About the artist:

Artist Amanda Watt was born in Ireland in 1960, and has exhibited internationally, with a strong showing in California. In her paintings, woodcuts and etchings, her hallmark is clearly the generous use of vivid colors. Avowedly indebted to cubism, expressionism and primitivism, Watt describes herself as a "fusionist", incorporating techniques of the past with her own very personal, contemporary twist. Clearly, California with its singular landscape and light is her muse. Amanda’s work was well-known on the California art scene, with annual exhibitions spanning over ten years at Timothy Yarger Fine art in Beverley Hills, as well as Bowles/Sorokko Galleries in San Francisco, New York and Los Angeles. Her bright, vibrant interior scenes and semi-abstract figurative and landscape paintings became a staple of Californian society, with key collectors including casino mogul Steve Wynn, award-winning film director Barry Levinson and former producer and now successful fashion designer Marla Ginsburg. However, in 2006, burnt out by the sheer volume of work she was producing, Amanda stepped back from the Californian art scene and moved to Florida. Here she worked hard to uncover her ‘authentic self’ as she puts it: to unify Amanda Watt the artist with Amanda Watt the person, the two of which had been in conflict for decades. “The simple act of not painting gave way to an unimaginable void”, says Watt, but when the eclipse started, she knew it was time to pick up her brushes again. Finally, the most precious gift – the joy of painting – had been restored. “Today I am a better person and a more rounded artist”, muses Amanda. After a ten-year break from exhibiting, Amanda has returned to her native Ireland and is producing some of the most stunning work of her career.