Category Archives: Art

Behind the Paint brush

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Behind the Brush

…it’s been awhile since I’ve said hello and introduced myself to all my new followers.
So here’s a little bit about me and my art.
I’m Amanda Milke, I live in Fort Saskatchewan just outside of Edmonton, Alberta Canada. I’m originally from #Moncton NB so I’ve had the pleasure of experiencing the best of Canada it’s oceans and it’s mountains and they both have my heart.
I’m a self taught artist and have been painting and creating since 1995 probably earlier. Originally I focused on acrylic abstract/impressionist portraits and then gradually started exploring different mediums while we were living and teaching English in Japan.

Gradually over time, my style evolved into mixed media. I kept my love for acrylic’s bright bold colors and paired them with acrylic mediums and found elements for texture. My creative inspiration comes from my faith. I am a follower of Jesus, I like to say a practicing Christian because everyday is a work in progress.

I love using my mixed media elements with my faith theme because it reminds me that we aren’t one dimensional beings. Each and everyone of us is multifaceted and can be seen from different angles. I love using broken and found objects and recreating them into art because it reminds me of redemption. No matter how broken or lost we are we can be transformed into a work of art. And lastly I use bright colors and reflective rhinestones in my work to symbolize the joy, light and hope we have. Too often art focuses on the dark and hopelessness of life and I just want to spread some love, light and hope around with my paintbrush 🖌❤

Breath of Heaven – NOA Art Auction

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Night of Artists is having their annual Art Auction and my submission this year is an

18″ x 24″ mixed media painting called “Breath of Heaven”.

BreathofHeaven_AmandaMilke_7806915787

Most of my paintings tend to be inspired by a Bible passage but the inspiration for this piece comes from several different verses that all spoke to me.

By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth Psalm 33:6

In his hands is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind. Job 12:10

The Spirit of God has made me; the breath of the Almighty gives me life. Job 33:4

You see my grandmother who I am very close with has by God’s grace survived through skin cancer, colon cancer and lung cancer and has now recently had more cancer found in her other lung.  As I was thinking over the unfairness that is cancer and was petitioning God for healing for her I was given this image and message that even though the breath in her lungs may fail her body, the breath of God in her soul will never fail. The same breath that formed the Heavens and gave life and form to everything can also live within us and that alone is awe inspiring to me.  So in this painting the “sky” breathes, as layers of cells/earth have life and breath radiating out of them.

If you’d like to own this one of kind mixed media painting you can place your bid online here: noa

 

My NOA Cover Competition entry

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I’m excited to be participating in the Night of Artists this year and part of the perks of joining in this fabulous event is their NOA magazine cover competition.

This year there are 49 wonderful artists participating in the competition.

I decided to submit “New Song” as my entry this year as I thought it embodied the NOA festival being both an instrument and an art piece. The competition is popularity based and the top 5 most liked artists will move on to the finals for a chance to grace the cover.

The votes are open to the public so if you’d be so kind to cast your vote for me and any others that catch your eye just click on the guitar image below and follow the link to the official page, press like on my guitar and then voila done. Voting ends on January 31st at 9pm Alberta time.

NOA magazine cover contest entry by Amanda Milke “New Song”

Thanks everyone for supporting my Art!

Have a fabulous night!

Cheers,

Amanda

NOA Night of Artists

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I’m excited to announce that I will be joining a wonderful collective of local artists in 2019 as one of the artists exhibiting at the Night of Artists in St. Albert.

This is a not to be missed Art event so get your tickets here. The opening Gala will be amazing!

Keep an eye on my blog to see what I’m working on to bring to this wonderful Art show.

~Amanda

“Immersion” coming 2019

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I love creating art around a theme or concept and for 2019 that theme is “Immersion”.

I’ve been inspired by how prominent water is used as a symbol in the bible from the sea of Galilee to the many miracles that center around it and I wanted to create a body of art that encompasses that wet and wild imagery.

So, throughout 2019 my media feeds will be flooded with many water based paintings which hopefully will culminate into “Immersion” a gallery exhibit that will immerse you the viewer into this wet, wonderful world.

For now, here is a look at some past and present and in progress pieces to immerse your senses in.

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🌊💙

Amanda

Hope in the Darkness

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“But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.”-Psalm 9:18

One of the things I aspire to do with my art as a Christian artist is to help spread the love and hope that I have found in Christ Jesus through my art. Sometimes that looks like me creating art that testify’s to what God has done or is doing in my life and sometimes that means I use my creative gifts to help others feel that same hope.

As I was finishing off the first batch of my new mixed media mini’s today, painting my edges black I was struck by how bold and vibrant they stood out against the dark edging. As I left them to dry I just had this feeling that the Holy Spirit was calling me to use these small paintings for a big purpose to shine light into darkness. The more I thought on it the clearer it seemed to get in my mind and heart. God has a funny way of lining things up when we’re attentive to his voice and I knew just where to use these paintings that would make a difference Hope Mission.

hopem

Hope Mission is a not-for-profit Christian social care agency caring for the impoverished and homeless men, women and children in Alberta. Basic and emergency care is provided to over 800 people daily as well as counsel and referral services for men, women, and youth. Each day Hope Mission provides over 1000 meals, and shelter for over 500 people.  Specialized care and treatment is offered for men and women through faith-based addiction treatment programs. Hope Mission also facilitates an after school recreation and hot meal program for children. In all, our desire is to provide compassionate care and offer hope to hurting, hungry and homeless people in Edmonton.

This series is now being called “Hope in the Darkness” because no matter how jagged or textured our past, no matter how dark our life, God can ALWAYS bring Hope out of it but it starts with us using what God has given us to help bring hope to others. Each painting in this series is as unique as the person it will go to help. For every piece sold I will donate 25% of the sales back to Hope Missions to help support them in the wonderful work they are doing in our community!

I hope you’ll help me in my effort to bring Hope through art.

Amanda

 

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You can purchase or commission a piece in this series by leaving me a message here to see the available pieces or by messaging me on my Facebook page AmandaMilkeArtist. Each mixed media piece costs $40 is one of a kind and measures 4″ x 4″ x 1.5″ and is done on canvas. Perfect for a small space, shelf or desk or buy several to arrange in sets of 3, 5 or 9 tiled cube patterns.

I’ll also be adding a new page to my website with this series in the next few days.

Art just got sweeter

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I had the pleasure of setting up 22 pieces of artwork at Fifendekel on 12028-149st in Edmonton this morning.

Now you can grab lunch, a slice of their famous pie, a coffee and sit down and check out the art for sale.

It’s a great way to relax and get some Christmas shopping done!

They are open Monday to Friday!

What a sweet way to spend an afternoon!