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Amy Lewis paints to cultivate joy
Amy Lewis paints snapshots of ordinary life glamorized. Lewis is inspired by fashion editorials and historic paintings of aristocracy. She pairs everyday subjects with rich backgrounds to create a juxtaposition between the ordinary and the luxurious. Her representational watercolor and oil paintings, rich in color and detail, draw attention to the things we take for granted.
Lewis is a self taught artist from Tacoma, Washington who paints to cultivate joy and an appreciation for the beauty that is all around us.
In 2023, she was featured in Gita Joshi’s Art Seen magazine and organized her own group pop-up exhibition in Seattle.
My work is a practice of gratitude
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.
Everyday objects with luxurious backgrounds create a juxtaposition which sparks an appreciation for the things we take for granted. In the beauty of the ordinary I am reminded to be grateful and to use my privileges for the good of others.
Fashion editorials and historic paintings of aristocracy are rich sources of inspiration. I work in watercolor and oil paints. For watercolors and oil paintings, alike, I paint roughly 3-4 layers. Many layers means that the resulting painting has a smooth finish and vivid complex colors. Depending on the size, medium and complexity of a piece they can take 1-2 days or 1-2 months.
CV
Press
2024
A award of winning 1st place in Create! Magazine's Glam Exhibition curated by Alicia Puig.
2024
A award of winning 3rd place with the Women United Art Movement was a podcast interview. Listen now!
2023
blog event feature
The News Tribune, the local Tacoma paper, featured our event (Tacoma in Seattle) on their blog.
2023
blog event feature
We were honored to have "Tacoma in Seattle" featured on the South Sound Magazine's blog.
2023
Summer 2023 edition
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.
2021
I reached out to online magazine, Creative Boom, requesting an interview. They accepted, conducted an email interview and published this beautiful article.
2021
After responding to their open call, Envision Arts Magazine chose to feature me in a 6 page spread in their #6 print issue magazine.
2020
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
You may view my work at Manuscript in Tacoma (and enjoy delicious food + cocktails. (current)
2024
The Women Painters of Washington are being hosted by The Artist's Gallery in Olympia.
2024
The Women Painters of Washington are being hosted by Matzke Gallery in Camano Island. The show "Limitless Possibilities" opens March 9th. My watercolor painting "Don't Look Up" is a part of the show.
2023
I organized a group pop-up art exhibition in downtown Seattle that featured 10 Tacoma artists (including myself).
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2023
Artist Feature
May through June I had the honor of being featured at the Proctor Art Gallery.
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.
2022 & 2023
Ashley Laufer is one of the founders of Anxious Tomato online gallery and she also works at Artco Framing and Gallery. My piece "Ivory Tower" was in a group show in 2022. Then in spring of 2023, Artco gave me a solo show. I decided to expand my solo show into a group show with Erika Norris, whose work compliments mine so well.
2022
online gallery show
Anxious Tomato is an online gallery based in Tacoma. They reached out to me and featured me during July 2022.
2022
Artist Feature
Tacoma Consignment sells high end, unique home décor. In 2022 they started a project to feature local artists. I was their first artist featured. My work was up February through March. I sold 5 paintings at the closing reception.
2021-2023
The Arts at the Armory is an event that was developed in lieu of the Tacoma Studio Tour during the pandemic. However, it is ongoing and is a wonderful place to see many Tacoma artists in one place
2021
My downtown Tacoma studio is located in a historic building with tall ceilings. It was the perfect place to host a show. So in September I welcomed guests into my studio to view and purchase work.
2017-2023
Tacoma Studio Tour
Every year in Tacoma's art month, October, the city hosts a studio tour. Each participating artist opens their studio for guests to see where they work, look at and buy art.
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.
2023
Placed 3rd in the 2023 Women United Art Prize for painting.
2023
3rd place winner in HMVC's show "The Sweet Life". My prize was a solo show in their online gallery happening in November.
The online gallery blasted "The Sweet Life" on a billboard in Times Square.
2023
As Spaceworks Alumni I was able to apply for a marketing grant awarded by raffle.
2022
In a group show made up of only Women Painters of Washington members, my painting Great Expectations won first prize.
2017
In a group show at the Proctor Art Fest, my painting Great Expectations won 3rd prize.
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.
