We’re looking forward to introducing you to Amanda Cox. Check out our conversation below.
Good morning Amanda, it’s such a great way to kick off the day – I think our readers will love hearing your stories, experiences and about how you think about life and work. Let’s jump right in? What are you most proud of building — that nobody sees?
I am currently building a family right now! 🙂 I haven’t shared much about it publicly, but I had our first son 3 months ago and am currently raising this little guy up right now which feels like a full-time job to the max!
Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I received my bachelor’s degree from CSUCI in Fine Arts with an emphasis in painting and drawing. My grandfather was a working artist and the one that inspired me to pursue art, although the rest of my family is mostly policemen, firemen, contractors, painters, and teachers. After bouncing around from various jobs like Trader Joe’s working as a sign artist, I settled into working at Patagonia in Ventura as a visual merchandiser with no plans of that changing anytime soon. But like a lot of folks, Covid brought some unexpected changes, and I switched career directions and worked as a farmer at McGrath Family Farms for the last few years until recently when I decided to commit fully to my art business. Since 2017, I’ve had a small art business that I’ve been running on the side – working late at night after work and on the weekends. It was a practice to get back into creating after graduating from college, and I started just making stuff and putting it out there for fun. The greeting cards, prints and paintings I made were inspired by the simple life growing up in a beautiful country setting like Santa Rosa Valley, living in Ventura county and our travels around the west. The first market that I signed up to sell my work at was cancelled because it was the day that the Thomas Fire started in Santa Paula/Ventura. I had all this work that I had made and needed to sell, so I found another market happening in Ventura shortly after and amidst the falling ash of the fires, connected with my community in a beautiful way that I never had before by sharing my work. That started the snowball of me over the years, doing more shows and markets and making more work. Today I create and sell greeting cards, art prints and original oil landscape paintings and my work is sold online on my website, Etsy and wholesale in shops around Ventura county, California and the U.S.
Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. Who saw you clearly before you could see yourself?
My papa who was an artist showed me love and excitement in my work from an early age. Then a kind art teacher in highschool, when I was really struggling academically and trying to find myself, encouraged me in my talent and called out perhaps what was a calling on my life to use those skills.
If you could say one kind thing to your younger self, what would it be?
Don’t be ashamed of who you are or your likes and dislikes and what makes you different from others. I’ve always been a creative person and often us creatives feel different inside, and I sure did. I wish I could say to my younger self to just be myself and not be afraid of being different and just have fun owning it.
Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. What truths are so foundational in your life that you rarely articulate them?
I have a foundational belief in Jesus Christ that I’ve carried with me most of my life. It forms my values, work ethic, how I treat others and work and approach the world, and because of some of the fair criticism that Christians get for being hypocritical, I rarely articulate it and strive to let my actions speak louder than my words.
Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace with my husband at our property enjoying the quietness of the wild nature surrounding us.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: @littlesaltwagon
Image Credits
Albany Katz
