How Artist Amy Harms Builds New Stories from Torn-Up Paintings

For this interview on our Women in Arts Network website, we had the joy of sitting down with Nashville-based artist Amy Harms, whose work quite literally weaves together pieces of her life. In this interview, Amy shares how her background in music shaped her creative journey and how her years working in galleries helped her build the art career she has today.

She walks us through the process behind her striking paperweaving series—how she paints, cuts, and reassembles layers of memory and rhythm into something new. We also learn what keeps her going, how she balances the chaos of family and deadlines, and why she believes meaningful art can outlast generations. This conversation offers a glimpse into the intricate world of a maker who continues to build, one painted strip at a time.

Amy is an artist based in the Nashville area, and her Paperweaving Art Series has been her professional focus since 2020. This series is a blend of her life, literally weaving together two art forms: music & art. Though she is self-taught as an artist, she also has a degree in music from Missouri State University and has taught piano privately for 25 years. Her paperweaves are inspired by musicians and have hidden bits of album covers woven inside each piece.

Her work has been featured on Nashville Public Television’s programs Arts Break (2022), the Nashville Sign Billboard, The Harding Art Show (spring 2025), on stage at the Periscope Pitch – Nashville, the ARTclectic Nashville Art Show (2022), Brentwood Lifestyle Magazine (March 2024 issue), Canvas Rebel online (2024), the Women in Arts Network Artists to Watch Book, Ed.1 (2025) a 10’ lobby feature piece in the Canopy Hotel in Nashville (2025), at BNA International Airport in Nashville Jam Session, along with in private collections of over 70 clients who commissioned their own custom paperweave artwork for their private collections.

1. How did you get started in your art career?

My artistic journey began on the music side as a child, where I studied piano and attended university on a piano scholarship. I feel it’s essential to mention my music background, as it is a significant influence on my artistic process — the way my mind and body breathe musical inspiration into the inspiration for my artwork. I taught private piano to hundreds of students throughout my life, up until my art practice took over full-time. My art career was also influenced by my 15-year experience working in the art gallery and art consulting world.

I worked closely with artists whom I had sourced for large-scale commercial projects. I am creating art installation concepts and absorbing the artists’ process that I had sourced, watching them work their magic in their studios to create these masterpieces that I helped curate. This really helped me, as my paper weaving series took off with my marketing and the creation of proposals for similar projects featuring my artwork. I’m able to see outside my artist’s box and think more broadly about what the designers and clients are looking for with their art specifications.

People should invest in artwork not just for how it looks, but because it holds a story they care about and want to pass on.

Amy Harms

2. When you’re creating something new, what makes you pause and say, this is working?

To know when my art is truly working, I must already be neck-deep in the final phase of my process. That is the difficult, or a nicer way to put it…”unique” part of the paper weaving art that I create. I paint multiple paintings first, then have to feel in my gut when one of them is working. That is the first pause. Then I map out in my head how I will weave them together after cutting these paintings into hundreds of strips and rearranging them all around. That is the second pause. I’m not going to lie… There are times when I get something woven over halfway done and I realise this is not what I was envisioning it to be… so I will take it all apart, rearrange, and start over.

My process is very time-consuming, and I’m relying on my gut instinct of how to weave, what rhythm in the weave patterns I want to have emerge and stand out. I rely on my intuition, and there is an “aha!” moment, where the sound of a chorus of angels (so to speak) sings and gives me goose bumps, and then that’s the final pause when I know it’s truly working. I’m not making this up, it’s a real thing! Now…if what I think is working and the rest of the universe, which looks at my work, agrees, that is a whole different story, I guess. Ha 🙂

3. How do you balance your personal life with your art career?

If anyone knows how to strike a balance between a personal life and a full-time, thriving art career, please let me know. There are always sacrifices. I think the balance is trying to figure out what the best thing is to sacrifice at any particular time. One week I may be sacrificing my art practice to focus on my daughter and husband and our busy life schedule with sports and long-distance family situation. Another week, I’m relying on my husband to fill in and take the reins on our household while I’m in the thick of an art show or commission deadline. I hate that my friendships, especially my long-distance friends, are getting the short end of the stick with all I have going on with work right now, but we are all women with families and careers, and we all get it. That is why I try to raise my daughter to be surrounded by strong and kindhearted women who are friends with her, understanding and supportive.

4. How do you envision the future of your art and its impact on the world?

My artwork is all about meaning. I’m literally weaving in meaningful memories into each piece I make. People should invest in artwork not just for its aesthetic appeal on the wall, but also because it should have a story behind it, and they should be connected to it. Something meaningful to the owner that they can pass along for generations. Not just for the artwork’s value, but because the piece has a history of personal attachment that families can cherish forever. That is the impact that I want to make, to change the mindset of purchasing art with a meaningful purpose beyond aesthetic and monetary value.

There are times I get something woven over halfway done and realize this is not what I was envisioning, so I take it apart and start over.

Amy Harms

5. What mediums and techniques do you primarily work with?

I paint with acrylic on heavy fine-art paper. The thickness of the acrylic on the paper allows me to weave when I cut the paper into hundreds of individual strips. I often incorporate small pieces of album covers, cherished items, lyrics, melted vinyl record strips, or heirlooms into each piece, allowing the owner to discover the hidden soul and inspiration within.

6. Do you have any parting words of wisdom for our readers or aspiring artists?

Never stop making art, even when you are in a slump and feel like no one cares or would be interested…just make the artwork for yourself. Every piece you make gives you just a little more experience and insight into ideas and visions for the next piece you will make. Sometimes the pieces that you don’t feel like ended up as your favourite will end up being the ones that blow someone else’s mind, so just keep creating. Every day. The world needs more meaningful art, so pour your heart and soul into everything you do, even if your heart is hurting.

Amy Harms’ artwork is about piecing together memories, rhythms, and stories into something new. Through her paperweaving series, she shows us how painting, music, and everyday moments can be cut apart and reconnected to tell a richer story.

Her journey reminds us that creativity can emerge from various aspects of life—childhood interests, past jobs, or even mistakes that lead to unexpected discoveries. We’ve learned from Amy how trusting your gut, staying curious, and being open to change can shape not just your work, but how you move through the world.

To learn more about Amy, visit the links below.