We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Outcalt recently and have shared our conversation below.
Amanda, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
I’ve had a number of health challenges in my life, amongst them neurological complications, a brain surgery, and years of infertility and miscarriages before I had my son. All of these challenges were made easier through the support of my family, but also having an outlet in my art really helped me cope. I’ve consistently made work about these different health complications on and off for years, so much so that I have sort of a visual vocabulary in my work that symbolizes different elements of these challenges- for example, I use balloons as a symbol of memory (my neurological condition and surgery have made memory something I’ve always struggled with). So in essence, my art has really helped me to become a more resilient person.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
I’m a mixed media artist who combines the very old art of intaglio with other media like embroidery, pencil drawing, painting, and gold leafing. I start by creating copper intaglio plates that I then saw out with a jewelers saw. I ink and print them by hand, then I build my image from there with painting, stitching, etc. The etchings I create are almost always animals. I pair them with more surrealistic manmade elements like balloons, buildings, and ships. Between the intaglio and the layering of media, even though my work is 2Dimensional it has a visual and literal depth to it. I do a lot of traveling the country to sell my art at shows in areas like Miami, Denver, Chicago, and close to home here in DC.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
The most important skill I’ve cultivated over the years in terms of my success as an artist (and a person) is self motivation. I’ve always been interested in beating myself and pushing myself, whether it was in my running career when I was doing marathons or just pushing myself to work harder on that next idea in the studio and experiment with a new process. Another skill that’s been really important to me is a love of learning new things. I went to school for Metalsmithing and jewelry making, but because I decided to try new things post college just for fun, I tried an intaglio/ etching class and it opened up a new world to me artistically. My metalworking skills also fed into my intaglio work, which is another fun element of always being excited to learn something new- your old knowledge feeds your new knowledge. The other skills that have informed my career journey have been artistic ones- drawing skills and detail work that I’ve been doing and perfecting all my life.
Who has been most helpful in helping you overcome challenges or build and develop the essential skills, qualities or knowledge you needed to be successful?
My husband has really helped me in my career as an independent artist. When I have the artistic skills, he fills in where I lack knowledge in the business department. He encouraged me to do a kickstarter campaign 10 years ago to raise money for new intaglio studio equipment. He also encouraged me to start applying to shows. He helps me with framing and manages my website, but mostly he has taught me to bet on myself and believe in myself- that’s invaluable!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.amandaoutcalt.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amanda_outcalt
