Amy Treadway. Watercolor
​While this may seem like a simple statement, it dramatically changed how I felt about my work. It no longer mattered what everyone else was doing. I was on the road of self-discovery.
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At this time, I was primarily painting a more traditional form of photo realism in oil paints and occasionally watercolor. It was then that another professional artist stepped into my life. She told me that “it is just as important to love your method of painting, not just the subject you're painting. You need to love the process just as much as the finished product.”
This statement hit a chord with me and opened my eyes to a world of possibilities. It allowed me to really go on a search for my own true, authentic voice. I learned that I loved painting with bright colors and loved painting motion. While realistic proportions were still very important to me in a finished painting, I wanted to become looser with the paint and learn to enjoy the splatter. From this exploded a whole new style of self-expression and excitement so immensely gratifying that it was contagious.
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It was at this time that I transitioned from oil paints, to acrylic paints, and ultimately to watercolor. Henry Patton, the Laughing Wolf/Blue Horse artist, inspired me to transition to watercolors when I took his class at the Booth Museum on his dry brush method. Once I felt comfortable controlling watercolor, I then proceeded to experiment and stretch myself with the medium, testing the boundaries of what it could do. Many people have told me that they have never seen watercolor used in this way before and that motivates me.
Through the years I have invested a lot of time learning, growing, and developing different creative and artistic concepts.
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I see art as a journey of self-discovery. With each encounter, I have discovered a different piece of myself that has ultimately created who I am as an artist today. Therefore, each painting contains a bit of the artist within it and initially it can be hard to let them go. However, as an artist grows, there is no greater joy than sharing their work with the world. Each piece tells a unique story.
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Looking back, as I continue on in my professional journey, there were two profound statements that radically changed who I was as an artist and guided me on my creative journey.
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I will never forget my first encounter with my primary painting instructor at Shorter College. He asked us who our favorite artist was? After we each gave an answer, he looked us each in the eyes and made the most profound statement of my art career.
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“You should be your favorite artist.”
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I then moved my profession to southern California. Here I was able to spend time at the racetrack, following my favorite equine athletes who are the inspiration behind most of my work. It was in California that I also delved deep into the car culture that has resided here for generations. From this, I expanded to include other subjects such as planes, boats, motorcycles, and even pets. Cats are a particular favorite of mine, and my cat, Beskar, is routinely by my side in my studio. I allow my use of paint to create movement in my pet pieces to give them more color and excitement. It is a perfect way to capture the quirky personality of our furry family members. With cats in particular, I focus mostly on black cat subjects to help capture their beauty in an artistic way and increase their adoption rates by helping people see past the superstition.
These familiar subjects dance across my paintings in an exhilarating fashion. New inspiration comes every day. My work is truly unique and the journey is just as much fun as the finished piece itself.
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Currently, I reside in Southern California with my husband, Brandon, my daughter, Faith, and our cats, Beskar and Kyber. We frequent the Del Mar and Santa Anita racetracks, as well as Cars and Coffee events and cat shows around the area. When I'm not in the studio I am mentoring others, taking pictures, detailing my car, meeting new people, or spending time with my family and my beloved cats. My next big aspiration is to own racehorses of my own that will become personal riding horses when they retire from racing.
