Amy Hautman Bates biography NC

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Amy Hautman was born in 1957 in Berkeley, California and grew up in Minnesota. She developed her love of art at a very early age. Her mother, an artist, provided a fertile atmosphere of creativity for Amy and her six siblings. Although the family lived simply, there was always a bounty of art supplies around and dozens of little hands that couldn't resist them. Four of the Hautman siblings have become recognized artists.

Hautman earned her degree from the University of Minnesota where she studied Studio Arts, and Art History. She spent time teaching art while she pursued her interest in abstract painting. These early works are primarily large, bold stroked acrylics on canvas.

In 1980 she began working in the watercolor medium, preferring the spontaneity and immediate results of watercolor. These explorations in line, form and color captured the beauty of the unexpected and offered a new way of rendering visual elements. The brilliantly colored abstracts soon became much larger and took on interesting landscape qualities.

Eventually, Hautman brought the rich colors and textures from previous work and translated them into recognizable subjects. The forms, often taken from actual flora, were enlarged and exaggerated coming alive with movement and color. Organic forms from nature have always been the basic inspiration for Hautman’s later work, but at times she has incorporated doorways or other architectural elements introducing hard lines to the compositions.

Fine technical mastery is evident in every brushstroke of Hautman’s paintings. With large scale depictions of flowers, enticing doorways and dramatic landscapes, she embraces the refreshing, fluid characteristics of watercolor. Her spontaneous style offers a fresh interpretation of familiar subjects.

From 1983 to 1995 Hautman owned and operated a Bloomington, Minnesota art gallery where she represented numerous contemporary artists and watched the popularity of her own work flourish. Her paintings are now included in hundreds of public and private collections worldwide.

Hautman lives with her husband, musician, Rog Bates, and their two children in North Carolina where she combines her talent for painting with her love of gardening, always ready to capture the latest blossom.

"Of all the ways we express ourselves, painting is the language I know best."

Want to know more about the Hautman family?

TV Interview with mom and Joe

The Hautman Brothers are known as America's foremost family of wildlife artists. All three brothers have received numerous honors and awards, and have had their art featured on over 41 state and federal conservation stamps. Jim, Bob and Joe are the only brothers ever to win the prestigious Federal Duck Stamp Contest. The talents of the Hautman Brothers as well as their unique family gift were mentioned in the motion picture "FARGO." They have received national accolades on television and National Public Radio, and from numerous newspapers.The Hautmans' creations have been displayed in the OVAL OFFICE and the SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTES in Washington D.C.

Another of Amy's brothers, Pete, is the author of many well received young adult novels, one of which, "Godless", won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. Our current favorite of Pete's books is "Rash" which, through the eyes of a teenager, explores a future where our society, becomes imprisoned by it's own hyper security.