will happen anyway with the isolation coat) and it is slightly cheaper. However, the varnish spray has the added benefit of UV protection. #4 Brush on After, your 6 spray coats have dried then you will do the isolation layer. SO the 6 original spray coats were in preparation for this layer. The isolation layer is a brush on medium. You can image that if you brushed on a wet medium into a watercolor painting- it would bleed. Get your little surface container (I use a Tupperware lid) and your brush ready. I shake up the isolation coat but then try to minimize the air bubbles. So maybe shake it a bit before pouring. Pour the medium into your container. Gently, methodically brush your medium onto the painting surface. Make sure to get entire surface. It is best to do a very thin layer. You may always do a second or third layer if needed. This layer needs at least 8 hours to cure, although I think the manufacturer recommends 24 hours. I usually just let it rest overnight. Try to pick out any remaining hairs while this layer is wet, it's your last chance before they are sealed forever. The purpose of this layer is to create a permanent barrier. You are effectively making the watercolor into an acrylic surface. This ensures that if you ever need to clean the surface then you will not damage the painting. #5 Spray Your isolation coat is dry. You may now spray 2-4 (I do 3) top coat layers. These layers add extra protection for UV but more importantly against dirt. The spray is removable so it's important to add a few layers that can take the dirt and then be removed and reapplied. Don't forget to let each layer dry for 20 mins. Tip 2: You can still frame your painting and it will protect the tender edges of the paper. I recommend a floating frame which is essentially a box around your painting. No glass necessary. (although your framer will probably try to convince you, but remember, you're the boss). Good luck! Message me if you have questions. AmyLewisFineArt@gmail.com