Amy Deal
Amy Deal (b. 1966 Cranberry Prairie, OH) was born to a German Potato farmer and a homemaker. Neither parent was encouraged to seek post high school education. Especially women, they were to be married.
Amy spent much of her youth on her bike. She also had many jobs while growing up from working on the family’s potato harvester, hoeing weeds in the fields, to working on the tomato planter.
In a community where females were expected to get married and raise a family, Amy’s parents made it clear that she could go to college. Amy received a BFA in Visual Communications from Kent State University, and while working began her MBA studies at Wright State University until she and her husband, Kevin were interrupted by parenthood.
After raising three amazing children, Amy returned to her first love, painting. She always wanted to paint. Amy jumped right in, and since has received various awards and is in public and private collections across the United States.
“Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.” – Thomas Merton
My present intention with painting is to lose myself while finding myself. I used to have the need for purpose and reason with everything I created. As a designer, I was a visual problem solver. As a painter, the process of painting solves my problems.
It’s been a difficult 4 years. It’s time for self-care. My brother died at the age of 50 of colorectal cancer leaving his wife and two children. Soon followed by my father’s dementia and colon cancer diagnosis. He was so confused that recovery from surgery was beyond his ability. I watched him die. My husband was diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer just this year. Both his parents passed away in this same time period. His mother’s battle was Alzheimer’s. I watched her die. His father’s lungs gave out because of working in a coalmine and years of smoking. I watched him die.
The process of painting is therapy. It’s healing. It’s medicine. I enter my studio early in the morning and stay into the evening hours. I paint my emotions. I paint my feelings. I paint my thoughts. Colors and lines change due to the situation in my mind. Some days are okay. Some days are not.
