look, how the floor of heaven is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold.

 For Depending Upon the Nature of the Beast:

"the color of choosing"

acrylic on masonite, 20x24"

This is the piece that was inspired by 'the dance of the goldfish' in Fantasia! I had so much fun watching the movement of goldfish and drawing them out on her dress. As opposed to doing a pattern, I made each goldfish different.

Above is a picture of the piece framed, and you can see a couple others framed on the couch, as well.

This piece was too big to scan and had to be photographed. Many thanks to my good friend Sarah Gay for helping me out. :)

xoxo

Amanda

a terrible love of birch bark

 For Depending Upon the Nature of the Beast:

"the year before"

acrylic on masonite, 12x16"

xoxo

Amanda

phases lunaires

For Depending Upon the Nature of the Beast:

"the waxing and waning of you"

acrylic on masonite, 14.5 x 19.5"

The image below inspired the wallpaper of this painting.

I'm off to Portsmouth to hang my show tomorrow! I'll be back with some pictures and will try to post one new painting a day as a countdown to the opening on Friday!

Love,

Amanda

maps autumnal

For Depending Upon the Nature of the Beast:

"my only uncharted territory (adapting to you pt.2)"

acrylic on masonite, 9.5 x 13.5"

Another piece for the show. I hope you're all having a beautiful weekend!

xoxo

Amanda

goldfish ballet

I am working on a painting - one of my last for the show! - that was completely inspired by Fantasia's Goldfish Dance. It's my favorite part of Fantasia.

I love the colors and the way the animators captured the elegance of goldfish.

I scan all my paintings on friday and will have a lot to show you!!

I hope you're all having a beautiful week.

xo

Amanda

an artistic compass

With only days left till the hanging of my show, I am feeling the pressure. For inspiration, I am looking to Mary Blair. She has always seemed like a Patron Saint of Illustrators to me, especially the illustrators who love creating color palettes.

xoxo

Amanda

the color of stars

for depending upon the nature of the beast:

"he surpasses the rest"

acrylic on masonite, 9x12"

a scratchily drawn room of instruments

I love how well 101 Dalmatians captured 1960s London. The details of Roger and Anita's apartment are just stunning. I think out of all the Disney men, Roger was my most practical crush. :)

Also, my show announcement is officially up on the Three Graces site!

xoxo

Amanda

the secret lives of dresses

 Sometimes, lovely women who run vintage shops on etsy ask me if I'd like to do a trade. I could never resist a trade from a beautiful vintage shop. I got this dress from the very kind owner of Secret Agent Girl. I love it so much. I'm bringing it to Europe and I think it might have to be what I wear for when I first encounter the Eiffel Tower. 

Speaking of vintage, I just finished reading The Secret Lives of Dresses by Erin McKean, who runs the dress a day site. It's such a neat book, about a girl who takes over running her grandmother's vintage shop only to discover that her grandmother had written secret lives for every dress in her inventory.

It reminded me especially of this one particular dress I have. It's a light blue house dress from the 50s and one of the first vintage dresses I ever bought. When I got it home, I discovered a small safety pin with a charm of the Virgin Mary pinned to the inside skirt. I've always wondered about the woman who owned it, when and why she pinned Mary to a secret place inside the dress, and if it gave her comfort knowing the pin was there. To me, it makes the dress so much more special.

On another note, for those of you who are worried about the animals in Japan, the HSUS has an international branch that is helping out and open for donations. 

I hope you're all having a wonderful first day of spring!!! Sadly, Boston blocked my view of the moon last night. At least I got a nice walk out of my moon hunt.

xoxoxo

Amanda

the queen, the moon

A card I got at Trident today. I love images paired with unusual phrases. I think this is the cover of an old magazine. The top right reads "January 21st, 1948."

I hope you're all having a beautiful weekend. Don't forget to look at the moon tonight!

xoxo

Amanda

encapsulating (installation planning)

I bought these old plastic easter eggs at a rummage shop a year and a half ago. I think they are the first things I bought with my "future" installation in mind.

Well, that installation is going up very soon now, and I am so indecisive about what to put inside of these. I have lots of ideas, but I'm wondering what comes to mind for you guys.

I have four of them (one blue, one green, two yellow) and they're so pretty and geometric. 

I thought of putting notes inside that people could take out and read, or finding little clipper ships - like ships in bottles. 

The installation itself is going to be set up like the backgrounds of one of my paintings, with curtains draped on either side and a wallpaper background. My plan is for guests of the show to sit in front of it and have their picture taken (if they'd like) so it's as though they're one of my paintings. 

I'm thinking of giving the installation a nautical feel, which some of my paintings do have, in honor of Portsmouth. 

We'll see! I'm really excited to make this.

xoxo

Amanda

all little girls love stickers

I read on Tea and Chickadees about a little girl named Emma. She is 11 years old and going through chemotherapy, and she wants to receive stickers in the mail. I know lots of you would want to send stickers. :) Emma's mom keeps a blog here where you can read more. 

Emma is so beautiful and loves stickers, writing letters, and blythe dolls. 

I remember the sticker box I had when I was little. It was metallic blue and had a porcupine on it. Luckily, I still have lots of stickers around that come in handy from time to time.

Send stickers for Emma to:

Miss Emma Love

PO Box 2849

Burleigh Waters, QLD, 4220

Australia

---

xoxo

Amanda

picture books

I discovered these books in the bookcase of my friend Renee, and now I want them so much!

Lifestyle Illustration of the 50s by Rian Hughes:

and Lifestyle Illustration of the 60s, also by Rian Hughes:

They're filled with the most colorful, beautiful vintage illustrations.

The color palettes alone are so inspiring.

We have snow today! Oddly, I do not mind. I finally finished my artist statement, sent it off, and walked to the grocery store to buy cookie dough. Whether it becomes cookies or is eaten as-is: to be determined later.

Love,

Amanda

two unreleased prints to benefit japan

I've made a listing in my shop for two prints of paintings that will be in my upcoming show. These paintings will not officially be released as prints until the summer. I am listing the first of these prints (the only ones to be printed at this time) in order to make a donation to the Red Cross, who are providing relief in Japan right now.

So here are two ladies who I think go quite well together:

This painting is being scanned tomorrow - she has a very starry sky which photobooth failed to capture.

The prints are being sold as a set and are available here. 

100% of the proceeds are going to the Red Cross, and I will mail them first class at no charge to you.

I hope you all had a beautiful weekend and are enjoying the extra daylight hours.

xoxox

Amanda

the weekend horticulturist

two new original drawing/paintings in the shop!

"the weekend horticulturist"

5x7" original painting available here.

&

"the perfect shirtwaist"

5x7" original painting available here.

xoxo

Amanda

spring gift (shop coupon for blog readers)

I love this blog so much, so when I discovered Etsy's fairly-new coupon code thing, I wanted to make one especially for my readers. 

So from now on, blog readers get 10% off anything in my shop! Just enter coupon code BLOG10 at checkout for an automatic discount.

xoxo

Amanda

oceana in full color

A little video by Derrick about "I Looooove You, Whale!"

marilyn reading in bedrooms and thickets

I have a soft spot for Marilyn Monroe. It's not that I particularly love her movies or that she embodies what I like about vintage or the past, but the innocence and insecurity she tried so hard to hide is so touching to me. 

I've always been perplexed by how easily child-like innocence is misunderstood as stupidity. The world is harder for people who are trusting, but being able to trust despite the hardness of that world is so beautiful.

Anyway, it recently dawned on me that there are many, many photos of Marilyn reading; Reading Joyce's Ulysses, reading about Goya, reading scripts, reading newspapers, reading paperback pulp, reading in libraries, reading under trees. 

I'm sure that some of these were posed, but I'm also sure that many of them were glimpses of Marilyn's curiosity caught on camera. 

These are my favorite photos of Marilyn Monroe.

I hope you all had a lovely Monday! More paintings and artist statement for Depending coming soon.

xoxo

Amanda