Today we’d like to introduce you to Amber Cadmus.
Hi Amber, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
Well, I guess the journey was already underway at around 5 years old…My late grandmother Cleo, was an amazing watercolor and printmaking artist, and manyyyy hours were spent in her old barn studio. She taught me about everything; from simple charcoal sketches, to layering watercolor, to copper printing plates for etchings. The smell of EVERYTHING; paints for printmaking, hand soap in a little tub, kneaded erasers…lives in me fully. I remember going to her shows, and the gatherings afterwards were just amazing. While in middle school and junior high, homeschooling lent itself to an almost Pandoras box of possibilities for independent studies. Handwriting and calligraphy were an interest for a bit, as i appreciate the fullness of letters…
In high school, everything came to me, it seemed. Colors and values I still use, as well as my love for very small and detailed pieces rather than large paintings or sculptures. One piece in particular, during Integrated Arts class, was chosen by THE BEST art teacher EVER, Ms.Geren, to be in a month long showing at the Portland Museum of Art! She had taught us about book making and that our idea of pages, spine, cover, do not HAVE to be EXACTLY what we always see. The piece was a hand made plaster Doll, hollow inside, with a drawer for her stomach, with a tiny plastic infant inside, chained to her wrists, a light bulb for her head, and two roller wheels on her feet, and she was inside an oblong display case, Amazing story she told, and that was a very big point in my art journey, in 1996. Photography follows a close second, in my journey, studying Black and White photography in high-school as well as New York Institute of Photography when in Pennsylvania in 2002.
Fast forward a few years, a year in college, moving back and forth to and from Pennsylvania and Maine….and I’ve stayed in Easton ever since 1999, with my two children, and various lovely kitties, too.
The Easton Area Public Library has shown my photography, as well as The Quadrant, Gallery C in Easton. Since 2011 I started what is now known as Bone A Fide Arts, which encompasses ALL of my talents, with most crossing over one another. I liked how bones looked in B&W photos and Georgia O’Keefe is my most favorite artist….so bold and free, so then I started REALLY getting into creating more tangible experiences and found an absolute VIBE that settled within me like a missing puzzle piece. EVERYTHING I create now, has pieces from time itself passing, in old costume jewelry, and bones either simply left clean, or painting them,, revering the care that nature extends to it’s own, in passage. There came the decided love for insects that take care of this process, and how each facet of life and death ARE beautiful. The way that pieces come together as though planned, make me absolutely believe I was meant to be part of the current, partially shepherding death, while creation FROM it is LIFE. FINDING your groove and learning how to travel it, has been SO WILD, and truly, Memento Mori/Memento Viviere ~~ to remember that while living, you must eventually die, and to live fully, each day, as though it’s your last, There’s an era of time, Victorian age, where society had full grip on the feeling of such, and I love to use many elements that lean in that direction; colors, patterns, form.vs function, and symbology. (Thank you Carl Jung) playing always in the background. Bone A Fide Arts has a home now, after all these years of small curated shows and random event vending, right in Easton. I had passed by this shop downtown, MANY times late at night, loving the alt/gothic style of the window display and decided to reach out to the owner, Angel, to tell her that I loved her place and lets do something together! She said HECK YES, bring it all! So, in a years time, I have been in Angel’s House of Design as part of her collective, now the resident artist, which has led me to ALSO creating KILLER BOOTS, custom bloody drippy designs on boots and footwear, available in the shop as well. Where I am now, is EVERYTHING. Having TRUE community with art, women in business who APPLAUD growth, the new (to me) world of fashion, is just WONDERFUL! Angel has definitely given me a new and patiently defined perspective on business, friendship, and the turning of the wheel of life. I can only keep growing ♡
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Oh of course not! The bumps in the road are only necessary to facilitate growth and change and perspectives and perception. Struggles for me, were finding time with small children, to make art, or to allow myself time to create.
Moving, was difficult, and through time, things have either broken or let go of.
Business struggles, with local artists/venues had also made establishing one’s self quite difficult.
But, I’m BONE A FIDE…Bonafide.
So my authenticity spoke before me,…learning to rely upon your shine, is huge to conquer.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Bone A Fide Arts is a thought process….it encompasses ALL of my skills. Photography, Bone assemblage, Meticulous Design elements, Ethically sourcing bones, Color theory, Painting in various mediums, Polymer clay design, Natural paint making, Sculpture… I’m known for making a piece ONE TIME ONLY, even in Photography. I don’t believe in reproduction of art so much as I believe in creating magical content that just feels like it was meant to be that “thing” from the beginning…Earrings, Necklaces, Brooches, odd Sculpture, clothes that are parts of a few things….never 3D printed, never made for multiple people to own the same piece …..because aren’t we supposed to strive for finding ourselves?
Be yourself, everyone else is already taken ~ Oscar Wilde
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
KEEP DOING it! Know that the ebb and flow is ALWAYS there, and if you TRULY looooove what you are making and doing, THAT’S the missing link. Don’t let money drive the car; ambitions and visions and late nights with ideas that never stop, and days of constant prototypes….it’s ALL part of a growing and ever evolving YOU. There WILL BE competition, only if you CHOOSE TO BE…There will ALWAYS be room to learn and grow. Trial and error are our friends ☆
Contact Info:
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/BoneAFideArts
