Life & Work with Amy Watt

Today we’d like to introduce you to Amy Watt.

Hi Amy, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I was always passionate about art because my dad was an artist. He had his master’s degree in art and an art studio attached to our home. My mom painted and gardened throughout my childhood, and my older brother created videos and animations. So I was always surrounded by art and creative souls.

I stopped focusing on my art to finish my bachelor’s degree in health and wellness to pair with my personal training certification. While finishing college, I picked up a paintbrush just for fun and I decided that I was going to be an artist because I remembered how much I loved it.

Since then, I’ve sold numerous acrylic paintings and hundreds of stones. I focus on painting animals and I absolutely love doing pet portraits. I use stones from different mines around Arizona. I sand them, and then draw on them with micron pens and finish them with an acrylic spray.

I’ve been commissioned to do stones in memory of loved ones for anniversaries, or custom drawings.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
I feel like my biggest struggle has been finding confidence and believing in my talent with art. Growing up my dad encouraged me to focus on college instead of anything art-related. He felt as if he failed as an artist himself and worked at Perryville Prison throughout my childhood.

It was a very emotionally taxing job for him and he lost his passion for art. I watched him struggle with addiction and depression too. So there are fearful elements that I have in trying to do something that my father perceived he failed at. Although, he was never a failure in my eyes.

Beyond that, it has been hard to find time to do art but I just quit my full-time job at ASU to focus on my art and other passions like personal training, and dog sitting. Road bumps have been there but I’m happy I keep pushing on with my art!

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m an artist who focuses on acrylic paintings and stone art. I love painting animals and usually focus on pet portraits. I also draw on sanded and cut stone with micron pens.

The stone I have was given to me by Pete Incardona who was a well-known artist in Arizona. I like to think of it as I’m carrying on his legacy in a way, although he did larger pieces like stone fountains, wine racks, and benches. I knew him as my step-father and he pushed me to be an artist.

I think I am most proud of doing something I never thought I could do. I was told that art doesn’t make money and for most of my life truly believed that. But I changed that belief because I found that art was my true passion and I’ve been so blessed with others buying my art, and loving my art just as much as I do.

I guess I could say something unique in my art is that I add little dots to each of my paintings and drawings. I like adding the dots because I believe we are all connected in some way, “like dots”. Kind of cheesy but I love adding them and I love thinking of the person buying my art and hoping they know that I’m sending them love through my work.

If you had to, what characteristic of yours would you give the most credit to?
I think my most essential quality contributing to my success is something truly spiritual and of God. I think just believing that this is a gift and what I am meant to do, keeps me pushing forward.

I also contribute success to my stellar support team: my hubby, mom, and brother. With each art piece, I ask them for reassurance and hopefully, I outgrow that but I love them so much for being there for me.

To be honest, with each painting or drawing, there is a point where I say to myself “this isn’t going to be any good” which I know sounds silly. But having faith and support from my loved ones really keeps me focused on my art.

Pricing:

• 8X10 Pet Portrait $150
• 12X16 Pet Portrait $230
• 18X24 $300
• Stones range from $35 to around $250 depending on the size

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BaffaFineArt?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=398259421
• Instagram: @amylynne117

Image Credits
Lydia Moses