Portland Streetcar's Art on Board program has installed yet another exhibit, this time adorning a vehicle with work from El Salvador-born Portland artist Amaranta Colindres.
Amaranta Colindres is a fine artist, muralist and art teacher based in Portland, Oregon. Born in El Salvador, she was raised and spent the majority of her life in the San Francisco Bay Area and lived a short time in Brooklyn, NY. Amaranta studied Liberal Arts at Diablo Valley College, Graphic Design at CSU East Bay and Fine Art/Illustration at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Her work is heavily influenced by her affinity for the intersection of the spiritual and natural world, which she explores with a passion in her personal life.
Amaranta is excited to share her love of vibrant color, geometry and animals for the community to enjoy with her public works of art. Her intention is for the viewer to connect to the being depicted in her paintings, to have a personal message or reminder delivered for each individual observing the art.
Amaranta saw the process of oil painting happening in her home from a young age, as her father Raul Colindres, Sr. would paint landscapes as a hobby. Placed in art class by her mother at the age of four, she continued to seek diverse types of artistic training during her youth into adulthood including the mediums of pastel, watercolor, acrylic, oil wood burning and spray paint. Her creative style is influenced by graffiti style street art blended with traditional art made by her ancestors from her mixed heritage including Nahuat-Pipil Indigenous, Afro-Caribbean and Spanish/German European.
Amaranta enjoys making custom art of all sizes for others, including pet and person portraits, landscapes, murals and painted clothing and accessories. Her largest mural is 75' in length featuring the portraits of eight tigers, honoring a Bay Area family from Southeast Asia. Collectors of her paintings are found around the nation and abroad. She is proud to have her work published in Forbes Magazine, Vintage Trailer Magazine and A Taste of Oakland Magazine. She has participated in solo and group shows and has earned Best of Show in the Solano County Fair. Her work is found in the City of Portland's Art Collection. She is on the official mural artists roster for the cities of Hillsboro and Portland, Oregon.
Amaranta's body of work is diverse and unique in that she is academically trained in realistic painting and has also learned graffiti street art by collaboratively spray painting with talented artists from the Lord's Crew, Dragon School and Few and Far graffiti crews including Dest, Luke Dragon, Sam Flores and Agana. Her ability to paint ranges in many styles from realistic and traditional to contemporary.
Amaranta has a passion for teaching and provides instruction to individuals or groups of all skill levels and ages from children to adults. As an event owner of Rose City Paint Party, she guides groups at various venues around the Portland Metro area to make paintings with step by step instruction, as part of the Paint-Nite brand.
She is the Executive Director of the nonprofit Four Directions Art Project, which provides art experiences to those with socio-economic barriers. Her focus allows people who have experienced trauma to find healing through the art-making process. Aside from being a working artist, Amaranta enjoys the diverse amenities of the pacific NW with her partner, their children and husky dog, Shasta. She also enjoys participating in fashion-related events as a make-up artist and model. She looks forward to expanding her art practice to include online merchandise and book illustration.