As a child whenever I was met with the question "what do you want to be when you grow up" straight away I always knew I wanted to be an artist. As I grew older I never shifted my mind toward a more obtainable career. I was still dead set on becoming an artist. As a kid growing up in central California, I developed a great appreciation for the gorgeous national parks California had to offer and began painting landscapes and wildlife art based on areas of the Sierra Nevadas. 
In 2016 I relocated to South Dakota. Where life is just a little bit different that I was used to. There is more wide open spaces and a lot less people. I moved here already having a love for wildlife and the outdoors but little did I know I was moving right into the region known as "The Duck Factory". I worked hard to gain experience as an artist by participating in art fairs during the summer, exhibiting in a local art gallery, and began doing commissioned pet portraits. Over time pet portraits became a constant flow, which I am very grateful for. Now, I work as a contracted artist painting pet portraits for a large corporation.
In 2020 I was doing research on wildlife art competitions to gain more experience as a wildlife artist when I stumbled across the Federal Duck Stamp competition. I showed it to my husband and for the next couple years we would follow the contest before I finally started entering it myself. It started with watching the live stream, then watching the documentary, then reading the book. I became obsessed with the duck stamp program. I am lucky enough to live so close to the wetlands this project aims to protect. Lately my husband and I have been working hard on teaching ourselves photography. We've spent a lot of time out searching for ducks this year. I've even gotten to paint using my own references this year for some state stamp competitions, which is just the coolest feeling having actually seen that animal up close in person. 
I am so fortunate to be able to do what I love for a living. Thank you so much for being here and supporting my art! 
-Amanda