*Outside of the UVU Museum of Art with my husband*

I had the opportunity to participate in an exhibition at the UVU Museum of Art with a painting I created in 2022 titled, Winterized. The exhibition was called Healing Waters: Restoring Our Relationship with Utah Lake, and as you can guess the central theme is about improving the reputation of the Utah Lake. If you are familiar with the area you have probably heard of how dirty/polluted/unsafe Utah Lake is thought to be. The reality of it however, is that the state has done a lot of work to clean the lake of pollutants and clear out the invasive species to make room for the native populations to thrive. The UVU Museum of Art decided to theme an art show around healing the pubic perception of the lake.

I started this painting in September of 2022. I was in the middle of painting everyday for the Strada Challenge, a paint from life everyday challenge that occurs in September and January every year. I’d always wanted to paint at the boat harbor at Utah Lake State Park because open sky and distant mountains, as well as sailboats have always been inspiring to me. The day I headed out there to paint, it was cloudy and threatened rain, but the shadows the clouds made on Lake Mountain were beautiful.

I especially loved the dark reflections on the water, as you can see of this duck that was swimming around the boats. The overcast sky did interesting things with the colors of the water and the shadows present on the water. This painting took two sessions. One to paint the sky and mountain in the background, and the second to put work in on the boats. I had to continue working on the details in the studio even later. This painting was a labor of love.

*The end of the first day of work on this painting. I had a lot of fun with the clouds, their twisting, layered shapes were a challenge to try and capture.*

I unfortunately don’t have any more photos of the process after this point! But I went back to the spot once more to block in the boats and water. After that point I brought the painting home intending to finish it soon, but in typical Amber fashion it sat in my stack of unfinished paintings for a year. I eventually got to it and was able to finish the final details, get it framed, and ready to display.

When I heard about the Healing Waters show, I thought this painting would be perfect. I loved the contrast of the man made with the open waters and natural landscape, how man and nature can coexist and even thrive together. This was one of many themes explored in the exhibition. Celebrating and changing our perceptions of the lake as a natural habitat for many species of fish and birds, a safe and fun place for human recreation, a beautiful landscape to enjoy, and a essential part of life in Utah county.

The exhibition is up until the end of September, 2025. There are many more beautiful pieces to enjoy, mine is a very small part of the entire show itself. It’s very beautifully curated and worth checking out if you’re in the area.

Art Events: Healing Waters

Painting Process: First Plein Air of 2025