Amanda first studied art at school and during that time once had the good fortune to have afternoon tea with artist Sydney Nolan who made a lasting impression on her.
In her twenties she studied first at the Julian Ashton School of Art in Sydney and then as a private student with one of the teachers she had met there. Nigel Thomson had won both the Archibald and Sulman prizes and was an outstanding mentor to young artists. Under him she continued to study oil painting for several years. He led the Manly Art Group and she exhibited her work with them.
She then stopped oil painting to focus on a career in television along with some years teaching and to raise a family. Even then, her interest in art and writing never waned taking time to produce an art documentary for SBS ("Shimmer in the City") and doing profiles on several Australian artists including Judy Cassab, Bronwyn Bancroft, Lin Onus and Jan Senbergs.
Amanda continues to write (online with Substack) and after a 2019 workshop in Venice with Nicola Tenderini, has adopted watercolour as her preferred medium. It’s probably the only medium where the artist has to work so closely with the properties of water, allowing it to influence their work. She has done workshops with Jane Blundell and Marion Chapman and several overseas artists. Her work is mostly inspired by the natural world, working through the wonder of water and pigments, to interpret its divine nature.