Our resident artist

Gah!  I wrote this whole post and then somehow lost it... so this version might be a little shorter :(  

So I interviewed Amy a few days ago about her artistic interests.  It was fun to hear how she saw this talent come about.  From my point of view, her painting and drawing skills didn't come out of nowhere exactly, but her skill of expressing her talents seems suddenly deeper and surprisingly advanced.  She has a vision of what she's trying to create and then she does it.  I love watching her unfold.  Anyway, here is the basic background of our resident artist according to her...

• She took a class in 7th grade, kinda liked it, but didn't feel like she was that good.
• During a trip to Disneyland with her mom (when in 8th grade, I think) she went to "Art Studio" - a little class they offer on how to draw animated characters.  The instructor breaks down how to draw a character.  Amy drew Donald, Scrooge the Duck, and Sally.
• She would draw a little on her own
• In 9th grade she started drawing more and part way through the year asked the "teacher of Young Masters" (the more advanced art class offered in Junior High) if she could join the class.  After looking at some of her drawings the teacher let her join.
• In class they did mostly sketching, which she liked.  At the end of the year they did a painting unit and she loved it!
• She likes painting and sketching, but she thinks she's better at painting (she's pretty amazing at both).
• At the end of the school year (2015-2016) her ward was having an auction fundraiser for camp.  She painted two pieces for it - the temple and the first vision.  The bishop and I got into a bidding war over the First Vision piece.  In the end I let the bishop have it (but only because Amy promised that she would paint one for us).
• After the fundraiser several people in her ward asked if she would do some custom work for them.  A friend of her mom's also asked her to do some paintings for the rest home where she worked. That ended up being her first paid art job and she's had a few other offers for painting jobs in the future.

So here are some of the pictures that we've seen recently with a brief background.

Sent via text on June 1.  This was the first "Sacred Grove" painting she did (and I can't get it to rotate!).

This is the second one that she did and it is the one I got into the bidding war with the bishop over.  The first picture is without people and then she added them in for the second picture.  I also like the photo of the painting... her bushes and painting plate and the tubes of paint...

 

The early stages of her Timpanogos Temple picture that she also did for the camp fundraiser.  

 These were her first commissioned paintings done for a rest home.  She was given very specific parameters on color and design.  I was impressed not only with the artwork but how she handled the correction and adjustments that she had to make (for example, she wanted to add in a little more color - like a red boat in the lake, but was told to change it).  This is the after the first session...

 

 And the finished product...

 These are the other paintings in the series for the rest home.