Amanda Stratford’s portfolio of work reflects her sense of humour, leading to unusual, insightful and often quirky images.
In 1991, a love of sailing inspired Amanda and a friend to set sail from Kent in a 37’ boat, making the 6000 n.mile [6900 miles] transatlantic crossing to Grenada in the West Indies. She worked in the charter industry for a year, enabling her to explore the many islands, before settling on the island of St Martin where she built up a successful design business.
The vibrancy and colour of the West Indies stayed with her after her return to England seven years later, when she began to devote more time to her painting, enjoying the freedom it allowed - so different from the constraints of the design industry. As a self-taught artist she chose acrylic as a medium and quickly moved from brushes to palette knife, laying on heavy texture to build up the image.
Gallery director, Anne Braithwaite, and Amanda have been friends for more than 30 years, so the Gallery is especially pleased to be exhibiting Amanda’s work.
