Our team was ecstatic when Amanda Jones said yes to being Folk’s inaugural artist partner.
Our founder Sean and his wife Dani (Folk’s Content Director) were already big fans. They own two of her prints, one of which happens to be the featured artwork for Volume 00. But more importantly, Amanda’s work resonates with Folk’s ethos in a deep and intuitive way.
Her paintings often merge poetry and color in ways that feel both intimate and expansive. A single phrase, handwritten across a field of pigment, can stop you in your tracks. In that moment of stillness, her work seems to echo what Folk hopes to remind people of: that it’s worth slowing down to sit with words, to see how meaning shifts when we give it space.
Her artistic life reflects that same spirit. After leaving a fashion job that no longer fit, she moved to Europe and took on any creative work she could find — filmmaking, writing, painting — until she discovered her own rhythm in what she calls a “mosaic creative career.”
We asked Amanda a few questions about her process and perspective. Her responses mirror the quiet focus of her paintings: brief, thoughtful, and surprisingly revealing.
What first drew you to the kind of work you make now?
I was throwing a birthday party for my book Diary of a Freelancer and I decided to paint some of the prose to cover the walls. It was a bit of a surprise when they came out in bright, bold colours, but I was absolutely hooked.
What do you hope people feel when they encounter your work?
When something lights up inside someone, that fascinates me. That’s my indication of what is important work to pursue. I share an unedited dispatch from my process and I pay attention to what connects with people, it’s not always the things I was expecting. I like to pull on those threads.
What role does patience play in your process?
I guess patience is in the days that aren’t exciting beginnings or the satisfying ends. The ones in between are where patience lives.
How do you know when a piece is finished?
I get an internal ‘you should stop now’ signal.
How do you stay connected to your curiosity?
Sometimes, even in art, it can feel more noble to stay within the lines, even imaginary lines I made myself. It’s a very freeing moment when I remember I can follow the things that inspire me. That’s the job even.
A few sips
(Our not-so-lightning round — just a few small questions to savor.)
What does a really good morning look like for you?
Every morning Kristian (my husband) makes a pour over, adds frothed cream to mine, and brings it to me in bed. I like to wake slowly. A really good morning involves getting to canvas very early and painting as the sun rises.
What’s something that never fails to bring you joy? (Big or small, serious or silly.)
The ocean.
What songs or artists would be on the soundtrack to your life — right now, or all-time?
Mansionair’s new album is on high rotation currently.
