Amy Brown is one of todays' best-known fantasy artists, painting faeries and other creatures in her unique style that so many people find enchanting. Delicate, dark, whimsical and mischevious, her faeries are drawn in many forms.

"Often there are days when I really don't want to paint, I HAVE to paint. The urge to create is almost a wild, living entity trapped inside me, clawing to escape."

Born in 1972 in Bellingham, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest of America, Amy Brown has been drawing since an early age, but didn't become serious about her art until her early twenties, when she began to dabble with watercolours. Amy painted her first faery as a showpiece at the custom framing company for whom she worked. The painting sold very quickly, and this early encouragement led her to explore the faery realm further.

Inspired by artists such as Brian Froud and Michael Parkes, Amy is self-taught and derives immense enjoyment from her work, always painting for herself and not for commission. Despite being told that "watercolour artists never become successful", she paints mainly in watercolour, plus a little pencil and ink.

"Sometimes I get frustrated because I have so many ideas fighting to come out. Every painting has so many possibilities."

Rarely spending more than three days on a piece, she rarely draws preliminary sketches, preferring to draw the image straight onto paper, correcting as necessary, and then beginning to paint. First to appear are the backgrounds, then secondary characters such as goblins, pixies and animals. The central character appears last, the skin tones appearing first, followed by clothing, wings and hair. Most of her paintings are smaller than 11 x 7 inches.

Amy's website can be found at www.amybrownart.com