Amber Scarlett featured for June as artist of the month at library

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Amber Scarlett, a local art instructor with the Wheatland Society of Arts, is the Strathmore Municipal Library’s featured artist of the month. 

Her gallery features pieces in multiple mediums, such as acrylic and charcoal, largely depicting landscapes and summer scenes for the season. 

“I haven’t gone to any formal art schooling other than the classes I took in high school, but I have been doing art for my whole life, as long as I can remember,” said Scarlett. “I had lots of large pieces kind of just sitting around and I thought it was a good time to show them off, and especially because they are summer related.”

Scarlett largely focusses on creating landscapes and natural imagery in her art, as she explained she enjoys taking a more realistic approach to her work.

“I like to look off pictures and draw or create something based off a photo. It takes a lot of practice, but I would say I have gotten a little bit better with managing the realism side of things,” she said. “Looking around, if I see a flower, I like to take a picture of the flower because I will want to paint it later on.”

Working at the Wheatland Society of Arts, Scarlett added she is also regularly motivated to create by the artists around her. 

Similarly, she described being introduced to creating art as a young child by her mother, who would show her how to draw little things and had expressed a desire for her to learn and be motivated. 

“I really enjoy all mediums and learning new ones, but I would say acrylic is my favourite. I haven’t tried oil, but I am sure I would enjoy that a bit more,” she said. “It has been a dream of mine to become a fulltime artist where all I do is enjoy painting and doing art all day long, and just to show people that they can become better and learn more about it, as well as trying to just have people imagine that they’re in that spot my art is depicting.”

The gallery currently on display at the Strathmore Municipal Library is Scarlett’s first showcase that is exclusively hers, though she has also previously had some of her work on display for public viewing at The Vault Cultural Collective.

Similarly, she has showcased her work alongside fellow local artists around town, and as a vendor through small artisan markets. 

Scarlett is open to taking commissions for work via email (ascarlettart20@gmail.com).

Her gallery will be on display at the library until the conclusion of June.