geese on the wall

While home for the holidays, I found some beautiful old family photos of my Nana, Grampa, mom, and aunt in the 1950s.

Since mid-century aesthetics are the biggest inspiration behind my paintings, these photos are special to me on a number of levels. The objects, patterns, and clothing in these photos speak volumes to me about my Nana. At the same time, they fill me with ideas for new paintings that touch on my personal artistic intentions as well as my heritage, which I find to be responsible for my creative work to begin with.

My great aunt and my Nana

 my aunt, Nana, and mom

 My Nana (left) with some friends

 My mom and aunt :)

 My mom playing piano with a friend

 My Nana and Grampa

 My mom, Nana, and aunt

 My Nana's high school portrait

 My Nana and mom (left) with friends

 Nana and friends

 Nana (left) and friends

 Nana and Mom

 Nana and Grampa (right) on their wedding day

Mom and Nana's mother 

Mom

---

I hope you have all had the most wonderful holiday season! We woke up to snow this morning after such a snowless month. It was a wonderful Christmas.

Happy New Year to you all and see you soon!

Xo

Sunday in Boston

Tomorrow is the Bazaar Bizarre Boston! 

 Noon to 6 p.m. at the Cyclorama Center in the South End (539 Tremont Street).

In addition to prints and post cards, I'll also be selling some new products.

Gift Tags - 10 tags; $6

 Double-sided Ornaments - one for $6, two for $10

Temporary Tattoos - 10 tattoos; $8

I hope you all had a pleasant weekend. 

xo, Amanda

walking in a winter wonderland

I recently had the immense honor of adding my illustrations to Ode Boutique's winter lookbook. It is one of the funnest jobs I've ever done!

Working with beautiful photos of such a lovely model was a neat way to play off of my own lady paintings. 

Ode Boutique is having their monthly Arts Night Out tomorrow night from 6-8 pm to celebrate the season. If you're in the Northampton area, you should check it out!

studies

 "Birch Study"

 "Pine Study"

"Star Study in Pink"

(all available as 8x10 prints in my etsy shop, print/paper doll bogo sale still on until December 15th!)

I made these in concurrence with another project that I'll be sharing really soon!

I hope you're all having a lovely week.

xo, Amanda

evergreen

I love, love, love winter and the holidays in Boston.

I remember my mom once asked me if I felt sad not having a real Christmas tree in my apartment in the city. I don't feel sad not having a tree, and it occurred to me at that moment that it's because when you live in the city, the whole city kind of becomes your Christmas tree. Everything is decorated so beautifully and it's pretty much a given that you can see someone's twinkle lights from your bedroom window. (That was one of my favorite winter things when I was little - sleeping with the shade up so I could see the neighbor's lights).

I hope you're all enjoying the holidays thus far, wherever you are. :)

black and white

I've been having fun painting in black and white lately. There is something I want to do to this piece, but I'm a little attached to how it looks already. I'm taking my time thinking about my options. :)

I have some interesting illustration projects to share in the next couple of weeks. Till then I'll try to post some sketchbook stuff. See you soon! xo

buy one, get one holiday sale!

 

Buy one print or paper doll, get one free in my etsy shop until December 15th! Purchase one and let me know the second you'd like in the Message to Seller box.

I added some new prints from "Novels for Keeping."

Happy holidays!

magpie

a girl named Maggie.

Bazaar Bizarre Boston 2012!

Hi, everyone!

My good friend Rachel Gaudette and I will be tabling at the Bazaar Bizarre this winter!

All the info for the event is above.

Rachel will be selling her beautiful handmade Love Letter jewelry and I'll be selling prints, post cards, ornaments, original drawings, and silk-screened tote bags! Hopefully we'll see you there. :)

Wishing a wonderful Thanksgiving week to all my friends in the US, and a wonderful week to everyone else, as well!

"Can I take out my notebook?"

One of my students has a brown leather folio that contains a writing pad, a stack of Hello Kitty post-its, and a folder to hold loose papers. She takes it out at the end of every day and hides in the corner with it. At first it was something she liked to keep secret, but lately she has been asking me earlier in the day if she can "take out her notebook" and use it at the drawing table. I like that she calls it a notebook, because it's not a notebook in the traditional sense, but it embodies a notebook in the definitive sense: one place where she keeps everything important, everything she writes and draws.

It reminds me of my own "notebook." Over the years, the places where I write and the places where I draw have merged into one blank book that lives in my bag and goes everywhere with me.

So, at the drawing table, I have begun to take out my notebook as well, and together we draw and write things. I make art with the children every day, but doing it in my own personal sketchbook has been a really fun exercise.

 I hope you're all having a beautiful week!

Back soon with more stuff.

xo, Amanda
p.s. - printable directions for the fox puppet in the post below :)