blue and green, sea and flower

 

Last night, I attended the Anthropologie Spring fashion show with beautiful Julia Denos. Per usual, hanging out with Julia filled me with endless inspiration! She is one of those wonderful people - full of kindness and ideas - that you feel truly lucky to have as a friend.

The show was beautiful. The clothes were gorgeous, of course, and unattainable. :) Anthro really knows how to throw together a party.

I hope you've all had a wonderful week and happy celebrating if you're enjoying Passover, Easter, or the like! xo 

time capsule

Tonight I went looking through this blog for my old Peanut Butter Cup recipe. I knew I'd put it on here in March of 2011, during the time I was painting for Depending Upon the Nature of the Beast.

This blog, like my real journals and sketchbooks but in a different manner, is a keeper of time capsules. Different months of my life have merged together to create specific "times" that have meant certain things, creating personal seasons that don't fall in line with spring, summer, autumn, or winter.

Anyway, I've always remembered the March and April months of 2011 to be lovely and special, and that what I was posting on my blog reflected it. Thinking of that time reminds me of the color pale pink, of listening to Henry Mancini endlessly while painting for my show, of the pine trees in the yard behind my apartment and walks at dusk.

Below are the things I was writing about on here in March 2011.

 peanut butter cups.

 my room.

 new business cards. (still the design I use!)

 Mary Blair.

 what to put in these vintage Easter egg capsules for my show's installation.

 The Dance of the Goldfish in Fantasia.

 frames.

 my first solo show at Three Graces Gallery. <3 p="">

 horticulture.

 the phases of the moon (phases lunaires).

Marilyn Monroe reading.

Roger.

recipe book

I'm going to my friend's for a Seder dinner tomorrow night, and I made this pie to bring!

(Step 1)

(Step 5)

(Step 7)

(Step 8)

This is the second time I've made this pie and I really love the outcome. I use the bones of this recipe with a few improvisations. 

You will need:
-1 9" pie dish

-1 package blackberries

-1 package blueberries

-1 package raspberries

-1 package strawberries

-1 pack semi-sweet dark chocolate chips

-about a quarter stick of butter

-1 1/2 tsp cinnamon sugar

-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

-1 cup sugar

-2-pack Pilsbury 9" pie crusts

-vanilla extract

1) Chop strawberries. Wash blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries and let dry. 

2) Mix cinnamon-sugar, sugar, and flour. Add in about half the butter, using fork to divide into smaller pieces/create a crumble effect.

3) Line bottom of pie dish with one crust, folding it over the edges of the dish.

4) Use about 1/3 of the cinnamon-sugar/sugar/flour mixture to cover the bottom crust.

5) Fill the crust with the berries, layering chocolate chips throughout.

6) Add a few drops of vanilla extract to top of pie filling.

7) Pour a little more than 1/3 of cinnamon-sugar/sugar/flour mixture evenly over pie filling.

8) Cover pie with top crust, pressing top edges into bottom crust edges. Cut eight 1/2" slits with knife. (Add drawings with toothpick :)

9) Melt rest of butter and mix remaining cinnamon-sugar/sugar/flour mixture into liquified butter. Use to baste top crust.

10) Bake at 350 F for 45 minutes.

I hope you all have a beautiful week! Back soon with more art.

xo

Sunday Mornings

Almost every Sunday morning, a few of my friends and I go out for brunch. This weekend we tried a tiny new place in Somerville called Union Square Donuts. Since it is part of Culinary Cruiser, the donuts are served out of a small space at the entrance of their building and there isn't anywhere to sit, but it has the coziest feeling of, say, a church breakfast with a table of coffee pitchers. The girls who work the front are super sweet. I got the Hibiscus Cherry and it was delicious.

It's right outside of Union Square, so if you're in the Somerville area you should check them out!

of birds and ballerinas

 Crayons are so much fun. Coloring with my students this week, I made two little ladies:

Both are available as prints in my shop now. 

Happy weekend!! xo, Amanda

oh, libraries.

I love libraries. When my sister and I were little, my mom used to take us to our town's library every weekend. We had a special tote bag reserved only for trips to the library, and we'd fill it with children's books to read throughout the week. This love has carried over into my adult life, leading me to spend afternoons wandering around Boston's beautiful public library. And I have always been especially fond of the scene in Breakfast at Tiffany's where Paul takes Holly to the New York City Public Library for the first time.

I was really excited when, on Valentine's Day itself, I walked into the Brookline Public Library and found this display of secret books!

Each book had a list of clues as to what it might be about. They were wrapped up so that you wouldn't know what book it actually was until you got home.

I chose the above package, and I'm so happy I did because it turned out to be:

The Uncommon Reader by Alan Bennett, which I have wanted to read for about a year! I finished it in a day, and there was something so fun and charming about being "matched" with a book and having to read it quickly in order to return it to the library. 

I hope you all had a lovely Valentine's Day! Back soon with art.

xo, Amanda

black and white photo of lovers #8

Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!

xoxoxo, Amanda

a snow day past and a snow day present

Tomorrow is a snow day! I have always loved snow days.

The last snow day I remember is the day that the photo above was taken, two years ago in January of 2011.

I was painting for Depending Upon the Nature of the Beast at the time. Aside from my art, my only other income came from the shop I worked at and I felt nervous and uncertain about what I wanted to do with my life. I was saving to go to Europe for the first time and money was tight. I lived in an apartment with no living room with two girls who, while incredibly nice, were random roommates I barely knew and we all had completely separate lives. My life was substantially more solitary back then. At times it was even a little difficult. It's funny, because I do look back on my first two years in the city in that apartment as lonely and, sometimes, really sad. And yet I look back on them so fondly, remember that bedroom so fondly, and am so grateful that I spent that time alone. By myself. Painting in that room until 5 in the morning.

Things are so different now. In such a short amount of time, things can change so much.

I think being in your twenties is hard. But if the last year and a half has taught me anything, it's that everything gets easier and amazing things can happen in the blink of an eye.

I hope that you all have the most beautiful snow day tomorrow! Be safe!

xoxo, Amanda

red sweaters and pine trees

Little original watercolor available here. 

Happy February!! xo