AMBER YOUNG / HAMPTON, NB

Breathing In, Breathing Out: Amber Young
These new paintings by Amber Young are a study in specificity: of location, subject, and emotion. Wild parsnip and goldenrod and yarrow and pearly everlastings. The roads and ponds and patches of field that she has lived around and among all her life. Lorne’s Pond. Boland’s Pit. The Back Field. The sense of freedom, peace, and exploration that come from a deep and lifelong connection to the land. These paintings capture an organic and intensely felt integration of these many specific elements into the pure, painterly expression of being alive: of breathing in, and breathing out.  Amber completed a fine arts degree at Nova Scotia College of Art and Design in 1995, with a focus on painting. There was never a doubt about her path. After graduating, she lived and travelled throughout Asia. A highlight from this period was the years she spent studying Chinese Lotus painting in Taiwan, under the Master lotus painter, Hwang Lao Zu. After returning to Canada, she obtained her teaching degree, then moved back onto the land where she was raised, to raise a family of her own. Amber has worked for almost 15 years as art teacher at Saint John High, creating and showing new work throughout this time, often focused on ponds and reflections.  Painted in Hampton, New Brunswick, this latest series represents a natural continuation and culmination of Amber’s previous body of work. "The intention behind my work is not to create realistic representations of nature but to capture what it feels like to be part of it. When I paint, I am present, calm, connected and at peace.”