About the artist…

My parents named me Amanda based on the song by Waylon Jennings, and Ruby for my father’s sweet, red-headed mother. I come from a small city in Southern Alberta, brought up in a family of ten, with an artist mother, who had an artist father—a talented oil painter from Holland—with at least two siblings who would also consider themselves visual artists. And though our art may not be much alike, our will to create and procrastinate is probably identical.

Two facts about me: I like to look at things, and I like to be looked at. This exchange of giving and receiving aesthetic pleasure is pretty much what I live for. When I started painting I thought about my favourite works of art, these romantic vistas of the sea, or a woman lying resplendent on the sand, or just something deeply unsettling—and there was always this intangible, almost dream-like quality to them I couldn’t quite name, but I knew I wanted to replicate as much as I could. There isn’t enough of that certain something in this world. We have to make more.

I currently live in Vancouver, BC, where I also participate in film and television as much as they’ll let me. I like to climb mountains and play Japanese horror video games in my spare time. And I like to think a lot. Not necessarily the productive kind.

Whenever I find myself in the throes of some cosmically minor catastrophe, it’s music, paintings, poetry, and films that pull me out, that bring me comfort, and make me feel less alone.

So if you like what you see here, feel free to support or join my mission to make life bearable with beauty and creation. xoxo