Meet Amy Gurrentz | Graphic Design & Illustration Artist

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

Hi Amy, what’s the most difficult decision you’ve ever had to make?
I was a special education preschool teacher for over 10 years for the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD). I started out as a paraeducator for what was then an autism-specific preschool program, and loved my job so much that I decided to get a masters in Early Childhood Special Education (a requirement for lead public preschool teachers at BVSD). This was a 4-year degree that I achieved while working full-time at the preschool and attending night school in Denver. It was challenging and extremely demanding, but because I had such a clear vision for what I wanted, it was easy to persevere. After achieving my masters degree, I was hired as a lead teacher in the same classroom where I was a paraeducator. Soon after, the programming changed, and the classroom became an all-inclusive classroom. This meant that we were to cap the student numbers at 16, with 6 spots dedicated to special needs students, and 3 spots dedicated to “at risk” students. We had 2 full-time paraeducators assisting in the classroom, as well as daily specialists coming in to provide services for certain children (Speech and Language Pathology, Occupational therapy, Psychology, Social Work, and Physical Therapy). It was a strong and robust program that provided a well-resourced, multidisciplinary team. As the years went on, the district cut funding for these specialists and our in-classroom support. The district increased our special needs student number ratios, decreased the support throughout the week, and added more curricular demands. My job shifted from teaching to note taking and program management. It felt like I was being pushed further from the reason I loved the job–further from working with individual students based on their unique needs. I attempted to be outspoken during staff meetings and trainings, but the administration had made its decision. I became burnt out and heartbroken, which ultimately began to cause my mental health to decline.
I sought therapy, began journalling, reaching out to my family and peers about my feelings, and after many sleepless nights and one very important conversation with my sister, I allowed myself to recognize that it was best for me to take a sabbatical from teaching in order to sort out what I needed in my life and my career.
This was the most challenging decision I have ever made because the weight of wanting to show up for my students and not being able to, the guilt of potentially letting these families down, the shame of framing this decision as “giving up”, all factored in to the difficulty. However, once I realized this was the right choice for me, a lot of my feelings of guilt and shame subsided, and over the course of my sabbatical, I taught myself to trust my heart and not listen to my head so much–by this I mean allowing myself to do what I wanted to do, versus what I “should” or “could” be doing. This shift lead me back to my childhood desired career as an illustration artist, and once I began trusting my heart, the path was clear: I had to give a real attempt at making this my new career path.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I am still establishing myself as a freelance designer, and it has been especially challenging to make connections due to the prevalent isolation this pandemic has imposed. Other challenges for me have been business-oriented. For example, figuring out how much to charge for my work (initially, I felt strange charging anything for my work!), learning how to communicate with non-designer clients in order to evoke enough information to transform their abstract ideas into a powerful and cohesive visual deliverable for them, and allowing myself enough time for ideation, creation, and presentation in a timely manner!

I very much enjoy the diversity and unique challenges every project offers. Most recently, I have found a niche for drawing editorial illustrations for online publications. Editorial illustrations provide a delightful amalgamation of a number of skill sets, as well as providing a lot of creative freedom. These illustrations require an understanding of the article content, designing a composition that clues viewers into what the article will contain, the psychology of online visibility, and making sure it will produce an eye-catching thumbnail.

I also have dabbled in designs for streetwear and snowboard/skate shops. I love the bombastic aesthetics these media allow, and I hope to continue creating more works in this field!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
My sister and brother, Samantha Sitterly and Jack Gurrentz My parents, Lynn and Pat Gurrentz
My friends Ian Glass, Jess Saba, and Lynn Yang
My mentor Blake Welch
My peers Sara Kimbrough, Tony Tam Sing, and Dan Hatch

Website: wildlygrounded.studio

Instagram: @grentz.graphics

Other: behance.net/gurrentz