» gif t g uid e 2016

She’s
Crafty!

Suzanne Chessler | Contributing Writer

Local artist
Amy Sternberg
personalizes
presents for
every member of
the family (and
friends).

46 November 24 • 2016

A

my Sternberg has taken a different
approach to painting. Instead of
expressing herself, she expresses the
personalities and interests of clients or those
receiving gifts.
In her West Bloomfield basement, she
keeps a stash of pre-made objects — tzeda-
kah boxes, mail holders, footstools, toys and
other household staples and enhancements
— ready to be backdrops for individualized
keepsakes. As requests come in, she finds out
about recipients and moves specified objects
to an upstairs studio, where she plans and
applies appropriate images.
Charitable-minded people have planned

tzedakah h boxes to express hobbies and prefer-
ne, with a person’s name in Hebrew
ences; one,
lish, was decorated with a range of
and English,
imals. Mail holders are popular secu-
safari animals.
lar items, , and she recalls one for a Phantom of
the Opera a fan, who now opens her bills facing
a mask and a rose.
“I buy my base objects from wholesalers,
and what I usually design is whimsical,” says
Sternberg, who uses both acrylic and oil-
based paints. “It’s all fun for me to do. I learn
about people as I learn about what decora-
tions they prefer.”
Sternberg, always with an interest in art,
launched her business, Artworks By Amy,

after her two children were grown. The idea
for it came with requests from people who
had seen what she had made for friends
expressing interests in personalized house-
hold items.
A floral-decorated jewelry box is one of the
free favors that led the way to earnings-based
projects, and she soon displayed samples of
her work on online sites.
“I’m always doodling, especially when I’m
talking on the phone,” says Sternberg, 51. “I
find out what customers are looking for and
if they have a special room in mind so that
colors can be coordinated.”
Sternberg, whose work can be seen on Etsy,
Facebook and her website (artworksbyamy.
com), enjoyed art classes while attending
West Bloomfield High School and st
started
out as an art major at Eastern
Michigan University.
“I decided I wanted to keep
art as a hobby so I switched to
a journalism major,” Sternberg
explains. “Thinking about
assignments and grades took
away the fun art had been.”
After working for a
Chicago publishing com-
pany, Sternberg returned to
Michigan, where she became
a member of Temple Israel.
Her bat mitzvah had been
celebrated at Temple Kol
Ami, and she traveled to
Israel with Partners in
Torah.
Six years ago, Sternberg
established her business
and serves customers in
and out of Michigan. She

