"The rain is very important, because that's when Paris smells its sweetest."

This is my new painting table. I love it so much! It's so good to have all the things I need laid out for me. Things that were once hard to get to and packed away in boxes, like artists tape, are now neatly set out in little baskets and containers on the table. 

Tonight, I painted with tea and Sabrina. I think my favorite part is when Audrey Hepburn describes why rain is so crucial to a first date in Paris. And not just a drizzle, but a downpour. 

And...I dyed my hair for the first time in my life! It's a much darker brown now. It might be hard to tell from this picture, but that is okay. :)

I hope you all had a wonderfullll Thanksgiving and are having a nice holiday weekend! 

Love,

Amanda

p.s. - I'm trying really hard not to overload you on quotes from "The Time Traveler's Wife," but I of course loved this little observation of Clare from Henry:

"When the woman you live with is an artist, every day is a surprise. Clare has turned the second bedroom into a wonder cabinet, full of small sculptures and drawings pinned up on every inch of wall space...It's beautiful."

:)

"She was a very emotional person, Annette. She brought that out in other people."

"Babette's sleepless night: Paris, 1962"

pen on paper, 8x10"

" 'How come a crow? Crows are bad luck.'

'They are? I think they're gorgeous.'

Mr. DetTamble raises one eyebrow and for just a second he does look like Henry; he says, 'You have peculiar ideas about beauty.' "

-Audrey Niffenegger, "The Time Traveler's Wife"

---

This morning I woke up to the sound of rain, which I always love. But I'd rather wake up to the silence of snow falling. Today I finally let myself listen to Vince Guaraldi's Charlie Brown Christmas sound track. I try to wait till Thanksgiving. It's almost that day! If I don't write again before then, I hope you all have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Love, Amanda

It's lovely; I'll take it!

  Me and my mom laugh so much at this blog. It's all ridiculous and often disturbing photo- graphs (such as the one up top) found on real estate house listing sites (why is the monkey baby wearing a sweater while the human infant is naked? Also, what a strange combination of creatures...Also, just why?). At the moment I can't think of the most hilarious ones I've come across on it, but I know that there's a lovely chair massacre happening in one of the recent posts. It's also worth looking through the archives.

 I tried to scan a drawing today, but it didn't take well to the scanner! It was orange-ish ink on orange paper (done at a pre-thanksgiving party where hand turkeys were being made - that's mine at the top right, click to see him big!), and it just wasn't showing up on the screen. I feel bad that I haven't posted art in so long. My studio table is being set up TOMORROW and I'm so excited and can't wait to paint again. I have so many ideas and I want to unleash them!

     The other night, I dreamt that I turned on a faucet coming out of the wall of our family room, filled it with about four feet of water, and swam. While I was swimming, I was looking at our hardwood floors and how they looked beneath the water. I also dreamt I was swimming in a lake that night. Lots of dreams about water and swimming. Hmmm.  

  I am still in my love affair with The Time Traveler's Wife. I don't want it to be over! You know when you love a book so much, you just don't want it to end? But then you always find another book to love just as much and the wonderful cycle of great books continues. I want to read as many things as I can.

That is all for tonight! Sweet dreams.

a poem.

All royal blue and understated,

my poor heart became elated by the words you

gave to me, poured them down my

throat like honey (gave the gift of non-

receiving) as if you were

a bumble bee with a thorn built just

for me.

The soft of your hands was non-relieving,

took for granted all my

grieving, so I sailed your ship on a 

concrete sea

and relearned the art of make-believing.

   I'm rocking to a new one now, and slowly like

   that milking cow I trip and stumble like

   before, but now I know that less is 

   more than I could take from you, and I'm

   undone and you're to-do;

   I'm breaking hearts within my shoe, and holding

    one with hands unglued.

    Breathless are these birds tonight, before I 

    set them into flight so frenzied like the beast

    I'll be, and stepping up I climb

    that tree to where he meets me and we'll

    know that this is how

    our story goes.

    copyright amanda atkins 2008.

untie the heart strings

Favorite Disney movie ever.

I love how Tramp called Lady "Pigeon" and "Pidge" for short. I think that is the best pet name you could give someone.

love, me

meadowlark

Reading in bed with Tiger.

Her tail is always all over the place. Here it's found its way into my book!

I love reading in bed with her.

"Without moving anything but my eyes, I look at Clare. She is deep in her drawing. When Clare draws, she looks as though the world has fallen away, leaving only her and the object of her scrutiny. This is why I love to be drawn by Clare: when she looks at me with that kind of attention, I feel that I am everything to her. It's the same look she gives me when we're making love. Just at this moment she looks into my eyes and smiles.

'I forgot to ask you: when are you coming from?' "

-Audrey Niffenegger, "The Time Traveler's Wife."

I think it is going to be my favorite book of all time.

Mr. B.

I love these photos I found of our Mr. Blacky on my computer. He was put to sleep last year right before Christmas, and we all miss him a lot. He was such a handsome, special cat.

I miss you, baby.

"Of course animals have souls. Animals have much nicer souls than we do."

I saw this book at Borders this past June and fell in love with its cover. It's part of their Borders Classics collection. Last week Kate mentioned how she wanted their edition of Pride and Prejudice, and it reminded me of how much I had loved this copy of Alice in Wonderland. So, the other night I bought it for myself! The books are only $13 and they have the most beautiful covers and illustrations inside! It's definitely worth it to get a copy of your favorite.

My bookcase has been moved to its new location in my room, and I cleaned it out and made it look beautiful again. I love bookcase makeovers. 

"Mom had just returned from Sydney, and she had brought me an immense, surpassingly blue butterfly, Papilio ulysses, mounted in a frame filled with cotton. I would hold it close to my face, so close I couldn't see anything but that blue. It would fill me with a feeling, a feeling I later tried to duplicate with alcohol and finally found again with Clare, a feeling of unity, oblivion, mindlessness in the best sense of the word." - Audrey Niffenegger, "The Time Traveler's Wife." 

I am enjoying this book so, so much. The title of this post is also a quote from the book. There are so many passages I want to share with you, but I don't want to give it all away. I read this book at night in bed before I fall asleep, and have a field day underlining it. Clare and Henry's relationship fascinates me, because you realize how much the natural occurrence of things becomes a middle-man in our relationships. Clare and Henry's relationship, as far as I've gotten in the book, seems to be completely built by the very fact that he time travels. She knew they were going to marry before he'd even met her in his adult life. Their relationship only exists in and of itself. It's too complicated to explain, but it works your mind like a puzzle while you read it and it's all so beautiful and so humbling, in a weird way.

That is all for now. I'm heading into the city to see Rachel!

 Love, Amanda

Frida and blue jay babies.

I love the full-bleed cover of this book. It's "I Will Never Forget You" by Salomon Grimberg. It documents the friendship and affair of Frida Kahlo and the photographer Nickolas Muray through their correspondence and portraits of each other. I'll be getting this book sometime in the near future for sure.

Me and Tiges.

As you can see, my room is still in progress. I am thinking this weekend is the weekend it finally gets moved around! Then it's a trip to Ikea (which are always epic) and mini studio in my room!

Last night I dreamt that my room was infested with miniature bluejays, as though they were a type of insect or something. They kept hiding in small carve-outs in wooden furniture, and I kept trying to catch them. I wanted to take care of them. Yesterday I realized that last week, I dreamt that a different animal spoke to me for four or five nights in a row. And every time I had the dream, I'd feel frustrated, because the animal speaking to me somehow took away what I loved about them so much. It was so strange. I think the fact that I had dreams like that so many nights in a row is proof that our dreams definitely mean something. I've never needed proof of that, though - I completely believe it. So I wonder what talking animals mean? They didn't say anything in particular. 

There are so many things I would want to go to school for. Psychology and marine biology and animal science and archeology. Lucky for us, in the world we live in today, there are small ways we can incorporate ourselves into these different things if we just look hard enough and try.

That's about all for today. I'll be back soon with something, whether it's art or not.

Love,

Amanda

animal posse

These are my critters! They've come from different places and as gifts from different people. They live in my bookcase. 

picture update

Today, I met Tomie dePaola, the famous author and illustrator of children's literature! When Court and I were little, my mom always read us his books. I wrote him a letter when I was 6 and he sent me back an autographed picture of himself and some other things. It was very exciting, and he was so nice in person.

Pages from Tomie's new book, "Strega Nona! A Heartwarming Pop-Up Book".

"I learn the secrets of nature."

And yesterday, I met Jamie's snake Horatio. Jamie told me to just feed him through my hands and that it's supposed to be very zen-like. He just wants to move constantly, so you do provide him with means of travel just by entertaining him with the movements of your hands. I loved him.

And, Kate and I hung my show at Mr. Crepe's in Davis Square! 

The Crepes at this place are great, so if you're in the neighborhood you should stop by!

Love,

Amanda

p.s. - I'm starting to read "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger. It's about a librarian who finds himself traveling through time, and the artist he falls in love with. They somehow keep finding each other between decades and lapses of time. I think it will be beautiful.

Puggles

      I just realized that if I ever were to have a pug, one of his nick-names would probably be Pugaboo. My family tends to give all the animals numerous nicknames. I know Malley and Gizzy had about ten each. I tend to call creatures in general "Buggy" and "Bugaboo" a lot, so Pugaboo would seem only natural.

     My first dog on my own will be some ginormous mutt from a shelter or pound. So Pugaboo will have to wait for my pug rescuing days, which no doubt will come at some point in my life.

    Sometimes I can't get over how beautiful animals are. Just look at them. Right now is one of those moments. And I like it.

           This Wednesday I'm going to the MFA with Kate to see the Rachel Whiteread installation, which Kate wrote about on her blog. At some point I also want to head over to Oak, mentioned in the post below. I'm hanging a little show in a small cafe in Davis Sq. this week, which I'll write more about when the time comes! Fall feels like it's coming to an end. I feel like it just flew by. I usually love the winter, but this year I feel like I'm already looking forward to spring.

Love,

Amanda 

tree tops

I just recently discovered Oak (handmade clothing & gifts). I looove these items:

"a violent, sensual, sensitive girl" t-shirt

clipper ship tie

men's "camera parts" t-shirt

You can shop from their website or visit their store, which is off the green line between the Hynes and Copley stops.

(photos from oakboston.com)