As a young girl growing up in Manhattan, Amy Shaw was exposed to all types of art on frequent family trips to museums. In addition, her great aunt was an artist who studied under abstract painter Arshile Gorky. Attending the Dalton School, Shaw was exposed to the “city as a classroom” learning model with access to figure drawing, sculpture, pottery and jewelry making.
Her passion for the arts continued after high school. Shaw earned a double major in fine arts and philosophy at Smith College in Massachusetts. She then went on to the Art Students League in NYC to further expand her fine arts study. As much as she enjoyed painting, Shaw soon realized that it was not a lucrative profession. “Art was always a passion of mine, but after college I realized that I needed to expand into commercial art and graphic design/advertising in order to make a sustainable living in NYC,” she said. Shaw decided to take classes at the School of Visual Arts and Parsons nights and weekends to build a portfolio in advertising and graphic design. This eventually helped her land a job at one of the most well-respected advertising agencies, Ogilvy & Mather.
Shaw continued to work in graphic design after moving to the suburbs to start a family. For 22 years, she was the Senior Art Director in promotion at Reader’s Digest. Raising her two young children and working full-time, Shaw did not have as much time to devote to painting as she would like but as her son and daughter grew up, Shaw soon found herself back at the canvas, primarily working on oil paintings.
“For years I painted portraits and people but as I got older, I was inspired to do landscapes and still life.” Spending more time outdoors during the pandemic, gave her time to explore nature. “I’m inspired by beauty and fun things around me,” she says as evident in her oil paintings of desserts, dresses, and east coast landscapes. Wayne Thiebaud, Richard Diebenkorn and Elaine de Kooning, all very different artists, have influenced her work.
Shaw has continuously evolved as an artist and is now painting abstract work with acrylics. “I didn’t use acrylic until five years ago. Unlike oil which takes weeks to dry, acrylic dries almost immediately and you can get more texture in your painting in less time,” she explains. She is currently taking classes at Pelham Arts Center to expand her knowledge in abstract art and the use of acrylics.
Her paintings have been shown at Mimi’s Coffee House in Mount Kisco, Black Cow Coffee House, Pleasantville, Carriage Barn, New Canaan, Pelham Art Center, Ridgefield Artists Guild, the Katonah Library and Carmel’s Arbor Gallery and the RPAC Gallery in Ridgefield which recently closed.
While working at Reader’s Digest, Shaw realized that she wanted to work with children and get back into the fine art process, so she created a program teaching children in the South Bronx on Saturdays about important artists, art history and the elements of art through a volunteer organization called the Renaissance Youth Center. Shaw taught the students about art in everyday life and how it ties into history, math, science, music and nature. Her students created mini-masterpieces while soaking up relevant historical information. Shaw said it was a rewarding experience working in an area that had very little funding for arts programs in the schools. “Our students in the towns around us are so lucky that they have exposure to amazing art programs in the schools,” she noted.
Fast forward a few years and Shaw set out to create an after-school art program that would serve Westchester and Connecticut students. In 2015, Shaw opened the Westchester Art Studio along with Connecticut-based artist Alan Reingold. Shaw met Reingold while her daughter (who is now a freelance fashion designer) and several of her friends were students at Horace Greeley High School and working on their portfolios for college. They would spend their afternoons with Reingold who is an accomplished artist having visited the White House to draw presidential portraits and illustrating several covers of TIME magazine. Reingold taught previously at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and Parsons and focused on teaching teens and adults while Shaw focused on younger students up to age 10. The duo proved a winning combination and the studio flourished. Next year will be their tenth year in business with classes held at St. John Episcopal Church in Pleasantville.
Westchester Art Studio was just selected for a show at Mt. Kisco’s Blue Heron, where students of all ages will have artwork on display mid-November through January.
Shaw continues to paint not only in her studio at home but also at the RPAC in Ridgefield. She loves living in Chappaqua where she has easy access to world class museums and galleries just a short MetroNorth ride away. When we conducted this interview, she had just seen an exhibit at the Whitney over the weekend. It is obvious that she lives and breathes art and suggests that aspiring artists keep on sharpening their skills but also be prepared to pivot to a different type of art or creative work that can help pay the bills.
For now, Shaw will continue to make art because she enjoys making people feel good. “I love being able to transport people with my art by looking at a beautiful landscape, an abstract painting, or something whimsical like a martini or a dessert,” she said. To get a sense of Shaw’s work, visit amyshawpaintings.com.
