About me |
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 painting in Lucca
Amanda is an award-winning, internationally recognised en plein air watercolour artist, with works held in collections in Italy, UK, Ireland, Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia.
Amanda loves watercolour painting, more than that - it's her life!! She's totally addicted to the chemical reactions produced by the combination of organic watercolour pigments, traditional watercolour papers and water - she loves watching paint dry!! Based in her hometown of Auckland, New Zealand, Amanda also lives in Lucca for her annual painting residency and workshops in Italy. When in Italy, every morning she heads out into the streets of Lucca in search of new and evocative painting subjects to paint en plein air. Bicycle loaded with painting equipment pared to a minimum, an espresso and cornetto (traditional Italian colazione), then off to the next painting location. In conjunction with her Auckland watercolour classes and workshops, she will also come and teach your group. During her annual residency in Italy, Amanda also teaches week-long watercolour painting holiday workshops in Italy for watercolour enthusiasts who want an active holiday and want to get to know a destination intimately. Amanda says "I create paintings that are atmospheric with interesting shapes - almost California Art style - look up Frank Webb, Rex Brandt and my absolute favourite watercolour artist Ted Sherwen. I let colours run into each other creating a unique underpainting and telling my story through a detailed focal area. I want you to be able to see something new every time you look at my paintings." Amanda enjoys painting street scenes en plein air or studio and still-life. "I always add people and crowds to my street scenes, many artists avoid this but I find it exhilarating (frightening!) to add a minimal shape that will become a person. Watercolour is for the minimalist, less is definitely more! I love creating odd funky shapes - they still say 'I'm a bottle or a teapot' but nothing is straight - a long line has a kink or something to destroy it" Amanda can be contacted most reliably via email "Thank you very much for a wonderful week in Lucca. You taught me to look much more closely at the environment I'm in and gave me as a beginner the confidence to keep painting. We also loved the social program and interaction with other participants". Wendi & Mike |
pretending to paint for a magazine article!
painting in Palermo Sicily 2019
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Some Achievements, Honors & Awards
2018 1st WNZ "Auckland Viaduct" studio greys April - July, Artist Residency, Lucca, Italy Watercolur Painting Holiday Workshop, Lucca 2017 Student Exhibition NZFAI Auckland Workshop Tutor, Lucca, Italy April - July, Artist Residency, Lucca, Italy 2016 July, Solo Exhibition, MammaRo, Lucca Italy July, Workshop Tutor, the Watermill, Italy 2015 April - July, Artist Residency, Lucca, Italy Solo Exhibition, MammaRo, Lucca Italy 2nd, Royal Easter Show ‘Singer & the Chippendale’ Merit, Royal Easter Show ‘Something Blue’ Finalist, Arts Gold Awards, ‘Singer & the Chippendale’ April - July, Artist Residency, Lucca, Italy Solo Exhibition, MammaRo, Lucca Italy Solo Exhibition, Borgo degli Artisti, Bagni di Lucca First Prize, Art in a Day, ‘The Telephone Box’ Merit, GSAE, ‘Singer & Stripes’ 2nd Prize, AWS, ‘Harvest: Cheese & Onions’ 1st Prize, GSAE, ‘Sunflowers with Red’ 1st Prize, MAC, ‘Drumming Up Business III’ 3rd Prize WNZ, ‘Singer & Stripes’ |
painting en plein air Ponte a Serraglio, Bagni di Lucca, Tuscany
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What collectors say about my paintings
"You make the ordinary extra ordinary, remarkable and engaging." Rosemary "I love the mysterious negatives and all the squiggly digglies!" Anita "You really capture the luminosity and the essence of how a watercolour should be painted!" Merv Appleton "I love your work it is so fresh and exciting!" Jacky Pearson "Just wanted to say so so well done on your tui paintings. Absolutely love them. Keep going with those birds they are a perfect watercolour rendition little loose yet correct yum!" Bernadette Parsons |