We recently connected with Amy Werntz and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Amy, thanks for joining us today. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

I grew up in a very creative family and was always encouraged to be making art, however when I graduated from high school, and it came time to choose a career, I decided on Interior Design. I did conceptual design full-time for about 7 years, always doing art on the side. In about 2010 I was working on the design for a high-rise where the developer wanted to focus on local artists throughout the building. As I was putting together the package to present to the client my boss encouraged me to present my work as well. It was approved and I created around 10 pieces for the project, after which I was approached by the owner of a local furniture showroom to show/sell my work. That was the first time it ever really occurred to me that I could make money creating art. For the next year I began painting and selling my work and even had a couple of shows in local spaces and finally ended up making the decision to quit full-time design work in order to pursue painting.

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

As I mentioned before, my background is Interior Design. I paint full-time but will still take on contract design work as I get it. I have always been glad for the path I took as having the background in Interior Design has allowed me the opportunity create artwork that I am passionate about without feeling I need to compromise to pay the bills. My paintings focus on older members of our community, primarily female. This work is important to me because I feel my subjects are far too often overlooked in society. More often than not, when people see my work, I am asked if I get my subjects from senior living facilities. This response is exactly why I want to create these paintings. Every one of my subjects is out living life, doing the things we all do on a daily basis; grocery shopping, going to the bookstore, getting something to eat. When I am not creating these works, I do contract Interior Design work as well as custom paintings for residences or commercial spaces. This is all very different from my usual work, but I enjoy the opportunity to grow from creating different types of work, and my background in Interior Design allows me the ability to easily work with designers, developers, homeowners, etc to create works that will enhance their spaces.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

For me, the most rewarding aspect of creating my paintings is when people feel a connection to or experience some sort of emotional response. My goal is to make the viewers more aware of the people around them and provoke a greater appreciation/reverence for the lives they have led. The work is highly personal to me. It is about honoring, not just the people I paint but, this entire segment of our society, so when I feel I have achieved that I couldn’t ask for more.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

I think it would be wonderful if society, as a whole, had a greater appreciation for the value of original art. Supporting their local artists and finding work they feel a connection to, rather than buying mass produced work or following trends in art. I think often people feel they have to ‘know’ something about art to buy/collect original work rather than just looking for work that speaks to them whether they can put into words why it does or not.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.amywerntz.com
• Instagram: @amywerntz_art
• Facebook: Amy Werntz