BEHIND THE Art

HELLO, I’M Amy Mayne, wife, mom, painter, Pet lover, and self-taught home designer.

I’ve loved animals for as long as I can remember — perhaps it began before I was even born, resting beneath the steady heartbeat of my mom’s cuddlesome mini poodle, Muffy. My parents’ love for animals ran deep, and that affection seems to have been passed right down to me. From the start, animals had the uncanny ability to make my heart melt.

In fifth grade, I won my first art award — a blue ribbon at the county fair for an oil pastel portrait of my dog, Mitzi. I went on to earn more ribbons at local art shows through high school and decided to pursue art more seriously, earning my Bachelor of Fine Arts from Houghton University in 1997. I loved (almost) every class and the window-clad studio filled with sunlight and surrounded by trees.

During my junior year, I passed up a three-week art trip to Italy to marry Dan, my high school and college sweetheart. We graduated a year later, and I taught art at a private Christian school for three years before coming home to raise our growing family.

While I enjoyed teaching, I loved being a mom. I loved being home. Our houses became my canvas — spaces to design, decorate, and shape into reflections of our life together. When our children arrived, we wanted them to have that same freedom to explore and create, so we homeschooled all eight of them. Five have since graduated, and through those busy years, the creative spark in me never truly went out — it just waited.

For a time, my art felt distant, like the sun on the other side of the world. But the sun always returns — and so did my creativity.

A few years ago, our family began NY Dandy Doodles, raising top-notch Goldendoodles with love, early training, and plenty of hands-on care. We took countless photos of puppies so folks could have weekly updates and watch each puppy grow, which is where I learned the information I share in my ebook, Picture Perfect Pets. During that time, I honed skills in web design, marketing, and serving our puppies’ families. Those puppies brought endless joy and warmth into our home — yet, even as my heart overflowed with that work, I still felt a pull toward painting.

Then, light began to break through. I realized the perfect intersection of my passions: pets, painting, people, and creating beauty in everyday life.

Now, I paint with gratitude and wonder — embracing the world God made and capturing the quiet, radiant moments that so often go unnoticed. My art reflects the things that move me most: the loyalty in a dog’s gaze, sunlight on fur, the stillness of nature, the love that fills a home. These are the images that make us pause and behold, marvel and remember, and offer thanks for the lives we’ve been given.