User:Amyart17

Amy Roemer
Amy Roemer born Amy Milton Wetherbee on November 26, 1971 is an American Artist. Born in Westford, Massachusetts, Her use of a pure, vivid color palette using acrylics and oils, and strong lines over fluid brush strokes to evoke emotions, is what has captured viewers and collectors. Poetry plays a part in her work, as well. Awarded the Editor's Choice Award by the International Library of Poetry in 2004 and 2006, Amy's poems are as lyrical and bonding as her brushstrokes. The combination of the two creates a powerful message in her pieces. Amy has said of her work; "I paint to act as a link, to connect people with a common bond of physical, emotional, and ethereal experiences."

Early Life
Amy began her interest in art as a child. Early experiences were watching Cape Cod  artists, Milton Welt (her grandfather) a well known watercolor artist, and Herb Sunderman, (her uncle), as well as her mother, and other family members. To see how each person saw the same scene, person, idea in different ways and to be able to express it visually is what drew her to pursue art. Amy's mother, Elizabeth (Welt) Wetherbee is an artist, musician, and choir director. Her older brother, Guy Wetherbee, is a musician and artist and has designed album covers for East Coast bands. Her twin brother, Dean Wetherbee, is an accomplished Graphic Designer and wood worker. Amy's father, John Wetherbee, worked in Tool and Die, last working for GTE Sylvania before his death in 1996, at age 58. Her father's stroke ( in 1993), which led to his death, had a deep effect on Amy. What she gained from his passing, was a deep conviction to express herself through her art, to do what she loves now.

Growing up in a small town on the East Coast meant Amy had a lot of time to explore nature. Woods, fields, lakes, and ocean were all favorite places for her as a child. Places where she could observe shapes of shells, bird wings, tree branches, and reflect on the changing color of the sky as the Earth moved. All of these observations still play a role in her work today.

The Berkshires
After studying art at Massachusetss College of Art in Boston, MA. Amy lived for a year in Mill River, MA. There she did a series of large pastel drawings, mostly of leaves and flowers that were growing on the property of the family who she lived with. She displayed many of these at her first gallery show at the Spazi Fine Art Gallery in Housatonic, MA. She had complimentary comparisons to Georgia O'Keefe's work, but Amy wanted to find her own voice.

Los Angeles
In the fall of 1991, Amy drove across the United States, from Massachusetts to California. Stopping at the Grand Canyon on her 20th birthday, the depth and the infinite colors of the canyon were symbolic of the experiences she would have over the next 17 years. Amy started out in a small apartment in North Hollywood. Her pastel work morphed into more personal and painful subjects. In 1993, while doing illustrations for a fashion desinger, Amy was given the opportunity to work as his assistant on a film. That 18 day shoot, transformed her life. For the next 10 years, Amy would work doing costumes on films such as Breakdown, Flipper, and Very Bad Things, and televison shows such as Roseanne and Dharma and Greg. Amy continued to draw, paint, and work on her pastels, doing side work as an illustrator and exhibiting her work.

In 1997, a year after her father died, Amy met her husband, John Roemer, from Milwaukee, WI. It was then that Amy set aside her pastels and dove into her paintbox in earnest. Love, passion, hope gave her new inspiration. John moved to Los Angeles to be with Amy and worked as and executive for First Federal Bank and Lockheed Federal Credit Union. In 2000, Amy joined Ten Women Venice, a women's artist's co-operative on trendy Abbot Kinney Boulevard. People from around the world came into Ten Women Venice and connected to Amy's work. Her work was featured on television shows War at Home and What I like About You and Amy was asked to paint cast member, Candy, on the NBC series Starting Over. Amy's work was exhibited in galleries and at many of the major juried fine arts festivals in California, and was awarded by the Skirball Cultural Center for her work at the Noho Theatre and Arts Festival in 2004.

In June of 2005, Amy and John had a daughter, Helen Marin Roemer. Though happy in their new home in Los Angeles, they felt a strong desire to have their daughter know family. In January of 2008, they packed their bags and headed for the Midwest!

The Midwest
Close to John's family in the Milwaukee area, Amy, John, and Helen settled in to their new environment. Though Amy loved the beauty of the ocean and ever present flowers and green in Los Angeles, being in Wisconsin meant back to the woods, lakes, quiet. An inspiration for her paintings. In 2010, Amy painted a bench for the public art event "Best Seats in the House" in Shorewood, WI. In 2011, she is completing painting a hubcap for the Landfill Art Project. While Amy continues to show her work in different venues, she, like it says in her popular painting, "today I am growing, always I am growing..." she strives to grow as an artist and as a human being.

Amy's work can be viewed atwww.amyroemer.com on facebook Amy Roemer Fine Artist.