Amanda is the artist and owner of Burns-Elhassouni Studio specializing in commissioned fine art portraits of people, houses, special places, and pets. Working in a myriad of materials such as drawing, painting, and mixed media she creates original yet customized artwork for her clients. She is the creator of the MapSO Holiday Collection ornament, a reproduction of her original paintings of iconic landmarks from where she lives in Maplewood and South Orange, NJ that sold locally in stores.
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Her own artistic voice spans from mixed media character exploration of an alter ego, Ruby that she hopes to expand into a graphic novel; to painting from photos taken while traveling her husband's homeland of Morocco; to moments that capture the essence of her life, many times her son as her muse. They are representations that are meant to make you feel a connection to all the beauty and contradictions we see in day-to-day life.
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Married with one son, she resides in South Orange, NJ since 2012. Part of her upbringing was in the midwest, the Quad Cities in Illinois until she was 11yrs old her family moved to Maryland. After graduating high school, she attended Corcoran College of Art and Design in Washington, DC getting her BFA in Fine Art. A few years after graduation Amanda moved out west for graduate school at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, CA to study Illustration receiving her MFA. Upon completion, she felt drawn to live in NYC and moved there to eventually meet her husband, have her son, and move to the beautiful suburbs of NJ.
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Along with running her own studio business, Amanda also teaches art to all ages of students, children, teens, and adults at One River School of Art in Montclair and private teen lessons and small group adult lessons on Tuesdays and Thursdays at Renaissance Art Studio in Millburn.
Hello
This is me, Amanda
My favorite things are simple - homebody vibes with my husband, son, and two cats, Kiwi and Luna. I adore getting together with good friends, teaching, creating, reading, and listening to all sorts of podcasts while working in my studio. My favorites are true crime, spooky paranormal things, the unexplainable, and downright conspiratorial. However, I'm moody and sometimes need a good laugh or an epic tale, good conversations or interviews, and different perspectives on art, life, and politics. I might be a little ADD, but who isn't these days? You can tell I spend a lot of time in my studio listening away to the good, bad, and funny to keep me conversational in life.
Give me a glass of wine and a girlfriend to talk to, or a good streaming series with my hubs or kitties laying with me while I read, love love. My son and I can bond over anime, however, he's a teenager and I get less and less time with the kid, as he finds most of his time with friends. Alas, I still make him give me hugs and exchange funny interesting stories from our day. My family is extremely important to me, immediate and extended. I am grateful for all the wonderful and complicated things in my life and for deep loving connections with my peeps near and far. For that, I say, Alhamdulillah!
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