Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Amy Hutchinson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Amy, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I started oil painting five years ago. Before that, I played with interior design and drawing, and even spent a couple of years in woodworking, but I had never tried traditional painting. I immediately liked the results and the process. It never occurred to me to become a professional painter until my friends and family started buying my paintings. It dawned on me that maybe I could actually do this for a living. I spent the next couple of years painting as much as possible and experimenting with different paints, brushes, surfaces, and techniques. I took numerous classes and workshops and studied YouTube tutorials. When I become obsessed with something, I dive down the rabbit hole and don’t look back. As a habitual experimenter, I often fail, but I also occasionally discover a new method or technique that elevates my art.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

There is one line from a William Blake poem that sums up my intentions as an artist and it goes, “To see a World in a Grain of Sand And a Heaven in a Wild Flower”.

Art shows other people how an artist views the world. I can find beauty in all things and I feel it’s my calling to show others how to see this as well.

Since anything can be beautiful, I do not limit myself in the sense of what I paint. It may be a flower or a cat or a donut. What matters is how I paint it. I’m drawn to light and color most of all, but no subject is off limits.

Often my sense of humor will come through my paintings as well, but my style and technique remain fine art – I never compromise on quality and I spend as much time as I need to finish a painting. Other people will remark that a piece, “Looks fine,” or “is good enough,” but this means little to me. A piece is finished when I no longer see problems with it. In the end, I must appease myself and no one else. I am not motivated by sales, although it’s a wonderful feeling to have my art speak to people.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

One reason I don’t accept commissions anymore is because “artist brain”, as I call it, will not let me paint anything that is not authentic and inspired. Once I was trying to paint a bird for a commission and the woman asked me to “just” change the background. I had a little meltdown and small artistic tantrum because it is not a minor request like it might sound.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

As far as NFTs or AI art, I feel that the only thing that is certain is change. We do not have to embrace it but we should also not try to resist. Regardless of your medium or what tools you use, art should be authentic and inspired for it to resonate with the world.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: amyhutchinsonfineart
• Facebook: Amy Hutchinson Fine Art