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Skokie artist paints colorful cases
Artist Amy Greenwood paints iPad cases. | Myrna Petlicki~for Sun-Times Media
Updated: March 15, 2013 1:00PM
SKOKIE — Artist Amy Greenwood surrounds herself with beauty. Her canvases are as diverse as her mailbox, walls and wood furniture. Her grown children joke that if Greenwood and her husband stay in their house long enough, everything will be painted.
But Greenwood doesn’t confine her artistic expression to her own home and possessions. She is an in-demand artist whose latest project, painting iPad cases, is quickly gaining a following.
Q: What inspired you to start painting iPad cases?
A: I couldn’t find mine. It’s a black case. You put it down on the seat of the car, you put it down in a waiting room. There were a lot of places I was putting it and I didn’t see it and I was leaving it. I had to do something to mark it so that I could find it.
Q: What did you paint on that first case?
A: I started out with white because I wanted to be sure that I could see it. I did flowers and leaves, things that are light and cheerful. Then I added color — pink and yellow and purple. Every time I pick it up, I feel good because it’s fun.
Q: What else can you paint on iPad cases?
A: I can do anything anybody is interested in — golf, landscapes, cars, puppies. It’s limitless. I’m doing one for a pediatrician. He’s retired now but I thought I might do four or five different “doctor tools” — a stethoscope, a tongue depressor.
Q: What medium do you use?
A: I use acrylics and I use a medium with it, so it’s indestructible. You can wash it. It won’t chip off.
Q: Do you hand-paint anything else for clients?
A: I paint everything else. I love to paint furniture, one-of-a-kind conversation pieces — tables, chairs. I do children’s furniture, lots of tables and chairs and rocking chairs and toy chests. I’ve also done murals in people’s homes. The kids will tell me what they’re interested in. One little girl wanted a tree with squirrels and bunnies and flowers and a cat. A little boy wanted Batman and Robin. Somebody else wanted the Muppets. I go with what people want. I just did a rocking chair where the people wanted sailboats on Lake Michigan.
Q: What type of art training have you had?
A: I started out at the University of Michigan in their School of Art and Architecture. Then I graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. I went to graduate school at the Institute of Design at IIT.
Q: Have you done anything else creatively in addition to visual arts?
A: I’ve always been an actress. I love to do community theater. I did professional theater as a child. I was on the radio and actually belong to the union. I was Paulette, Ma Perkins’ granddaughter on the “Ma Perkins” radio show. It was a wonderful experience.
Q: How can people reach you if they want to have an iPad case, furniture or mural painted?
A: My e-mail address is amyglenngreenwood@sbcglobal.net or they can call (847) 674-5017.
