Amber Young

My work grows out of nature. Issues of simplicity, complexity and emotional response to the environment are the underpinnings. Painting for me is about the present moment. Experiencing, noticing, processing clearly and with feeling my direct experiences.

I have always painted what surrounds me. The land I grew up on has played such an integral role in my development as a person as well as an artist. I spent my young years in one place, the property of my family in Hampton New Brunswick – a pond, a lake and 40 acres of forest. As an adult I have returned to this same place to raise my own family and paint what surrounds me again.

I did a fine arts degree at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design with a focus on painting. There was never a doubt that this was my path. After graduating in 1995, I went travelling in Asia. A highlight of this period of my life was studying Chinese Lotus painting while in Taiwan from the Lotus Master Hwang Lao Zu and there was where I met my future husband. We returned to Canada, where I went back to school to get my teaching degree at Mount Saint Vincent University/NSCAD. From there I returned to Hampton, I now raise my 2 children on the same land I grew up on. I teach Art at Saint John High school and have been teaching for the past 17 years. I have continued to paint and show art throughout this time. Painting pond reflections was my first real focus and has been a recurring subject in my work over the years.

The intention behind my work is not to create realistic representations of nature but to capture what it feels like to be part of it. When I paint, I am present, calm, connected and at peace.