About Amy

Amy has over 30 years experience of teaching art. She has headed up Art departments in, Port Elizabeth, East London, Johannesburg, New Zealand and Knysna. She also spent a few years teaching in Hong Kong. Whilst in New Zealand two of her pupils got 100% for their external practical examinations, As Head of Art oF Art, Music and Drama for 18 years in Knysna her pupils averaged over 80% every year with her pupils all gaining A's consistently year after year. She instituted yearly exhibitions in which students took over empty buildings; each having a shop sized exhibition space. Wonderful happenings occurred at these, students danced their drawings doing ballet after dipping their feet in paint, paintings were laminated and displayed in swimming pools- as the artists engaged with their own messages, they were inspired to delve deep and their own styles developed. This ranged from intense, delicate hyper realism to massive, impasto abstract works. Students merged with their paintings having done exquisite body painting on themselves, students created happenings where combined music and art, drumming with paint on thier drums. A student who was traumatised by modern day slavery did wonderful large ink drawings and did an installation of people chained up in a container. Underpinning all this creativity was the encouragement to test the boundaries, look at the greats, avoid  worn out images or if you were attracted to them take them to the nth degree. Complete honesty ,and soul searching and wonder were encountered, wounds were healed powerful life changing explorations were made as the students were empowered to find an artistic voice. As as much as Art can make you feel one with creation -it involves courage and that was Amy's role: to hold their hands on the journey.