Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Bruce

Hi Amy , we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.

I’m originally from Upstate NY and got my BFA with teacher certification from the New York State School Of Ceramics at Alfred University. I taught part time at a middle school for a year but that job went to a tenured teacher for the following year so my job search started. I had the chance to move down to Virginia w my college boyfriend to seek possible grad school options and after several years of teaching in private schools (and moving on from said boyfriend!) I got a full time job teaching Art with the largest school district in the state.

While I majored in printmaking I’ve always had a sketchbook on me and kept drawing and collecting imagery & skill sets through the years. I was able to attain my graduate degree in photography & digital art from Virginia Commonwealth University through an off-campus program designed for teachers wanting an advanced degree. Grad school reignited my interest in photography especially with the introduction of digital technology. I’d grown up watching my brother create a makeshift darkroom under the basement staircase & took several years of photography in high school. So in grad school I merged my experiences & skills together into my own style creating imagery that fused analog techniques with digital forms and mixed media to form something new.

After graduating I moved up from elementary to high school teaching studio art, digital art & photography. I also became an adjunct for VCU at the same time for about 7 years which was really amazing. My personal art practice grew stronger during these years and I was able to pursue exhibitions and various shows. I knew that the long term goal was to have my own multi-disciplinary studio where I can pursue my photography & mixed media in a flexible environment. The years after Covid however changed teaching & while I’d been at my current school 26 years my body & spirit were feeling the 31 years since that first middle school job. I thankfully managed to retire early and have created Amy Bruce Studios LLC to house the various avenues I’d like to pursue. I have a consistent digital photography practice and am working on a mobile darkroom set up for both travel & to park in my new studio. I am also building portfolios of my drawing and mixed media work for possible surface design projects. The goal right now is to build up passive income streams that will allow me the freedom to pursue larger projects where I can investigate my photography & mixed media on a larger scale, possibly at a residency where I have the space & facilities to do so.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

It certainly hasn’t been a straight line that’s for sure! Much like the path of many 20-somethings I was navigating a break-up, unreliable roommates, a lot of job insecurity, low-paying jobs & a few weeks with no job where I almost moved back home! I finally landed a secure teaching job, found amazing friends & a lot of like minded colleagues who got me thru some really difficult years as a teacher. I knew that while teaching was a secure road for me, in my gut I just wanted more time to be creative. But the expectations were so demanding of you that I had to put a lot of goals on the back burner or I’d burn out. A lot has changed for teachers just over the past 4 years let alone my career. I’m very grateful I’ve earned a retirement from that career & am thru it to the other side. I know I am lucky to be where I am now. I also know I’ve had a great amount of privilege around access to both education and various opportunities which I don’t take for granted. Now with each year that passes I’m navigating this next chapter with a very clear lens of where I should focus my energies & how I can still be of service.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?

Since I taught art & photography I have a lot of mediums that I enjoy exploring. I consider myself both an artist and maker. While my work is photo-based I like to explore other mediums including visual journaling, bookmaking, collage, textiles & surface design. So my personal creative practice is definitely multi-disciplinary.

For my photography work I love to merge various historical analog photography processes with digital technology and traditional art mediums. My work encompasses various genres, including travel, street, nature, and architectural photography with the underlying theme of memory, light, time & space. My most recent work is a merging of scanned photographs and works on paper mounted on wood boards and worked back into with various art media. I have also created digital photo-based images specifically for use in meditation this past year after a year of daily walks during the pandemic. No matter the image, I rarely choose to present them framed behind glass which I believe likens the work to a found object increasing its mystery and hopefully becoming an important personal relic for the owner. That’s my hope and goal.

What was your favorite childhood memory?

I grew up in a small town in Upstate New York just south of the Adirondack mountains. We had a huge backyard that had a field on one side and woods in the back. It was heaven for a kid like me who had a huge imagination who loved to go exploring. I loved wandering in the woods, climbing the thick vines that formed around old trees and how the light was different in the yard than in the woods. My brother and I used to fly my kite in the yard when the wind cooperated, and my sisters and I would just lay in the sun for hours. When they predicted a meteor shower my dad and I used to lie on the picnic table and watch for shooting stars. And every Spring I’d pick huge bouquets of lilacs and put them in vases all over the house for my mom. It was magical.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amybruce.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/obscuragirl?igsh=MXRhZ2hzbzI1NXgwNg%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
• Facebook: FB Amy Bruce

Image Credits

All images have been taken by, edited by and are the property of Amy Bruce
Owner of Amy Bruce Studios LLC.