the art of waiting

"The art of waiting"

acrylic on masonite, 8x10"

Her dress is covered in a birch bark print.

(I always paint dresses I wish were real.)

I completed this painting in two days over six episodes of Mad Men season 2. A print of her is in the shop.

Thank you to those of you who posted sweet and encouraging comments on my last blog post. The support I get from those who read this blog means so much to me!

I hope you are all having a wonderful night in the space between Monday and Tuesday. :)

Love,

Amanda

night brightener

I found this really sweet comment reply from Karen Finneyfrock on her own blog. My tattooed lady painting is on the cover of her new poetry book, Ceremony for the Choking Ghost. I've been feeling a little behind in my art lately, and finding this post tonight kind of boosted my spirits.

I started my new job today, and I can already tell I am going to love it, so I think things are going to feel better soon (the fact that spring is - for the most part - here helps, too). I'm still at my old job in addition to the new, and have been working at least 5 days a week (7 this week), so I apologize for my lack of commenting on all of your blogs and for not having any art to post on my own.

I started a new painting tonight that's actually almost done, and have a commissioned portrait I recently did that I'll be showing soon.

I hope you've all been having wonderful springtime weather!

Love,

Amanda

van gogh appropriated

"I'm worrying you're so smitten with this idea of a lost love, of becoming some sort of gorgeous starving girl-artist, with such big starving girl-artist eyes, that you don't realize you may accidentally be throwing your life away."

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I'm reading "The Art Student's War" by Brad Leithauser. It's a beautiful novel set in Detroit during World War II, focusing on an art student named Bea who's assigned to draw portraits of wounded soldiers in hospitals.

I was telling someone at dinner tonight that I don't normally relate to female characters written by men. However, I find it almost alarming how this adult man so accurately portrayed the feelings of a young girl who is bound by her own creative vision and the way she thinks the world ought to be. I can relate to Bea so much, and a lot of the things she thinks comfort me because I think the exact same way.

I was beginning to feel burdened by how much non-fiction I was reading. I felt like I was putting myself through some sort of personal schooling. I'm going to read novels for a while.

Is anyone else reading anything good lately?

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On another note, the show was so fun tonight! Thanks to everyone who came, and everyone who partook in the awesome china town dinner. :)

Love,

Amanda

a tigress in spring

with cowboy puzzle

watching mad men

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Does anyone remember Daniel Striped Tiger from Mr. Rogers? I always loved the way his name was pronounced - Daniel Stripe-ed Tiger. He was very demure and reminded me of the "mew" noise that cats make.

I have a lot of ideas and plan to get them painted in the near future! Happy Tuesday! :)

fort point spring show

I have a few pieces in the alumni section of Glovebox's AIB Illustration show. The opening reception is Tuesday March 23rd from 6 to 8 pm at Midway Studios.

Maybe I'll see you there!

I hope you all have a wonderful Monday. :)

for dog lovers

My friend sent this to me on facebook - it's one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. If you love dogs, this might make you tear up, because it will remind you of every little reason you love them so much.

Watch for the bulldog's face at the 59 second mark - pure bliss.

xoxo

playing with stamps

My mom got these stamps for me at a consignment shop a few weeks ago. They're the foam kind with the little picture pasted to the top and came in a little plastic folder. I love them! 

So I was playing with them in my sketchbook and colored them with one of my favorite color combinations,  which I call the "little boy cowboy" palette. 

It is so spring-y here! I love it. I don't remember spring coming this early last year.

I hope you're all having a lovely week and have a lovely weekend!

xoxoxo

sage and lime

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

Reasons today was wonderful:

-I got a new job!

-I had my first volunteer shift at the animal shelter, and the dogs were amazing.

-I saw my first bat, beetle, and butterfly of the season.

-Etsy put me in their St. Patrick's Day feature

-The moon is an absolute Cheshire Cat smile tonight

-On my walk home from hula hooping, a mom and her two little boys were walking up my street, and one of the boys said "I've never seen so many stars. The sidewalk has sparkles! I'm going to make a wish." (I love hearing the things little kids say, and this saying seemed very special!)

-I went on three walks and had time to read my book.

-It was St. Patrick's Day, and I am mostly Irish. :)

I hope you all had an equally wonderful St. Patrick's Day!!!

Love,

Amanda

painting under postcards

I did a post for the Glovebox blog today with these photos of my work area, and I thought I'd share them on here, too. :)

The array of hanging postcards is the only thing that's changed since the last time I took pictures of my painting desk.

That light blue brush holder is a toothbrush stand I got at Home Goods!

Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Love,

Amanda

Birch, the Bearded Lady

Birch the Bearded Lady

watercolor paper doll

8.5x11"

A new paper doll! This one is for an upcoming group show with a circus theme. More details soon! Happy Sunday, and if you're local, happy rain.

xoxoxo

born in black and white

Tonight at work, I found a Lauren Bacall autobiography, and fell in love with some of the pictures inside.

With her first dog, Floppy. I love the framed picture of she and Humphrey in the background!

Family Christmas! I love vintage Christmas trees covered in tinsel.

I've never known much about Lauren Bacall, and I'd like to know more. I might read the biography if I have time! There are so many other books I have on my t0-read list right now.

I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

Love,

Amanda

starry afternoon

New dollar drawings in the shop! These ones are approximately 4x6" and I priced them at $10. 

Night Map

This one was inspired by my inability to stop listening to the Anya Marina cover of "whatever you like" by T.I. I have a deep love for female acoustic covers of rap songs - I think they can be so romantic! (Has anyone ever heard "hot in herre" by jenny owen youngs? It's so fantastic!)

I hope you all have a wonderful wednesday evening!

xoxo

Amanda

silk screened tote bags!

With help from my talented friend Rachel, I made these hand-silk-screened tote bags with one of my sketchbook drawings! The first of the three bags is available in the shop here!

There are also three limited edition signed and numbered prints on printmaking paper that I'll be adding next week.

I composited two sketchbook pages to make this design. One was the drawing that inspired my "Fodder for a mourning dove" painting.

The bags are really sturdy canvas and measure 13x13". It was so much fun to make them!

Happy Tuesday, everyone. :)

Love,

Amanda

red plaid and blue floral (mobius drawings part 1)

Some sketches from drawing the performance artists at Mobius two weeks ago! I worked on the lady above between performers.

The first performer was a man in red plaid who played the trombone. He made incredible noises that sounded like birds taking flight. We were encouraged to do some experimental drawing, so I'll probably show my interpretive sketches in a "part 2" post.

Rachel and Ellen!

El Putnam, who I loved to draw.

I hope you all had a great weekend! We are having the most beautiful weather here. I hope it lasts.

Love,

Amanda

maps autumnal

"maps autumnal (deja vu tennessee)"

acrylic on masonite, 11x14"

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Hello everyone! I hope you're having a nice start to the weekend.

This is a piece I "finished" recently, but it doesn't feel finished to me. It's an image I had in my head a long time before painting it, but I feel like something is missing. I know she doesn't have as many symbols and objects around her as the girls I usually paint, but when I thought of her, I really liked the idea of this simple image. I might just give a little more shading to her face and arms to give it a more finished look. Any thoughts?

She is kind of a tribute to Tennessee Williams. I was painting her in the midst of reading his essays and watching films of his plays, and I decided she had the feel of one of his female characters (he portrayed females so beautifully!).

I saw Alice in Wonderland today, and while it didn't fully live up to my expectations (or maybe I just didn't know what to expect), I really liked it and especially loved Anne Hathaway as The White Queen.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Love,

Amanda

and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

40s ladies and correspondence.

this time of year makes me feel like this:

Love,

Amanda

in like a lion, out like a lamb.

Happy March!

These pictures have been on my desktop for a while: Drew Barrymore in Alexander McQueen. I love her, and I love this dress.

I also loved when Lady Gaga wore this solar system dress to the Grammy Awards, and how she and Drew both dyed the bottom half of their hair to shades that complimented the colors/concepts of the dresses they wore.

Have a great Tuesday! I'll be back with more paintings and sketches soon. :)