Interview with Amy Fulton
Amy Fulton is an amazing artist and nature photographer from the Pacific NW. Amy is also a mother, wife, and a very sunny, positive person. Amy’s smile is so gorgeous that it fills everybody with happiness and joy. Amy’s art is as cheerful as the artist, full of harmony, bright colors, love for animals, delicate feelings, feminine emotions and carries rustic and traditional touches. I am very happy to meet Amy on etsy.com where we both have our art galleries. I am delighted to have Amy today here with us to answer few questions.
Who are you and what do you do?
My name is Amy
Fulton and I am an artist, photographer, wife, mother and blogger from the
Pacific NW.
What made you first realize you wanted to pursue a
career in art?
Throughout my
entire life I have enjoyed expressing my creativity by making and building
things. I find much satisfaction when the beauty of that art adds an extra
unique touch to the lives of others. I have always been observant, and have
worked to teach myself art and other pursuits.
© 2014 Amy Fulton, Owl Be Alright, original oil painting on
12 x 16 canvas, part of the "Bird
Love" series
Does your family carry the same artistic talents?
Yes, my father
is a very talented artist, working with wood, stone and metal. My grandfather was an oil pastel artist, and
his wife used to create artwork from the sea shells off the beach near our home
in Edmonds Wa. My aunt was an amazing interior designer, and my uncle Ray Palm
owned an art gallery in New Mexico in the 60’s.
Marilyn Monroe and Joe DiMaggio were known to frequent it. My teen son
also is a great artist, currently surpassing anything I have ever done.
If you had to describe your work in three or four
words, what would you call it?
Rustic,
Colorful, Festive & Romantic
© 2015 Amy Fulton, original acrylic on 12 x 16 canvas panel
How has your practice changed over time?
When I began
painting, I mostly enjoyed working with acrylics, as they dry so much faster,
and I can lean my hand against the canvas while I work. But as I grew as an
artist, I eventually learned to love oils, and how they blend so easily on the
canvas. I still enjoy acrylic painting,
especially on wood, but I would say painting with oils is my favorite. Photography is also something new to me,
which I deeply love.
© 2014 Amy Fulton, Original Oil Painting on 12 x 16 canvas
panel
What art do you most identify with?
I love lines,
and enjoy simple black and white artwork that involves mathematical designs and
geometric shapes found in such artists as Jason Padgett, etc. My all-time favorite artist, "the king
of the line", Guillaume Azoulay. This type of art seems to satisfy the
left side of my brain, so to appease the right side, I enjoy the exciting and
romantic artwork of Gustav Klimt. I absolutely adore your beautiful artwork,
Elisaveta! It really speaks to me!
What work do you most enjoy doing?
Working with
people, which can be really hard as an artist, as we usually are quite
isolated. I am very social and have a sense of humor. To combat working
remotely, I have been recently enjoying interviewing other artists to weekly
feature them on my artist blog at Amyfultonart.com. I also keep busy with my
church family and friends. We try to frequently entertain others in our
home. I am always delighted by the
presence of others, especially when hosting my painting parties! For artwork, I
enjoy pursuing themes filled with birds and horses. I also enjoy going
out on company photo shoots and love assisting with portrait and event photography.
I’ve literally assisted thousands of children with the sports team photo
shoots!
© 2014 Amy Fulton, Photography Art Print
What is your strongest memory of your childhood?
I was raised by
my grandparents along with my cousin who has Cerebral Palsy on a farm near the
beach in Edmonds, Wa, located in the Pacific NW, just North of Seattle. Of all
the animals we were raising, I especially enjoyed the oriental pheasants, such
as Lady Amherst’s and Golden Pheasants.
It rained much
where we lived, so that we vacationed each year down in Arizona. We would
individually crate all of our farm animals, and pack them up on the ferry and
send them over to Whidbey Island to stay on a farm of a relatives of ours. It
was a lot of work preparing for vacation!
It was hard not to damage the long tails of the pheasants. Many times my grandfather would have to sit
and pluck the tail feathers out because they came home to us tied in knots from
the travel!
Growing up with
a loved one with Cerebral Palsy was an incredible experience I will never
forget. You can learn more about my cousin, Scott Palm here: http://www.startrek.com/article/chase-masterson-scott-palm-quest-blog-in-real-life We were raised together as brother and sister, and to this day the
impact he has had on my life has been everlasting. I love him very much.
Do you have any other interests or talents you would like to share with us?
I love music and
enjoy tinkering around on the piano and bass guitar. I notice when I do
devote time to this art, I dream music and enjoy creating my own. I don’t
make enough time for this, but am blessed with a musically talented husband and
son. My favorite time to paint is when he is playing acoustical Spanish
guitar. I also LOVE horseback riding, creative writing and getting proper exercise and
nutrition, and I love whistling! I also secretly have written a joke book
of approximately 180 cheesy puns. I’m saving them for my funeral, ha!
©2012 Amy Fulton, Original Acrylic Painting on 12 x16 canvas
panel
What other jobs have you done other than being an artist?
Everything under
the sun! I’ve been an accountant, bookkeeper, property manager, realtor,
afterschool art teacher, and currently I am a photography assistant &
sales/marketing agent for Clear Image Photography and a Business Development
Rep for my local hometown newspaper, the Monroe Monitor. I like keeping busy
and learning new things!
What research do you do?
In 2011, I Iost
my health due to prescription medication, so I started pursuing and researching
natural medicine. The result of this has been the removal of processed sugar
and fats from my diet, with the emphasis on fish, vegetables and fruit. I feel wonderful and so happy to have cured a
20 struggle with adult acne and eczema. I highly recommend this book, the Pancreatic Oath: http://www.amazon.com/The-Pancreatic-Oath-Candice-Rosen/dp/0983641366 Dark Green Smoothies are now my best friend!
© 2014 Amy Fulton, Photography Art Print, Angels Landing, Utah
What is your dream project?
I love circus
scenes and would like to create a series of paintings around this subject,
filled with horses, other circus animals, and dancers. I am fond of the stripes
of the circus tent. In both art and real life, I love experimenting to generate
both movement and some form of emotional response from others. I also have a desire to paint monkeys and
gorillas, inspired by the incredible watercolor works of Walton Ford. I would also like to co-author a book one day with my cousin Scott Palm, to talk about our life story. I was pretty crazy. Scott was born completely normal, but something suspicious happened to him where he didn-t get any oxygen for about 5 minutes as a baby. This left him with his condition of Cerebral Palsy. His own mother had no interest in raising him. She secretly hid the pregnancy and left that job to her own parents, to then live a lie of pretending she was Scott's sister. My own parents also had no interest in raising me and also left that job to my grandparents. My grandparents got legal custody of me at 6 months old, after they discovered my mother threw me away in a garbage can, as well as attempting to shoot me in the head with a shot-gun. It's amazing Scott and I even survived.
What's the best piece of advice you've been given?
"Never try to rationalize the irrational." Both my mother and father suffer from mental illness from doing drugs in the 60's and I have spent years trying to analyze and figure them out. In the end, I just simply conclude are not healthy, and it's important we all protect the thing that makes us closest to God, our brains! (heart)
What wouldn’t you do without?
Flat-head
paint brushes and my bible.
I see some traditional Mexican decorative and ornamental artworks you
have created. What did inspire you for creating these beautiful series?
We
have friends that have been generous over the years, inviting us to vacation
with them down in Puerto Vallarta and Cabo San Lucas. I fell in love with
the country, the people and the food, along with and colorful, festive artwork,
and wanted to bring back the memories to liven our style. I am forever enamored
with “Flamenco Style” tap dancers!
©2015 Amy Fulton, original hand painted acrylic
painting on approximately 12"x 12" on distressed wood.
You are a very positive and bright person and I admire your amazing
smile. What helps you to keep smiling and to pass this sun to other people?
There
is a quote I love from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross: “
“People
are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but
when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a
light from within.”
When
I was young, I did not always have a life filled with light. There was much
darkness, having been abandoned by my mentally ill parents, and death taking
away both my grandparents while I was still a teen. Having almost no family,
with the exception my cousin Scott, by age 19 I felt quite alone on the face of
the earth. I removed all bad influences from my life and began seeking God. I
found Him at age 21, and He is the reason behind my smile.
What advice could you give to young starting
artists?
Draw,
draw, DRAW!
What would you like to wish to this world and
people?
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness;
and all these things shall be added unto you.”
Matt 6:33
Amy Fulton
