Last night I dreamt that I found and took care of a young koala bear who had been abandoned by its mother. According to the dream dictionary: To see a koala in your dream, represents your link the physical world, the unconscious, and the spiritual realm. The koala also symbolizes security, nurturance, protection, and/or feminine qualities. You may be expressing a desire to regress back into infantile dependence and escape from your daily responsibilities/problems.
hmmm.

banana skirt.

Josephine Baker, Haiti, 1934. I love everything about it from the girls' costumes to the giant birdcage.

lady and the tramp

poshgirlvintage.com. These are real vintage and stunning.


I love color, but sometimes I think I could never love anything more than a really unique black dress. It turns you into a little black bird for the night. I also firmly believe that a blue dress makes you a blue bird.

What, this old thing?

I just googled vintage dresses and found the site www.unique-vintage.com. I pretty much can't afford any of their dresses, but they're so beautiful. The ones I found aren't real vintage, because you can get them in any size (but that's almost a good thing. It's so frustrating to find a beautiful vintage dress and have it not fit you, but so exciting when you find one that fits you perfectly!). The website seems to have some cheesy modern-day prom gowns (the cheesy ones that EVERYONE at your prom was wearing), but the following dresses make up for all that:


I've been working on a new painting. It will be up soon. :) Have a great new years! <3

collecting the works.

I finally down-sized these jpegs so they can be hosted on image sites! Here are some of my favorite pieces I created this fall! Leda and the Black Swan, a Refined Mythology. Acrylic on masonite.
Cecilia and Beatrice, acrylic on masonite.
Nancy Drew. Watercolor, acrylic, and ballpoint pen on coffee-stained paper.
Camera Lucida. Acrylic, watercolor, and ballpoint pen on coffee-stained paper.
and that's all, folks! So glad I can finally show you these. They've taken me in a whole new direction. I hope you all had a great Christmas and holiday! Have a lovely new years, too!

Thinking about mermaids.

Mermaid polaroid, Taryn Palmissano, last spring.

I don't sleep anymore. But when I do;

I was wearing glasses and a beige buttoned and belted shirt dress, the kind you only wear when you want to be some sort of outdoor bandit with a feminine mystique. I made my way through the meadow. I reached the tall grass. There was a defined path, the reeds shot down to the ground for unknown purposes. I set up my camera on the tripod. I set the timer. I ran as fast as I could with my arms stretched above the height of the grass. I may have gotten my dress in the multiple shots, maybe just my hands. The trees were giving birth to fruit. It was all underneath them, it was all over them. My feet were bare but the meadow ground was soft like feathers or, rather, went unfelt entirely. There were tree houses beyond but they were unfamiliar territory. I would not leave the outskirts of the wheat field. I ran back down the path, I disassembled my camera and my tripod. I sat underneath the tree. I ate a piece of fruit, and I woke up.

treasure hunting.

I am just about done with a painting I began before school let out. Camera girl #2, this time acrylic on masonite rather than mixed on coffee-stained paper. Thus far, she is untitled. She's some sort of safari snap-shot huntress. Or maybe she just happens to be a day dreamer trapped in a thematically wall-papered room.

Tonight Mom and I saw Atonement. I don't think I've ever liked Keira Knightly more, and of course I always love James McAvoy. The movie was very visually stimulating. Let me warn you, though - you will cry. At least you can distract yourself by looking at the beautiful clothing.
Something else wonderful: these pictures of my Nana that were found in an old box. I love everything about them. They kind of look like my paintings. My nana was the most beautiful woman ever, and coming across new pictures of her is always exciting.
It's been nice being home. Our house looks like a winter wonderland thanks to my mom. She always makes Christmas a great time to be here. In addition to the big tree, there are many small trees that are covered in vintage clip-on earrings and fake birds. Loverly. <3 I hope you all enjoy the holidays, and stay safe!

la mer.

My mom alerted me to the fact that I haven't updated in a bit. I was quite busy with finals which, thankfully, are all over now. I've been reading The Seas by Samantha Hunt, and it's wonderful so far. I also finished Ruby by Francesca Lia Block, and I think it was the best thing I've read in a really long time (if you are a girl or woman who loves animals and nature, you will love it). Let's see, what have I been up to...
A poster I created for Diane's natural history class, a fictional "museum of the sea". I really wish that museum actually existed.
Shelby and Kristen (sidebar!) invited Taryn, Em, and I to a winter cocktail party. I got to dust off this vintage gown I bought in high school, which was, of course, very exciting for me. I love dresses!
One of the guests brought their cockatoo, Lilly. Don't let the name fool you; Lilly is a boy. Here he is with Kristen.
And here he is making me laugh. It's snowing and beautiful out and perfect for reading, which I think I'll go get back to now. I promise pictures of our christmas tree later. I think it looks better than ever this year! Enjoy the snow. <3 Amanda

things I like right now:

the color yellow.
feist music videos. Romaine Brooks, even though writing a paper on her is terrible.
bikinis in the snow, and the polaroids to prove it.
Pencil skirts that will be mine come Christmas.
and the latest issue of Tin House.
I can't wait to go home for break. I hope you're all enjoying whatever snow comes your way!

Junipers, junipers, junipers, my love.

my favorite holga photographs, shot with kodak vivid color.


Since I had to scan all my art at such a high DPI, no image site will host them! I'll have to work on that before I can share. Hopefully this will be soon!

Tartan.

I am officially 22 years old. Yesterday was my birthday, and it was an entirely lovely one at that. My birthday started last weekend, when my mom made this cake:
My friends were all amazing. After spending two straight hours scanning at AIB, Kate took me to cheesecake factory for lunch at the galleria (where I also picked up my first ever role of holga film!). She gave me a necklace with my initial in type-writer key form and two mix CDs. Teo gave me a wooden elephant bead. Nicole gave me a beautiful blue scarf and a cupcake with a cow on top. Emily gave me Fantastic Women: TIn House, a women's fiction periodical. Taryn gave me two comics, "Dances With Cows" and "I am Paul's Dog" from the series 'Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children.' We attended Sarah Potter's opening at 601, watched her performance piece. Cathy, Shane, Aaron, Taryn, Em, and I ate dinner at Border Cafe where we drew a picture which impressed the waitress very much. We dedicated it to her and she hung it on the wall.
After that we headed to the Harvard Book Store, where much was purchased. When we arrived back home, Emily, Taryn, Adam, and I had our first ever Midnight Writers meeting. The rule is to either read something you wrote or something you wish you wrote. Emily read from Ben Marcus, Adam and I read our own stories, and Taryn read her in-progress mermaid artist statement, which is coming along beautifully.
After this meeting came to a close, Nicole came over for late night escapades and left around 5. We were up quite late last night. It was one of the best birthdays ever! A new post shall immediately follow this one, including scans of work you have not seen yet! <3 Thank you Mom, Dad, Courtney, and all my friends for giving me a great 22nd birthday.

Christmas time is here!

hello, everyone! I've been spending much time listening to Charlie Brown Crhistmas music and admiring my pretty silver tree. Aside from the fall, this is my favorite time of year. Or perhaps the feeling is my favorite. Either way, it is nice.
That's the new Venus Zine (you can get it at Borders and other stores that carry a good variety of magazines). It's the best issue yet! They named the winners of their yearly Best DIY Business award, and two of my favorite artists got first and second place! The Black Apple and BoyGirlParty are numbers one an two. There's also a great photo shoot with Dita Von Teese and a ton of vintage-y dresses, interviews with Jason Schwartzman and Miranda July, and a profile on author Samantha Hunt, who I'd never heard of before but now am dying to read. And of course there are cute projects in the back involving vintage sewing patterns, plaster deer busts, and rings made out of resin. On this cozy magazine-reading day, the sky was a looming almost-purple. Lovely!
I also "finished" a new painting tuesday night. Or rather, the wee hours of wednesday morning. I think she needs more work and I plan to go back into her. None the less, here she is so far - my John Currin-inspired Mushroom Girl!
She's a little washed out. Tomorrow morning I'm heading into school to get decent scans of everything I've done this semester. Perhaps I'll do a post with some of my favorites. I hope you're all enjoying the end of November! <3

there is a chance I'm falling quite hard over you.

Black swan has been finished! I haven't thought of a title yet. She is a combination of many things, one of them being the myth of Leda and the swan. She's acrylic on masonite.

It's so good to be home for Thanksgiving break. My sister and I visited our cheesy highschool mall last night, which recently acquired a Forever21 (score!). The problem is that home causes me to sleep late. In the city, there is so much motivation to wake up at 8 or 9 on the weekends and go see what is going on. Also brunch starts at 10. Here...here it is more fun to stay in bed with my cat and do nothing. Tomorrow I will definitely get up early to help my mom cook. At least that is what I want to do! We will see what happens. I hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving!!!! <3

Black Swan in progress...

I am currently in the midst of a painting which you will see soon, seeing as it is due monday. Our Friday night: dress up and phony gallery openings!
Taryn and our friend Teo created collaborative art for submission to the Museum of Bad Art, and had a gallery opening in Reed House.


AND I have been making SOME things. Here is a stage set diarama, or part of it at least, which I made for Natural History Drawing. I wasn't pleased with it as a whole, but I do love these painted tree branches.

fort bandit, elephant love.

I am finding interesting things that I did not know before in my research of e.e.cummings for tuesday's presentation. Did you know that he and T.S.Eliot competed for the heart of their leading lady when they starred in "The Little Minister" in 1910? On opening night, Eliot brought her a bouquet of roses. Cummings, however, wrote her a poem and won her heart. This is a beautiful valentine (which I have always loved) that he painted in his later years for his wife Marion Morehouse:
I also built a fort today! Kelly Burgess, a junior photo major at AIB, is having people build forts which she then photographs them in. Emily was excited because my fort looked like my paintings (stage set-ish).
I have been trying and failing at going to bed early. Now I am honestly off to bed. More actual paintings soon!! <3 Amanda

Mermaids in New York City.

I made my way to New York City with Taryn and Emily where we met up with Em's sister Rebecca and her roommates, had mexican food for the second day in a row, and saw the Mythical Creatures exhibit at the Museum of Natural History (it was spectacular!)


More art soon! <3