Checking The Fields With Dad Print

Amy Deal (b. 1966 Cranberry Prairie, OH) was born to a German potato farmer and a homemaker. Neither were encouraged to seek post high school educations. Especially women, they were to be married. Amy spent much of her youth leaving the house on her bike. The day would be spent with trips to the pond at the nearby gun club where she would look for unbroken clay pigeons to hold her many gourmet mud pies. She collected wildflowers to grind into pigments for paintings. Amy painted many of her famous mud pies as well as many sidewalks, trees, and clubhouses. She was always walking through the woods or fields to find materials to make art. In a community where females were expected to get married and raise a family, Amy’s parents made it clear that they would do whatever they could to afford her the opportunity of a college education. Amy knew she wanted to pursue a career in the arts, but knew she needed a career that would be fiscally responsible. Amy received a BFA in Visual Communications from Kent State University, and while working began her MBA studies at Wright State University until she and her husband, Kevin, were happily interrupted by parenthood. With an early career as a creative director working with public relation firms on annual reports, as well as, with advertising & design firms establishing corporate identities to advertising campaigns she always thought she would continue working. But after the first baby she found it impossible to leave her to the care of anyone, but herself. She did freelance design work during nap times, as well as returned to her first love of painting. After the children were grown, Amy dedicated every spare moment to painting and has since received various awards. Her paintings are in public and private collections across the United States. Amy’s current series of paintings reflect her desire to be around nature, dirt, plants, and growth. She and her husband sold the home they raised their children in and renovated a commercial building into a home/studio/shop in downtown Dayton, OH. They always wanted to have a place where she could paint and her engineer husband could have a shop all while being near the action of a vibrant city. Painting has given her the gift of contentment.