mid-summer update.

Hi everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated. I graduated college. yay! And now I am entering this really lovely period of time in which I am able to create without feeling any pressure (from classes, etc.). This summer, I've been building a body of work including paintings and writings. This collection is entitled "Depending Upon the Nature of the Beast." I've written a few new short stories and am busy reworking several old ones. A book is in the works, possibly including paintings as well.
This new painting is currently titled "For Antoine," until I can more aptly name it. It's for Anoine de Saint Exupery, in thanks for The Little Prince and his tender understanding of women which is displayed so beautifully in the character of the Flower. I don't ever remember openly crying at a book so much, aside from "Good Dog, Stay" by Anna Quinlan after O'Malley was put to sleep. No scans for now, just a photo. So, this nautical opera girl is for you, Antoine. Wherever you are.
Right now I am enjoying feeding hour in the backyard. Lots of fat bluejays, squirrels, and chipmunks come for unsalted peanuts. There is one squirrel in particular who is not afraid at all. I am hoping that soon I will be able to pet him...perhaps...
And last but not least, please come to the July Glovebox 8x8 show! Kate, Nicole, and I are showing in it, plus many many more. I'll have two originals for sale. The opening is at Goody Glover's in the North End, July 29th from 7 to 9 pm. The last one was so much fun, and I know this one will be too. I'd love to see you there!

Nicole is coming to visit tonight. I'm very excited. It's back to writing now for me. I'll be updating more often from now on, so check back soon. Enoy the beautiful weather! - Amanda

animals strike curious poses. they feel the heat between me and you.

I have been busy spending my time with creatures, and it makes me quite happy. I've been making art, too! And I promise it will come soon. Along with Kate and Kevin, I will be in the Glovebox 8x8 show at Goody Glovers in the North End on July 29th. New prints will be for sale there! The summer has been good. It's hard to come to terms with the fact that college is over. I miss all my friends so much. I miss the city. I miss seeing a certain boy more often than I get to now. But I'm very lucky, and I'm looking forward to what the summer has to offer. The other morning I saw a wood pecker do a mating dance, and, as you can see, tamed a chipmunk. I hope to go horse back riding soon. I love connecting with animals, and I feel like riding a horse is one of the special chances a person gets to literally work with an animal towards a common goal. I've been missing my dogs so much lately. The next time I have a dog, it will probably be my own! So, with all that said, new paintings soon! I hope you're all enjoying fields and sun and rows of birch trees and summer moonlight.

my friend flicka.

Ann Kirchner, who mans the front desk at AIB these days, has created a Flickr acount for AIB! My work, along with the work of many others, is viewable now! Visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/aiboston to see the gallery. Ann's show, "Portraits and Pages", is being held at the Brookline Arts Center on 86 Monmouth Street in Brookline, MA. The opening is Friday June 27th from 6 to 8 pm. You should all go!!

down the rabbit hole for another summer.

camera obscura

An update in pictures. When life is less crazy, I will put up new art! (finally.)

if I could only get you oceanside.

I plague myself with an image of idealized love. It comes out of my fingertips in almost everything that I do - painting, writing, even underlining the writing of others. I've been called a hopeless romantic more times than I can count and it never bothered me because I know that's what I am. The problem, for me, comes when I am forced to realize that perhaps my idea of love is not realistic, or that the loves that I have thought to be perfect were not as perfect as they seemed. The relationship of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera is one that has fascinated me. While I did not find that to be completely ideal, seeing as he cheated on her regularly and she herself took many other lovers, Frida and Diego could not stay away from each other. They needed each other. Life wasn't life without the other one. I fell in love with the relationship of Henry Miller and Anais Nin when I read Henry and June, but even he cheated on her (as he was cheating on his own wife with Anais). What gets me about these couples is the intellectual connection and passion that they shared. Is it too much to ask for fidelity and a passionate and creative relationship? And if you're lucky enough to have such a relationship in the palm of your hands, how do you keep your crazy creative mind from becoming paranoid? These are things I think about a lot, and too much. Thinking too much is a problem of mine. I heard someone say once, "She doesn't allow weaknesses in others because she doesn't allow them in herself." I'm thinking about the last scene of Breakfast at Tiffany's, when Paul Varjek leaves Holly in the cab and tells her she's scared of being in a cage but she's already in a cage and she built it herself. I am building cages. Sometimes I think I wait for things that don't exist and miss out on what is earthly perfection when it's right in front of me. I am trying to learn. I am trying to grow. I am trying to value my own worth. I've found myself untamable. I am ready to be tamed, should someone know how to tame me.

lover, you should've come over.

With everyday that passes lately, I feel like something new happens to make me appreciate how delicate and precious life is. We are not on this earth long enough, and I don't want to waste a single second of it. I hope to keep this in mind every day and I wish the same for others, that we may enjoy every moment of this journey we're lucky enough to be a part of. Love. xo

our little one-eyed pirate.

Today, our lovely girl Gizmo had to be put to sleep. I'm going to miss her more than words can say. She and O'Malley were a big part of my life and everyday I spent with them was better just for them having been there. Her little bed looks so empty. It was her time, though, and she looked so beautiful and peaceful once she'd gone.
There's always this time before animals die when you bring them outside, and it's like they're aware of nature. There's a very big difference in their perception of nature, and it was especially evident in gizmo when we brought her out to the car and it made me feel so much better because I feel like it means they're so close to death, in this really peaceful way where they have this understanding of the world that you can only have when you're about to die. I feel like when you die you just become a part of everything and if you're part of something you understand it, and Gizmo was becoming part of and understanding nature. O'Malley always understood nature. The way Gizmo acted today reminded me of how O'malley always was. She could feel the wind and she lifted her head, and she couldn't see but she could feel it. And the wind did feel so good because it was warm. And my mom was carrying her in her arms and it was just blowing through her fur and she had been in so much pain but she suddenly seemed fine, calm, and aware. Malley used to go outside in the winter and just lay down in one spot in the snow for an hour, and we'd secretly watch him out the window because he was so handsome, and his head would be tilted up and he'd just be smelling and feeling the air, and he looked like he was thinking. And in those moments I felt like he knew things I could never know. I feel like it's the kind of knowledge that buddhists believe in. like enlightenment, which I feel is entirely about being one with nature. All I know is I miss Gizmo and O'Malley so much. I was so lucky to have them, to know them. Animals are such a gift and they were two of my gifts in this life. I love you both forever, Gizmo and O'Malley. Promise.

news!

My mother has created a blog! She became a full-time painter when I was nine years old, and in recent years she's been a part of Penny Lane Publishing. She's just begun her blog and I'm really excited to see how she goes about it (everyone's blogs are so unique to them!). She really loves what she does and has been the main source of encouragement in my artistic endeavors. She's the first link in my artists sidebar, so check it out! Love you, Mom!
artwork copyright donna atkins.

all in green went my love riding.

I've always had a thing for couples from throughout history who were artists, writers, musicians, etc. Women and men who found another being that fueled them creatively in addition to their love. Maybe it's that two individually passionate people can make excedingly spectacular passion together. Romaine Brooks had a number of partners like this. Of course for Anais Nin, Henry Miller was the one and only inspiration for her best works. Lately I've been thinking about Georgia O'Keefe the painter and Alfred Stieglitz the photographer. He fell in love with her hands, and extensively photographed her for decades in an attempt to capture every aspect of her. Unlike the other couples mentioned, Georgia and Alfred married and stayed that way until his death. Very romantic, no?


photographs of Georgia O'Keefe by Alfred Steiglitz.