Mr. Matte Stephens

There is an artist on Etsy named Matte Stephens. I love his work so much, and when I asked him if I could write a post about him, he said yes. So, here I go!

I love the way the people in Matte's paintings seem to regard animals almost as fellow humans. In all his work, it is so evident that all creatures acknowledge each other with friendliness and love.

This painting is my favorite (naturally, since I love pigeons so much), and I hope to buy a print of it someday.

("feeding birds")

I love this painting because going out for breakfast is one of my favorite things that my family does together, and this looks just like the kind of breakfast my Dad always gets.

("lumberjack breakfast")

Matte's color palette and style remind me of the vintage illustrations I love so much - Mary Blair, Little Golden Books, original Clue Game artwork, etc.

("Count Abernathy was an avid bird watcher")

("scuba man")

I also love the titles.

("Lord Admiral Hiratio Byrd following his true dream became a florist after the great war")

...and the way his paintings of New York City make me feel like I'm in Breakfast at Tiffany's.

("visiting the sea lions in central park")

("mr. owl")

You can see more of Matte's work on his website or in his etsy shop. His art makes me feel so inspired and ready to paint.

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day!

Love,

Amanda

(all work in this post copyright Matte Stephens)

animal love print

The Humane Society of the United States is my favorite animal organization. The money they receive in donation is used for incredible things, like this recent equine rescue and getting ready to help all the animals suffering from the oil spill.

I've made a special listing in my etsy shop: A pair of prints (Chelsea and the Black Fox and Tattooed Lady) for $25. Free shipping, and 100% of the proceeds will go to the HSUS.

I hope you're all having a beautiful week!

Love,

Amanda

little star finder

I got this paper star-finder a while back from funktapus designs on etsy. You get to choose the two color stocks you want it to be made out of! Mine is navy and robin's egg blue.

I am listening to the beach boys right now. Everything feels so officially summer.

I hope you're all enjoying it!

Love,

Amanda

tattoo show poster, etc.

Hello, everyone!

My tattooed lady was chosen to represent The Tattoo Show (a tattoo-themed art show, of course!) which is being held at Starkweather Arts in Detroit this summer. This is the call for artists poster. I love it!

Also, last night I accidentally spilled water on my keyboard...I brought it to see mac geniuses today, and they told me (since my warranty ended long ago) that it would cost almost as much to fix it as it would to get a new laptop.

Soooo, I have a new mac! And it has photobooth, which I have never had before!

Photobooth is going to be dangerous.

I hope you're all having a wonderful Thursday! Enjoy the beautiful weather.

xoxo

Amanda

I wish you would and horse wallpaper

sketchbook page.

From an amazing sheet of horse cut-outs I got at The Barn (home of the owl room) today. It reminds me of the type of wallpaper I love to paint.

Happy Tuesday, everyone :)

xoxo

Amanda

in blue frames

I love this photo by Solanah of Vixen Vintage.

We did a trade over a year ago, and she chose my tattooed lady print. I can see it right behind her! She's an amazing vintage aficionado, and I love reading her blog.

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Love,

Amanda

take me to the woods

backyard study (brighton backyard)

ballpoint pen and crayola watercolors

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I love when I have the time to make use of our beautiful backyard.

I appreciate nature even more than usual when I'm in the city; It's so much easier to notice every small thing. 

It feels like starting with something really big and going deeper and deeper through its layers until you've reached the very base.

I am missing the woods, though, and swimming and exploring.

I hope that you're all having a beautiful weekend! The weather has been gorgeous.

xoxo

Amanda

will you tuck your shirt? will you leave it loose? you are badly hurt; you're a silly goose.

"He speaks my language."

8x10", acrylic on masonite

I have been working on this painting (intermittently) for about a month now. It was so much fun to do the galloping horse wallpaper, which was inspired by the beautiful succession-based photography of Eadweard Muybridge. It was also fun to do the Betty Draper equestrian french braid look. :)

The print is for sale here.

I hope you're all having a wonderful start to your week!

Love,

Amanda

P.S. - the title of this post is from "Go Long" by Joanna Newsom. It has the most beautiful lyrics.

30 days hath september

Here are some pictures from the Freak Show opening, which was held at Space 242 on April 30th! It was such a fun opening with so much great work. It made me wish I had done something new just for the show.

Rachel and I

Bottom right: playing cards by Geoff

Yes!

I am sorry for my absolute lack of posts lately. I've been working a lot, but it's been good. 

I started a new job about a month and a half ago, and it has been wonderful. Yesterday I got to teach workshops to two sets of moms and daughters. We made paper dolls, butterfly cards, and paper crowns. It reminded me of last year when I subbed art for the kindergarten and elementary school all the time, and how much I loved it. It kind of confirmed my grad school plans.

There isn't anything much more gratifying than when the child you are teaching tells you she is glad you are the one teaching.

I hope you are all having a wonderful week! I am almost done with a painting, so more art soon.

xoxoxo

Amanda

the scientist's apartment

This drawing is in my junior-year-of-college sketchbook. I love how each of my sketchbooks takes me back to a time and place and feeling.

I remembered this apartment tonight out of the blue. 

During any student's time at AIB, a number of academic classes must be taken at Lesley University. A lot of these classes are held in a building in Porter Square, Cambridge. This building has a cafe, where I would bide my time before Meteorology or Art and War. Across the alley, through a window perpendicular to the one I was staring out of, was a scientist's apartment. It was above a bank, and full of botanicals, hand-controlled machinery, magnifying glasses, taxidermy, and the like. I never saw anyone in it. I think I decided it was more of a work space or lab, like a scientist's studio.

I just know I loved looking in that window.

mother's day and a girl named casper

This is a painting I did for my mom for mother's day! It's of Casper, a Great Dane my mom rescued in 1980, five years before I was born.

My mom and Casper

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Happy mother's day, mommy! Thank you for always being there for me. I love you!

I hope that everyone else had a wonderful mother's day!

lots of love,

amanda

sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind

A sketch I did on the bus ride home from work - a love letter to my favorite poem by Sir Thomas Wyatt, "whoso list to hunt," written for his lover Anne Boleyn. 

All my favorite lines, this one being the line I love most:

"for Caesar's I am, and wild for to hold, though I seem tame."

birthdays and recipes

Saturday was my roommate Geoff's birthday! We had a barbecue and it was lovely.

and I made a cake!

being serious about mary blair

Almost everyone who came brought food - really, really good food. One of Geoff's co-workers also brought tons of glass bottles of root beer and cream soda, so I was in soda heaven.

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I made this salad for the first time on Saturday, and it came out pretty good! It's a neat alternative to a regular fruit salad.

Orange and Onion Salad:

Step 1: Chop one large red onion.

Step 2: Marinate chopped onion in your choice of dressings (I combined a basil balsamic vinaigrette with a caesar dressing) for two hours.

Step 3: Chop at least 6 large naval (seedless) oranges. 

I decided to add raspberries, too, because I had them in the fridge. :)

Step 4: Mix everything in a bowl

Step 5: Add walnuts and feta cheese! 

I hope you all had very beautiful weekends!

Love,

Amanda