Amy Englebrecht: CREATE PC is a Fantastic Resource for Creatives
“I was arty when I was a kid,” explains new CREATE PC Local Artist Collective gallery artist Amy Englebrecht, “but I went the STEM route for college. I got pretty busy in grad school and early career, so I mostly consumed other people's art. In my 40s I picked up a sketchbook again, and never really looked back.” Englebrecht’s rekindled artistic flame began as an interior decorating project, but quickly expanded beyond her home’s walls: “I started painting for my own home—most of my pieces still spend a little time on my walls while I work on them—and eventually other people started to want pieces of their own.”
As Englebrecht’s artistry grew, the value of local connections and Arts & Culture events became evident. “I think being part of the Summit County creative community has had a huge impact on my development as an artist. I find that just the proximity to high quality creatives has an "osmosis"-type effect. You have conversations with people, understand their aesthetic, and it helps your own evolve. There are also these chances for informal mentoring, again, very organic community interactions, with people across all forms of media—television producers, writers, documentary filmmakers, sculptors. You wouldn't necessarily connect a filmmaker and a painter, but there are insights into the creative process that you end up absorbing and making your own.”
Citing CREATE PC as a “fantastic resource…connecting me to local collectors and offering additional display opportunities,” Englebrecht encourages others to partake in the local creative wares displayed by her fellow exhibiting artists. “I think it's a great destination for people specifically interested in supporting local artists, where they can see painters, ceramicists, photographers, sculptors; any media, all local, all in one space. It's a resource and an opportunity that is really unique.” Englebrecht goes on to say that CREATE PC is further evidence of the positive impact of accessible high-caliber Arts & Culture resources on the local creative community.
Other examples of Summit County Arts & Culture abound, with Englebrecht claiming “one of my favorite nights of the year was just last weekend: locals night at the Kimball Arts Festival. By the time it really gets rolling, the sun has gone behind the ridge, everybody is out, you're surrounded by great art. Neighbors, coworkers, friends; it's a gigantic street party and everyone is welcome. Love the energy.” While reliable large-scale events provide Englebrecht with a litany of perennial joys, she has found a “new love” in the recently-formed nonprofit Park City Opera. “The executive directors, Lena Goldstein and Benjamin Beckman, are incredible musicians and performers. Trove Gallery recently hosted an evening of American opera, performed by Lena and Ben. It was such an inspiring event: great music, talented performers, surrounded by Trove's collection. Such a fun evening in that space. I can't wait to see what they do next.”
As for Englebrecht’s artistic practice, “spontaneity is a huge part of my process. I like techniques that surprise me, anything that adds an element of uncertainty and unknown. Left-handed mark making is always unpredictable and interesting. My painting is highly gestural, so I'll try anything that adds awkwardness to a gesture. I love the pigmentation of oil sticks, so rich and saturated. Plus they're shaped like gigantic crayons. And I never plan a piece, I work it out directly on the panel, in the moment. However it evolves, is how it evolves. Learning to trust my process was one of my hardest lessons.”
That trust remains a work in progress, which can occasionally be put to the test by the slings and arrows of discerning art critics. “My art once made a kid cry. A friend of mine came to see me at a show, and she brought her two toddler-aged sons. She was taking them around to look at the animals ("Look! A moose! And here, see the owl?") and when she got to the last one ("A bunny!"), the youngest's eyes got really big, then his lower lip started to quiver, and the alligator tears started to fall.
My friend bent down, "Honey, what's wrong?"
Shaking his head, he blurted, "Bunnies don't have blue feet!"
“Oh jeez. Sorry kiddo.””
For more of Englebrecht’s divisive animal art, visit her website, or drop by CREATE PC Local Artist Collective from Wednesday-Sunday, 12-6pm.
