About

My name is Amy Lou Fancher(I was formerly known as Amy Rohde) and I am a free lance artist living in Central New York with my husband, Mark and our dog, Sugar.  Since 1993 I have been known primarily as a mosaic artist.  Prior to that I made playful and offbeat jewelry from oven bake clay and glass beads and sold it at street fairs and flea markets in NYC. My jewelry was featured in a five page spread for Cosmopolitan Magazine in June 1993.

When I first started making mosaics I worked mostly with recycled china, found objects and ceramic tile and sold my work at Art and Craft shows and through various galleries and retailers around the U.S.

In 2003 I started moving away from using china as the main material and began incorporating more colored and mirrored stained glass into my work. In 2007 I began experimenting with ways to give my mosaic work more dimension by carving and sculpting styrofoam and foam insulation.

Along the way I have had the pleasure to work with some very talented designers, architects, and business owners doing a wide range of commercial mosaic installations, many of which you will find on this site.  I have also had the honor of teaching mosaics to children mostly through Arts in Education programs.  Those five years or so of teaching proved to be extremely rewarding, inspiring and challenging!  Although I no longer teach mosaics, I feel enriched for having had the experience.

After much soul searching and yearning to do something else, in 2006 I started exploring other mediums such as acrylic painting and screen printing.  The painting I’ve enjoyed purely on a personal level, but the screen printing won my attention and was the thrust of the business I developed called Viva Sweet Love.  In my collection you’ll find quirky and beautiful original designs screen printed onto soft cotton tees for women and men,  canvas messenger bags, tea towels, cotton onesies for infants, pillow case sets, and more!  Please visit my Etsy shop to witness the magic your self;)  http://www.etsy.com/shop/vivasweetlove

Now, let me tell you about some of the things that inspire and move me.  I LOVE color and how particular combinations of colors together can make my heart skip.  I LOVE whimsy(though I’d like to invent a new word for it).   I LOVE shiny, sparkly things, and yes- that includes glitter.  I LOVE to laugh.  I LOVE the natural world- forests, mountains, water in all it’s forms, flowers, leaves, mushrooms, moss, all types of vegetation, and trees… oh how I love trees!    My family, my friends and our dogs are a constant source of inspiration, comfort and joy- I’d be lost without them.  This list could go on and on, so I’ll end it here by saying how much I’m inspired by peeking into the worlds of other artists and creative types through their websites,  blogs and podcasts.

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit this site.  Your comments and questions are always welcome and appreciated, please email me at fancher.amy@gmail.com or use the contact form below.