(EDITOR’S NOTE: If you live in Hughesville, Montgomery, or Muncy and would like to showcase your crafts, artwork, photography, or poetry in our Tri-Town Talent feature, please send digital photos of your work to rfry@muncyluminary.com and put “Attention Jade” in the subject line. If you prefer postal mail, send photos or poems to Muncy Luminary, 1025 Rte. 405 Highway, Hughesville, PA 17737. Please don’t send original art through the mail.)

“Art is everywhere you look, depending on what you see as art. Some people think artists just draw and paint, and there’s so many other skills,” said artist Amanda Emig, of Hughesville.

Emig has been interested in art as far back as she can remember. She grew up in Montoursville in a family that was deeply interested in a wide variety of arts and creative projects. Her mother, a Hughesville native, did graphic design and taught sign painting.

Her father, a Montoursville native, also did graphic design and built industrial and architectural models. She also had an aunt who was an elementary school art teacher.

She describes herself as, “very much self-taught” and went to Kutztown University and got a bachelor’s degree in Communication Design. Emig graduated with high honors, and said that her degree program was a combination of graphic design, advertising, illustrating, and fine art. She draws every day, and commented, “Anything you do that much, you will improve.”

Known locally for her photo-realistic pet portraits, she began drawing them about ten years ago. Emig wanted to give some coworkers meaningful Christmas gifts, so she got images of their pets from the photos they kept on their desks.

From that one act of seasonal kindness, word began to spread, and she has since drawn over 2,000 pets. Each pet takes about two to four hours to draw. She works from photos that she is sent, and uses high-quality graphite pencils.

She pays very close attention to each animal’s eyes and fur. Sometimes people have mistaken her drawings for black and white photos.