We were lucky to catch up with Amy Schissel recently and have shared our conversation below.
Amy, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
I was raised on a farm in Canada, with parents who both appreciated, supported, and practiced various art forms. Particularly, I grew up around my mother’s painting studio, attending her openings, and workshops alongside her. She was (and still is) a professional artist, always painting, and nourishing creativity in me and my siblings since we were small. I learned color theory from her as a child, and she taught me more advanced ways of making as I developed in skill. Similarly, my father was very musical…we grew up singing with a banjo, mandolin, keyboard, saxophones, and several guitars. Music was part of daily life alongside the family farming business. From him, I developed music appreciation early on, and in fact, started out my undergraduate education in Jazz Saxophone before switching into the Painting Program at the University of Ottawa in Ontario. My parents always supported me in any artistic endeavor throughout my academic career, and when we see each other these days, we still play music, and have painting sessions. I believe the arts will always be a part of ‘family’ life, and my parents continue to impact my dedication to the arts today.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
I am a Canadian artist based in Miami, FL, since 2019 where I live and work. I travel nationally and internationally to exhibit my drawing and painting projects, and am represented by Patrick Mikhail Gallery in Montreal. I have always pursued the arts, having been raised in a musical and artistic family . My education consists of a bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts and a Masters Degree in Fine Arts from the University of Ottawa in Ontario, Canada. Alongside having my work placed in Institutional collections, I complete individual painting commissions, both private and corporate, and produce site-specific large-scale paintings, drawings and installations which can be viewed in International Art Fairs, museums, and institutions. Some of my recent paintings have been placed in the collections of GOOGLE, (Google headquarters in NYC), and in Canada’s Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (placed in Canadian Embassies in Lima Peru, and Brussels Belgium). I enjoy traveling to give lectures on my practice across the USA and Canada, and also teacing Painting at the University of Miami.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
Working in the arts means that my imagination is constantly engaged to creatively provoke thinking and discourse on the subjects I am exploring visually. What is exciting, beyond what in my world is a solitary and introspective pursuit, is the traveling for research and the collaborative, networking, aspect that comes with exhibiting in galleries, institutions, and other art centers locally and globally. Essentially, once my artwork leaves my studio and is installed for a public exhibition, it no longer exists for just me. The interpretations, conversations, and connections with my audience and other professionals in my field that the work elicits are the most exciting and rewarding aspects of my creative pursuits!
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
For artists, especially emerging artists creating painting that is large scale, finding a studio space that is accommodating and affordable can be very difficult. At first, after I had finished my Master of Fine Arts education, I would always rent spaces that I could both live and work in. I would rent the largest bedrooms I could find in a house with roommates, cram my belongings into one corner, and keep as minimal and compact as possible so that I could use the rest of the space as studio work space. I took over any space as well that was bearable to my roommates in the several places I have lived, such as the attic in one, a kitchen wall in another, a basement, and a dining room. I began to have studio visits in these somewhat awkward spaces with arts professionals. This is how I started to collaborate with a gallerist who still exhibits, promotes, and places my work in collections. From sales, I was eventually able to work my way up to creating art in spaces where I was not sleeping!
Contact Info:
- Website: amyschissel.com
- Instagram: AMYSCHISSEL