Amelia Ence

I have a BFA in Drawing and Painting with an emphasis in Art Teaching from the University of Utah. I am a mother and focus my work upon my own experiences. My work represents the ability of a mother to give life to something as yet unborn. My process is based upon the qualities of my motifs. Creating artwork is an organic process. I do a lot of work in sketchbooks where I begin by writing and making sketches. I use a projector to transfer images from my sketchbook to a painting surface where I layer multiple images on top of each other.Then I begin to paint in thin layers to build something to work with, where I can create spaces of light and dark. My paintings are a process, often I do not feel that I am the one deciding where it needs to go, I am listening to the painting to tell me what it needs to become. This process itself reminds me of what it means to be a mother, my paintings become my children. I may give them life, but I cannot tell them what they are to become.