Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Rose Rambo.
So, before we jump into specific questions about what you do, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Well, to be honest, I have always wanted to be an artist even as a child my favorite toys were a few pencils and paper. Growing up was not much different, I was forever doodling and coloring on just about anything I could get my hands on including people if they got too close and I had a marker. I was homeschooled and so, had the opportunity to dive into things that I was passionate about and my amazing mom encouraged me at every turn and was my biggest cheerleader. I took a few local art classes but never anything serious. When college came I decided on Art and psychology as my focuses and went from there. Nothing really became of it afterwards and I went into childcare as my career for just over a decade. However art never left me, it just stayed as a hobby and my family and friends often asked for pieces or received a drawing or painting as presents.
When I was dating my now-husband Jamie, he really pushed me to get my art out there and be seen, since the Adult coloring book craze had really just started I did my research and started my company of Vitruvian Art. After around a year and 5 or 6 coloring books under my belt, I came across ‘zengems’ people creating the illusion of a little cabochon with colored pencils and my absolute obsession with gemstones began. I taught myself about reflection and refraction, how to represent that in colors, doing tutorials for my coloring book following and creating classes that went more in-depth.
In the last two years, I’ve taught myself how to really use watercolor as a medium and began going more and more toward realistic gems with combinations of watercolor and colored pencils, I just couldn’t stop, still can’t, and don’t want to!
As my obsession with gemstones and their incredible uniqueness has flourished, Ive been pulled more into the world of gemstone cutters and jewelry makers and been privileged to work with a few, doing larger than life renderings of their gems and occasionally even designing a jewelry piece or two.
As of 2019, I have been a full-time artist for just over three years with the help and support of my incredible husband, and am beyond blessed that I get to do what I love every day.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been smooth running by any means. The learning curve for being a ‘business’ vs just being a hobby artist is quite large. It takes a ton of effort and research and basically teaching yourself to be an entire company.
Everything from the marketing and advertising to being the accountant is now on your shoulders. Learning all the sides of business has been a constant, it’s never-ending, but on the plus side, I do love a good challenge! One of the hardest parts for me was realizing that if I really wanted this to work it was going to be about 70% a business and the actual art and creating was really only 30%. It’s a battle because absolutely any day, I’d rather be planning my new watercolor or up to my elbows in paint instead of deciding how to best do the next advertising strategy, or working on SEO.
Please tell us more about your artwork, what you are currently focused on and most proud of.
Well, I work with watercolor, acrylic, and colored pencils as my most favorite mediums to create larger than life works of art all centered on showcasing the beauty of gemstones. Everything from doing photorealistic work to just using the idea of a type of gem cut and letting my mind wander with it.
As far as what I’m known for, I’d say probably most well known for my tutorials in the adult coloring world. As a coloring book artist when I really started with gemstones, I just had a knack for it as well as the drive to practice till my fingers hurt. I started tutorials on how to color gems and now, my YouTube channel has a little following of gem lovers.
The name Vitruvian Art comes from my love of Da Vinci. His famous work the Vitruvian man was all about a human with the ideal proportions. So, in my head, my business name kind of means ‘Ideal art’. Now that my art has become all about gemstones, I think its almost ironic that I picked that name. Gemstones are generally the ideal versions of themselves, we mine them and scrub them and cut and polish till the heavenly flair of sunlight gets encapsulated in them, and that very idea has seemingly captured me.
What sets me apart? I think that my subject matter itself does in a way. I know that there are a million ways to paint a landscape or a portrait of an animal. And don’t get me wrong, seeing other artist’s work is really amazing and I’m always awed by great work. However, seeing a landscape doesn’t take my breath away and I’m not snatched by the toes of my soul and driven to dream about the colors inside the eye of an eagle. I get inspired by the rainbows that dance in the facets of a tourmaline, or the oil slick look that is barely visible on the face of a black diamond, or even the ever-changing play of a captured beam of light inside the mystery of a dark blue sapphire that has peek-a-boo fires of vibrant color.
But then again, maybe I’m set apart because I’m an odd little chipmunk who sits in her living room and paints cool rocks!
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
That’s a bit of a hard question, there have been many moments that I’m proud of. I guess the most recent would be my partnership with Quikset Jewelry. They reached out after finding me on Instagram and I now have the honor of showing quite a few of my works in both their Fort Worth and Arlington locations. Being in an actual brick and mortar store is a whole new level for me.
Pricing:
- Acrylic paintings can vary anywhere from $200 – $800
- Watercolor works are smaller and usually under $200 depending on size and detail
Contact Info:
- Email: vitruvianart520@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/vitruvian_art
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vitruvianart
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/vitruvianart
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