ABOUT
Amanda is deeply connected to the ocean and has made it her life’s work to be connected to it in all of it’s forms and advocate for it’s preservation. She brings the beauty and the connection of the ocean into your home through her luxury, custom oil paintings.
Wanderlust artist, Amanda Szopinski, started exploring her painting technique when she moved into her studio in the international arts district of San Jose del Cabo, BCS, MX. Where the desert sierras drift into the sea, she found her muse in the remoteness of Baja. Charged by her new found community within the arts, active ocean lovers, and environmentalist, the love she developed for the ocean has given her purpose behind and beyond her paintings. Amanda did not know at the time that her creative resolution to limited supplies would be an introduction to what is now her preferred style for ocean paintings.
Amanda transitions from water to studio in her days, bringing her sensory exposure to her art. The rawness of the ocean is displayed in the soaked canvas, rich in colors that honor the profound effects the sea has on her. The stretched canvas remains flat on the ground for most of the creation while she gives intention to the flow, placement of color, and the layers of oil paint that are poured on. With each layer of various hues and transparency the clarity, movement and depth of the water is created. The subtle beauty of the abstract free flowing mediums create unintentional details, like a fingerprint, unique to that particular piece. Each painting is an invitation to explore the ocean’s power and simultaneously gain curiosity of the delicate and beautiful nature that exists within it.
Amanda’s creations have a way of reflecting the profound effects the ocean has on us individually, as a community, and as a global unity. Making the ocean’s necessity for habitat and all of humanity worthy of our attention.
Amanda began to paint the ocean and shorelines with more passion after moving to Baja California Sur, MX where she would run, swim and paddle with her dog, Beau.
“It was a place to feel free. My respect for the sea and the life it holds became much more raw. I wish to think my art is a way of bringing awareness of it’s beauty, its delicate nature, and how essential the ocean is to our lives.”
Experiencing these waters and its sea life gave her all the reasons to be an advocate for its existence. Learning how Cabo Pulmo is thriving because of the community and the protection they gave it, gives hope that others can join together as a community to save our endangered ocean. Through explorations with marine biologist, ocean conservationists, and her medical background, she was exposed to the consequences our plastic, oil, pollution, and inhumane ways have on the sea life and consequently our own health.
“We depend on our ocean and the ocean depends on us. I hope to inspire others to love and respect this relationship”
EXHIBITIONS
2024
The Carrizo Gallery, Todos Santos, BCS, MX
2024
GALERIA Todos Santos, BCS, MX
2023
Four Seasons Costa Palmas, BCS, MX
2023 - current
Pez Gordo, Palmilla shoppes, San Jose del Cabo, BCS, MX
2020 - current
En Blanco, San Jose Del Cabo, BCS, MX
2019 - current
Archimedes Gallery, Cannon Beach, OR
2018
AXIS Gallery, Seattle, WA
2016
O Gallery, San Jose del Cabo, MX
COLLABORATION
How Deep Is Your Love is a collaboration of various artists in Baja performing live to inspire awareness to rejuvenate the reef system. It is an opportunity for artists sharing this passion to unite and share with others their art and message.
Making Waves is a collaboration of musicians, writers, artists that create live together for a visual and auditory experience to bring awareness of impacts on the ocean and in support of The Surfrider Foundation.