An Interview With...Amalie Russell

Bio

Artist. Wife. Makeup Artist. Canadian and honorary Londoner. Queen of positivity. 

Meeting Venue

Amalie and I are meeting in Caravan, which is a restaurant based in Granary Square in Kings Cross, close to Amalie’s art studio. The restaurant is in a Grade II listed building, with exposed brick work and has an industrial interior design which I absolutely love. It is huge, with an open kitchen and bar area making it feel spacious. I could literally move all my stuff in here and call it home. Overall, the food was simple but delicious, had a great wine selection and a really relaxed vibe. 

I’m sitting across Amalie who, though I literally dragged her out of her art studio and is wearing casual clothes, still somehow manages to look elegant. She has her naturally beautiful curly hair, in an up-do which always reminds me of the Victorian era. Her casual outfit is decorated with amazing gold earrings, which she later tells me her mum bought for her (great taste mama Russell!) and wears her signature spectacles. 

Amalie in her art studio, doing what she loves

Hi Ams, thanks for agreeing to do this! I obviously know a lot about you as you’re a friend but for those who might not know you as well, who is Amalie Russell? Please feel free to blow your own horn!

{Laughing}

Oh I’m not good at blowing my own horn... I’d definitely introduce myself as an artist, a painter and a makeup artist... a colourist! I’m originally Canadian and it is going to be almost a decade in London, this fall. I came to London with Cameron (husband) as he wanted to do his Master’s degree and my work is portable, so I was ready to take the risk!

When you first moved to London, would you have predicted you would be here 10 years later?

No, no way. Both of us, were like “another year, another year…”, we both got into the zone of stretching our limits and opportunities, the vibrancy of the London grind definitely got the best of us!

When you came to London, were you already working in makeup? 

Yeah, I graduated from makeup school in 2005 back in Toronto and had spent a few years freelancing and working with various makeup brands such as Nars, Prescriptives, Laura Mercier and Bobbi Brown. We lived in Bristol for the first year, and it’s beautiful there with a great art and music scene. We loved it! I spent most of our first year painting in our little kitchen of our apartment and researching makeup jobs in London. We moved to London our second year and I popped into John Lewis Oxford Street, handed in my CV and started with Bobbi Brown UK which led me to meet great friends, connections and clients.

Amalie’s makeup on the beautiful Tess Ward

What is it about being an artist (whether painting or makeup artistry) that you love so much?

I think every face has a story to tell and every body of art work can create a story. So, whether it’s the different texture, shape or volume that a face carries or a collection of painting that embrace these characteristics, movement of colour delivers a story for the eyes to see.

Cameron is your husband and you met him in Canada before coming to London together. How long have you guys been together? 

We have been together 13 and a half years or so. We met at a gig in Toronto and here we are, still kickin’ it! We went with separate friends, and just by chance we met through our friends :)

Was it love at first sight?

{Barely finished the question} 

It was! {said with such conviction and without hesitation}

That’s cute!

 It is cute! :)

Amalie and Cameron

What is the thing that inspires you, gives you oomph or even motivation to get up in the morning? 

Light 

Who inspires you? 

It’s an interesting question because there are many people that inspire me…I am attracted to good and kind energy of my family and friends first and foremost. I grew up surrounded with the art work of my great Uncle Sari Khoury who was an incredible painter and who is the most inspiring artist I know. I also love the Edward Burtynsky’s photographed abstract landscapes, Mark Rothko’s perfectly blurred colour blends and Frank Lloyd Wright’s harmonious architectural shapes.

{This is fitting considering the building we are currently sitting in}

Amalie’s wonderful Art

You speak about people that inspire you and drawn to, it’s very much mirrored in your personality. As long as I’ve known you, though we can naturally have ups and downs in life, you’re consistently positive and I’ve always admired this about you. How do you remain so positive even when it’s not easy, especially day to day?

Thanks Debs! It is never easy staying positive but it works to attract good vibes for real :) Life for sure has thrown me some hard punches but that has taught me strength and how to pick myself up and power through when times get tough. It’s a cliché, but you never know how long we are in this dimension (or whatever you want to call it), so this keeps me focused on appreciating the little things and the energy around me.

That is how it is perceived. If I didn’t know you, I wouldn’t know half the things you were going through. Everyone obviously has moments of reflection or ‘downtime’ whatever you want to call it, but I’ve always felt inspired by your positivity…

I think it’s part of my star sign, Taurus ‘the bull’, we tend to power through! I think taking time out for yourself, doing something that channels your happiness is pretty important.

If you could check anything off your bucket list (without any restriction on time or money), what would you do?

I would probably go hand gliding on Mount Fiji as I would love to go to Japan, or fly through any tops of the trees. I laugh because as I get older, I get more vertigo, so I don’t know if I would actually be able to do it! Whether it’s a rollercoaster or that ‘drop thing’, I don’t want to feel like my hearts going to pop out of my mouth, dropping on someone else’s head!

{laughing}

What is one thing people don’t know about you that you’d want to share? 

That’s an interesting question, I can be a private person…

I find you’re both very open and also fiercely private. 

Yeah I think with people I’m connected to, I’m definitely very open. Well…I’m going to toot my own horn here, as I’m a good chess player, and even have an app on my phone which I play all the time. I took that on last year.

Have you been in any tournaments? I have images of American films with chess experts playing in the park.

No, but I will be one day, that would be epic. I took up chess at a time when I wanted to train my brain to think differently. I could be the next chess champion, watch out Debs! Move over Bobby Fisher!!

Is that a chess joke? I don’t even know who Bobby Fisher is! I’m guessing he’s a champion?? 

{Laughing}

Yeah exactly!

It’s a very cheesy question but if you could have any superpower in the world what would it be? Imagine God appeared in your dream and said, I will give you some of my power and you could do anything with it, what would you choose? 

It would be to fly!

There is a recurring theme of flying… with the flying and the hand gliding 

{Laughing}

Yes, maybe I should drink more red bull to give me wings! 

I just like the idea of teleporting to another place, timezone and space, but it would depend on how much of a fast flyer I would be, racking up my kilometres per hour and would have to be environmentally safe! J

{After some deep thought…}

You know what, can I take back that whole hand gliding situation? I wouldn’t mind going on a hot air balloon! There is a hot air balloon in Bristol every year, maybe we could go together!

Yes and watch the sunset together :)

You have such a unique sense of fashion, classic, modern, hipster cool… I wouldn’t even know how to label it and it’s very unique to you. Even when I go around in shops, I will say to random people I’m with “oh, this is very Amalie!” It’s your hair, jewellery, accessories, how you style it… I love it, what inspires you? 

There are some eras that I love for a classic vibe, especially the late Victorian era and also the late 1940s to early 1950s. The other part of my style is my tomboy side and wearing a good pair of sensible sneakers. Back in the day, I wanted to be in the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA), so my basketball background played a role in comfortable kicks (shoes) for sure.

Amlie the Fashionista

Tell me more about your dream to be in the WNBA?

I wanted to be a professional basketball player. I played up to college (university) but I was never really tall enough and I also tore my ACL (knee ligament). At that time in my life, it was ALL about basketball. I ended up having to switch my focus while I was recovering from the injury and started paying attention to the art world, which began to resurface.

I know you have tattoos but how many do you have 

I have two main tattoos. One on my arm and one on my lower back. The one on my back, are two doves in a heart shape, beak to beak, holding an olive tree branch and with my name written in Arabic which symbolizes hope and peace. Since My mum is Palestinian, this felt special and connected me to the tattoo. My arm piece is a loaded with detailed florals that have an Art Nouveau vibe which I love :)

Amalie’s tattoo

Wow, well I love what the doves symbolise! Thanks so much for your time Ams!

Aww Debs, it was my pleasure!

Why I think she’s special…

Amalie reminds me of a beautiful Sadness from that Pixar Animation Inside Out, if you know, you know. She could quite easily be a spectacles model, and always makes it look so effortlessly chic. I love her style which is a mixture of casual chic, with a Victorian twist – almost sounds like a delicious cocktail. Amalie is the only one who could carry off wearing a Victorian inspired dress, with sneakers (as she calls it). Though Amalie has had a lot going on, she rarely shows it, and is the queen of positivity; often radiating this energy to others like sunshine. She is selfless and often wants to help you, before talking about herself. Amalie is extremely talented in both art and makeup artistry, and I feel like everything she does is measured and unrushed, with a real purpose behind it. She is also just about the only person who can say “oh crumbs” in the 21st century and get away with it! I’m happy to call this cool and beautiful woman, my friend. 

Until next time xo