Biography

Amanda McLenon is a full time fine art painter with a soft, glowing style focusing on dramatic light. Her scientific background informs her depictions of nature, but the emotional elements of her paintings bring them to life. Amanda’s career started with a chance experiment with paint while completing her Masters in Marine Biology degree in Charleston, SC. She was quickly recognized for her accurate wildlife paintings and unique style, and in 2012 she received the prestigious Lowcountry Artist of the Year award. For over 14 years, she has exhibited in dozens of juried shows across the US and is widely collected. Amanda’s work has evolved from small acrylics on glass to oil paintings of egrets and herons, bears, and other wildlife; immortalized larger than life with 23 karat gold and genuine silver leaf on panel. In 2022, she moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina, and opened the Amanda McLenon Fine Art Gallery. In late 2024, Amanda lost her beloved space, like so many other artists, due hurricane Helene’s unprecedented destruction of the River Arts District. Undaunted, she is reinventing her business once again. She is enjoying a larger private studio space and is currently devoted to the evolution of her work;  still in Asheville, NC and overlooking the river. Amanda lives in her small Weaverville "Firefly Cottage" with her partner and fellow artist Jonathan Bidwell (Graham),  Hazel the cat and Buster the dog.