Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Marie Bell.
Amanda, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Most of my creativity is attributed to my mother who is an artist and musician. I grew up in the Houston area heavily involved in art and music. During high school, my main focus was music as my goal was to major in music education. I spent a year and a half in University of Houston’s Moores School of Music and realized that this wasn’t my path. While I was in high school, I had taught myself PhotoShop and fell in love with digital art not knowing this would later be the catalyst for changing my major. I graduated from University of Houston in 2014 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Graphic Communications. By 2017, I had been laid off for the second time in my career and realized Houston was no longer conducive to the type of graphic design work I wanted to do. I moved to Austin in August 2018 and never looked back.
Fast forward to November 2019 and I’m laid off for the third time a few months before the pandemic hits. I began to work contract jobs, focus more on my art, and sell my art at local markets and pop-ups around town. I landed a solo art show at Method Hair in conjunction with East Side Pop Up; my first art show since college. Then, lockdown happened. So ultimately very few people saw my work. I was disappointed but not discouraged. I decided to work towards my first online shop and launched August 2020. My Instagram also started to pick up more traffic around this time as well. As a result, a local podcast that highlights creatives, ATX Artist Social, reached out to me for an interview to be featured on an upcoming episode.
November 2020 comes, my podcast episode airs, and I land a full-time remote graphic designer position after nearly a year of being unemployed. I was so relieved to have consistent income again. I began participating in markets on the side the following February as the world slowly opened back up. I designed an album cover for Austin’s Tortuga Shades, a beer label for Meanwhile Brewing Company’s Wow No Cow, and continued to pick up commission work on the side in the form of graphic design work and pet portraits.
Right now, I’m still working a full-time job and my side business is slowly growing. The dream is to become a self-sufficient artist and graphic designer one day. Until then, I get to work a career I’m genuinely passionate about while still being able to explore my personal art.
My artistic style has evolved quite a bit over the last three years while going through the ups and downs. My inspiration comes from a multitude of places including nature, tattoos, the occult, the taboo, graphic design, iconography, cartography, specimen drawings, mental health, and my love for texture and patterns. I enjoy experimenting frequently with my work to develop new skills and aesthetics.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Definitely not. My mental health has been a struggle for a majority of my life. In 2018, my partner passed away and I was later diagnosed with PTSD on top of everything else I was struggling with. I battled for normalcy daily. Being able to express emotion through art that I couldn’t put into words was my saving grace. It helped me process feelings I didn’t recognize or know how to deal with in my day-to-day. It helped me focus on something longer than five minutes at a time; one symptom of PTSD is a lack of attention span sometimes misdiagnosed as ADHD. I believe it was crucial in my recovery process. When I started participating in markets and pop-ups I had severe, crippling anxiety. I took it as an opportunity to grow my small business but I was terrified. My ability to go out in public was limited and interacting with people was exhausting. After living in a dark hole for such a long time, hearing positive feedback from supportive people gave me the courage to be able to advocate for myself more and talk about my art on a personal level. It taught me that my opinion and my story matter.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
As a graphic designer, I currently work for an in-house creative team for a sports nutrition brand based in Austin. I have a passion for branding and understand the importance of maintaining the integrity of branding. My ability as a graphic designer is well-rounded but I’m most interested in iconography and identity systems.
As an artist, my conceptual work explores the world of mental health through animals. Animals tend to be my subject matter because they are my safe space—they have never betrayed me. I find solace in being able to convey my thoughts and feelings through art when I don’t know how to convey them into words. I want to make people feel something even if they don’t fully understand what that feeling is. My current approach in digital art is applying what I know from my traditional art background and my degree in graphic design. I also explore flash sheets where I get to focus on illustration style and the juxtaposition of objects.
I’m known for my neutral color palettes with a red color pop and there is a theme of rabbits and hares throughout my work.
I’m proud of the milestones I’ve reached within the last three years of participating in the Austin art community. I was on a podcast, I had a solo art show, I designed a beer label, I designed album artwork, I’m currently being interviewed for a magazine. It’s only up from here.
I feel like my adaptability sets me apart from others. When people approach me about art commissions, they’re looking for my style. When they approach me about design work, they’re looking for something that represents them. I pride myself on my ability to deliver their vision while still staying true to myself.
We love surprises, fun facts and unexpected stories. Is there something you can share that might surprise us?
Here’s a few facts about me: I’m pretty tall at 5′ 10″.
My aesthetic is minimalist, goth-ish gal but I’m low key obsessed with iridescent, sparkly things!
I marched drum corps for two years in college.
I was in a band and performed on the main stage at House of Blues Houston.
Armadillos are my favorite animal.
I codirected a pet rescue in Houston for two years.
Contact Info:
- Email: bell.amandamarie@gmail.com
- Website: amandamariebell.com
- Instagram: instagram.com/amandamariebell
Image Credits:
Amanda Marie Bell
