Amanda Spartz
Amanda Spartz is a Washington-based visual artist working primarily in pen and watercolor. Originally trained in three-dimensional sculpture at Coventry University in the United Kingdom, she later shifted her focus to works on paper, drawn to the intimacy and immediacy of observational drawing and painting. Her practice centers on the natural world, engaging themes of impermanence, memory, and transformation through close attention to place.
Much of Spartz’s work is informed by the landscapes and native flora of Montana and Washington State. These environments shaped her early relationship to nature and continue to guide her visual language. She is particularly interested in textures and structures found in branches, understories, and transitional spaces—areas that often go unnoticed but hold quiet complexity. These elements function as visual metaphors for reflection, change, and the passage of time.
Spartz primarily works with ink and watercolor, valuing the balance these materials create between structure and fluidity. Watercolor allows for soft layering and organic movement, while ink introduces precision through detailed mark-making. Together, the two mediums mirror natural systems, where spontaneity and order coexist. This balance is central to how she approaches both material and subject.
Her process often begins outdoors with sketchbook studies made directly in response to place. These initial drawings are loose and intuitive, capturing immediate impressions rather than finished compositions. In the studio, those studies evolve into more deliberate works shaped by memory, mood, and material exploration. While grounded in realism, her work resists strict representation, favoring atmosphere and emotional resonance over documentation.
Liminal spaces play a recurring role in Spartz’s work. Edge habitats, tangled growth, and seasonal transitions offer visible evidence of change and continuity. In this way, her practice is as much about time as it is about landscape. Each piece becomes an effort to pause motion and create space for stillness and contemplation.
Though she primarily exhibits from her home studio, Spartz views her work as an invitation to others. Her drawings and paintings encourage slower looking and renewed attention to the subtle transformations unfolding in the natural world. She hopes her work serves not only as a record of observation, but as a reminder of the fragile, fleeting moments that shape our experience of place.
