Artist Spotlight: Amy Goodwin

Amy Goodwin's studio

Writing about artists I like is a new feature to my blog. I'm not a writer so I will keep these brief. Let me know if you like my new Artist Spotlight feature!

I was happy to finally have a chance to go visit my friend and artist, Amy Goodwin, at her new (well, not that new...2 years old now) studio in a warehouse in West Concord, Massachusetts.  I know Amy from her time as a tenant at ArtSpace in Maynard where she had a wonderful studio right by the back door. I miss having her nearby where I can stop by to see her colorful work and catch up.

Some of Amy's latest work

Her new studio is great and her latest work didn't disappoint. Her work appeals to my love of bright color with its bold and whimsical palettes. Things I love about her work besides the happy palette are the intriguing personal side to her paintings.  At first, her use of "girly" imagery like flowers and bunnies seems so light, but when you dig deeper you see a very personal story of relationships and all that goes with them. She always has some funky new application of a medium that she is working on like coloring glue with ink and applying these "decals" of colored glue to make a painting (see above image) or rubbing away a dark layer of paint with alcohol to reveal dream like figures from the canvas. As an artist who changes up my style/paint application/subject matter from time to time, I appreciate the fact that Amy never seems afraid to break out of her past and play with new methods, subjects, etc while staying true to herself.  Her self-portraits and images relating to motherhood and daughters are the most interesting to me. I really enjoy Amy's clever and honest way she portrays the real relationships in her life...with humor, vulnerability and love. 

If you want to check out Amy's work, check out her galleries:  Charlestown Gallery in RI, McGowan Fine Art in NH, Albright Gallery in MA, Susan Maasch Fine Art in ME.

One of my favorites