Meet Amanda Snyder | Fine Art Painter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Amanda Snyder and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Amanda, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
As a creative, it’s important to stay in touch with your intuition. If you aren’t inspired any more by what you are making then it is probably time to move on. Less about giving up and more about finding the next chapter. For example, I started my creative career by opening a letterpress business. Loved it for many years, but over time and with life changes found myself drawn more to my original training in fine art. So made the decision to put the letterpress business on pause and focus solely on my paintings, where my passion was the strongest.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
While a common theme with many people, Family and the idea of what they represent has been a major inspiration for me. It all started when I found a box of personal family photos from the late 60s. My mom, then just a young girl, was on a family roadtrip from Louisiana to California with her parents and sisters. The snapshots from the pool at the classic roadside motel and family portraits at rest stops in the middle of Texas. They were these magical snapshots in time, that I wanted to recreate as large paintings. But it wasn’t until I shared these personal moments with others that I realized others connected with them even though it wasn’t their own family. It transported them back to moments in their lives. Moments of warm summer days spent at pools. Stories started to pour out as if you could see them reliving their memories. That’s when I started to paint other photos of similar times, but now from strangers, yet I found the connect was still there. Nowadays, we take endless amounts of photos, most being lost on a cloud somewhere, but the goal of my paintings is to find those days we didn’t want to end and make them last.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Day 1:
Go to the Clyfford Still museum the lunch or happy hour at Leven Deli.

Then head over to the Santa Fe Art District to tour the galleries.

Day 2:
Head to Golden and take a hike on the Peaks to Plains trail before heading to the Eddy Hotel for drinks and a bite to eat.

If you are heading to Red Rocks for a show the Eddy is also a great place for dinner before the show.

Day 3:
Drift around RiNo to take in the murals. Dinner at Cart + Driver then walk across the street to Death & Co for cocktails.

To start any day would hit these coffee shops and bakeries:

Wooden Spoon in LoHi has the best breakfast sandwiches and scones!

Blue Sparrow Coffee Shop location on Platte St. They have Blackbox baked goods!

Rich Spirit Bagels in Wheat Ridge

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I would have to say my family is my biggest support system. Growing up I was encouraged to pursue my art by my parents. They were always signing me up for art classes, bringing me to museums and allowing me the opportunity to travel and explore new places. Also, I have the most encouraging and supportive husband, Dillon. He is also a creative and is always up for a creative adventure. We started our letterpress company together. I definitely couldn’t have done it without him!

Website: https://Amandaksnyder.com

Instagram: Amandaksnyderart

Image Credits
All my photos