Silverfish was born Amanda Marie Barnett on the 10th of March, 1983 in Texas, and hasn't really left much since then. She  grew up in a middle/lower middle-class home that had its fair share of troubles, but it was a mostly happy childhood. Apart  from the teenage years. They sucked, but more because of a shy and conflicted temperament than for any external  reason. She also grew up in a home filled with music. Her father was almost always in a band and many of his friends were  musicians. They had jam sessions in their garage and the whole family often got together when they performed shows. Her  mother was always present and demonstrated the importance of love and patience, and the two have been married since  they were teenagers.

 

 Her grandmother was perhaps the biggest creative influence in her life, despite passing away when Amanda was 10. She  loved painting, playing piano, sewing, poetry, and science-fiction novels. She also loved to garden and watch birds and feed  bread to turtles. Certain people can teach a person more than 12 years of conventional school ever can hope to, and she was  one of those people.

 

 Amanda moved to Austin, Texas at 18 years old and worked at a telemarketing office for about half a year until the  manager suddenly disappeared overnight with no warning or explanation. She moved back home and spent  the next 10 years in  food service (mostly delivering pizzas), making a few friends and lots of mistakes, all the while trying to  experiment with art and develop her own style.

 

 On October 25th, 2006, the house she was renting burned to the ground. She was waiting tables during a lunch shift, and  by the time she made it home there was nothing but a black patch of grass with the shell of a refridgerator and a stove  sticking out. She lost hundreds of original pieces that dated as far back as 1999, along with her four ferrets and a kitten she  had recently adopted. For several years she made very little effort to rebuild a portfolio and came to lead a very self-  destructive lifestyle which led to a number of hospital stays. It became glaringly obvious that living this way would lead to  an early grave.

 

 Finally, starting around 2011, she began to work creatively again, and is currently building what she hopes to become a  professional portfolio. And if it isn't, she is going to pretend it is and see if she can get away with it.