Amanda Bucknill is inspired by images of the personification of luck and chance from antiquity until the present day. Having studied anthropology, Amanda returned to Amersham Art College to study a foundation course and then printmaking and sculpture.

Amanda has loved art since childhood and in recent years she has been able to devote more time to painting. She is motivated more by the heart than the head, finding that it’s interesting to work on different subjects including landscapes, people and pets, always using a medium which suits the subject and her emotional response to it. Amanda works in oils, watercolour, charcoal, graphite and mixed media. Amanda is happy to receive commissions.

As I’ve recently semi retired from my soft furnishings business, I’m increasing the time I get to do my art, which is very exciting for me. I did my Fine Art degree at Maidstone a good few decades ago and am enjoying getting creative in this way again.
I currently really fond of working in soft pastel, acrylic and oils and prefer to do larger works - mainly figurative still life using items around my home, local landscape or the people around me.

My primary skill is as a photographer, but as I near retirement I've recently become more interested in different kinds of painting and am still finding my way and trying to improve

I have been working in batik for nearly 40 years. Batik is a resist technique of painting. I paint a pattern of hot wax onto my paper or fabric using a special spouted tool, and then paint dye over the surface. The design can be pure pattern, or it can be a complete painting built up from 10 or so layers of wax and dyes.
Much of my inspiration comes from beautifully dilapidated buildings like those I search out on my travels, in India in particular, and structures like seaside piers which I find closer to home. The exciting thing about batik for me is that I never have complete control because more often than not the technique takes over and gives my painting that certain something I can’t achieve with paint. It may be the unpredictable spidery lines of the crackling, or the fact that the wax and dye on paper give you a sort of abstract effect – which is perfect for me because I don’t like perfect! I was for many years one of the tutors at the well-known Art in Action, and I still exhibit widely.