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. 

Statement

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.