Hello and welcome to my first blog post! I'd been struggling with what to say on here, and then I was advised to share my story and introduce myself, so that's exactly what I'm going to do.
I'm Amanda! I'm an artist working and living in Portland, OR, where I also do freelance writing gigs. I'm an eclectic person with widely varied interests, as evidenced by my array of art!
My degree is a BFA in General Fine Arts from Pacific Northwest College of Art, where I graduated from in 2012. My life has since been a whirlwind of making art and freelancing. I have been heavily involved in queer and trans performance spaces since graduating and have done countless merchandising projects, fliers, posters, and portraits for shows and performers.
On the more personal side of things, subjects that are near and dear to my heart are LGBTQQ2AAIP+ issues and disability justice, as I am a part of both communities. I acquired chronic illness and disability young in my adulthood, and I now navigate the world using a manual wheelchair full-time. Obviously, this has dramatically shaped my worldview and life experiences. I am always excited to lend my work to fighting for justice and to help spread important messages.
Portraiture is my main love. One of the very first projects I set for myself after graduating college was a series of portraits of drag performers in the PNW community who I felt needed to be showcased and celebrated. A goal I have set for myself, which I will state here to set the intention and put it out into the world, is to create another series of portraits, this time of people with visible chronic illnesses and disabilities. I recently completed a portrait commission of a woman who wanted to celebrate the multiple identities of being part of the Penobscot nation as well as being a disabled woman who is primarily tube-fed due to lupus complications. She wanted to find the power in the intersection of these identities. It was a wonderful challenge and I was able to create something that helped her feel powerful. Doing this portrait sparked something in me and I would really love to continue down this road, doing similar portraits.
On the commercial front, my commissions are currently open! I am going to try and update this blog weekly; more if something exciting needs to be announced! I love writing and haven't had a proper blog in a long time, so I look forward to continuing.
Until next time,
Amanda Russel