Amber Wenger

Your journey into art began after a life-changing accident in 2020. How did that experience influence your creative awakening?

I had just gone from working full time, to being on my couch. I was depressed and so very BORED! To pass the time I began watching art tutorials on youtube. One day after watching impasto painting tutorials, I felt inspired and thought “Wow, I would love to try that!!!”

As I began playing with textured paint I noticed how delightful the creative process was for me. After watching a few tutorials I was flooded with ideas of my own and they simply wouldn’t stop pouring in. It felt like I had just opened a portal to the plane where ideas are born. To this day I am constantly filled with more creative ideas than I could possibly bring to life.

Many of your works are incredibly tactile and vibrant. What drew you to the technique of 3D textured painting?

My type of painting is new, exciting, and I am creating my own process as I go along. I am completely obsessed with creating art that interacts with people’s emotions. I find that my work often stimulates a sense of wonder and astonishment in viewers. I really love that I get to create something that people have never seen before.

My art is an attempt to capture my essence and inspire playfulness, warmth, and freedom. I adore novelty and boldness and I find this technique expresses my personality beautifully.

Amber Wenger | Amber

How did your upbringing in a conservative Mennonite home shape your perception of creativity and beauty?

I was always taught that hard work is the only valuable thing a person can offer. I lived a life of endless chores, cooking large meals, cleaning, and mountains of laundry. I was taught that pleasure (especially the pleasure of women), was sinful. Creativity centered on beauty was actively suppressed. Women were not allowed to wear any makeup, paint their nails, or cut their hair. Beauty was supposed to come from inside according to the cult leaders and that meant being obedient, prayerful, and of course submissive.

Luckily for me, I have been rebellious since a young age and made life quite difficult for my parents ever since I asked them to explain why it was important that we did things a certain way. I was often told, “this is the way we’ve always done it and that’s how we will continue to do it”. I have been questioning belief systems, (especially religious ones) ever since.

You mention using cake decorating tools in your artwork. Could you tell us more about how that technique came about?

I have always adored flowers and when I first saw a video where an artist used a piping tip to apply paint to the canvas I was hooked. Justin Gaffrey, the creator of the 3D paint I so adore, was sharing some of his techniques on youtube and I was completely in awe. I knew I wanted to make opulent paintings that literally leap beyond the canvas. I have the desire to create works of art that feel untamed and a little bit wild.

Using piping tips makes me feel expansive and lighthearted in a way I haven’t felt in anything else. Making sculptural paintings has changed my life in ways I can’t even put into words. I hope my art is able to communicate the concepts my mind cannot fully express at this time.

Amber Wenger | Dream

What role does beauty play in your life today, and how has your relationship with it evolved?

I have lived most of my life inside a cult that insists beauty is on the inside and demands obedient followers. I was never invited to look inward or have a perspective of my own. Eventually there was a breaking point and my father demanded that I join the cult or be shunned. I chose the path of freedom and began to investigate what mattered to me. After many years of moving inward and processing everything I find, I have developed a perspective that belongs to me and me alone. My opinions now reflect myself and my lived experiences and that is my greatest accomplishment.

I have chosen to become the opposite of what that cult taught me, by placing great value on my experience of pleasure. In a world that values productivity and laborious techniques I am choosing to go against the grain and create from pleasure and play. In each piece I imbue my essence, my empowerment, and my bravery so that everyone standing in front of my art can tap into that frequency and find more wholeness within themselves.

Moving from the U.S. to Italy and now Japan—how have these cultural changes influenced your artistic process?

I am loving these questions! Thank you!

When I first moved to Italy I still had that strong need to be productive, I was haunted by the feeling of never doing enough. This was one of those traumatic gifts from my upbringing and it ran deep. While living by the Mediterranean I became hyper aware of the traits people living there possessed. They were so happy to make time to relax, drink delicious wines, take slow sumptuous dinners, and of course relax by the water. I absorbed a lot of these traits and while I’m still ambitious, I have been able to deepen my ability to relax and take in life and that means so very much to me! Now I am able to pour more pleasure into my work than ever before. My art has become more potent as a result of my time in Italy.

In Japan I have been met with this desire to ask for more bold expression of myself. That seems easy breezy lemon squeezy, until you’re a fat foreigner who loves wearing bright pink in a country that is filled with people who don’t express their true selves! Since I am no stranger to being ostracized, the stares and attention don’t distress me very much however it still takes a choice of bravery to attract so much attention. What I think is so valuable in this case is; I am reminded that in some ways I was still holding my breath waiting for some invisible force to validate my ideas and give me permission to express myself. Boldness is expressing yourself even when you don’t know how you will be received and that is scary but powerful. Since living in Tokyo I have found more vulnerability and this has changed how I share my artwork with the world. Now I feel more comfortable sharing my authenticity without the promise of acceptance.

Amber Wenger | Floral Whimsy

Your brand “Lemon and Sunshine” evokes brightness and joy. How does the name reflect your artistic philosophy?

The color yellow, lemons, and the sun, bring feelings of great joy in me. My work feels energetic and playful in a way that the sun and lemons do. I have been in sadness and despair and I realize that many people in the world know darkness as well. I want to leave the world a brighter, warmer place.

It is my desire that the work that has brought me healing will bring healing to those who seek comfort. While my work can be enjoyed by all, I create for women and children who are dreaming of a better future. Choosing to be an artist has been such a profound spiritual experience for me, so another way I share my perspective is on youtube where I teach people how to create art and encourage women to be empowered, opinionated and free!