cats in the library

I realized I haven't posted pictures of my Tiger in quite some time! I take a lot of pictures of her. Sometimes she loves it, sometimes she gets annoyed. Regardless, I think she understands the photographic process. Tiger also likes to claw me when she wants my attention. Sometimes she does it while I'm trying to take pictures of us, as shown above.

watching me paint.

paws on my sketchbook.

grooming.

Tiger's always been very good about keeping her "toenails" "clipped".

awww.

sleepy girl.

Tiger means so much to me. I don't know what I'd do without her!  

And I want to thank the ever-sweet Kirsty for giving me this award! It means a lot to know that people like reading this blog. And I really love this pinup girl in a library picture. :) 

Kirsty has a post up right now that reminds me of Whalom Park, which is gone now. My family went there at least once a summer my whole life until it was closed and then demolished a few years ago. I miss that place!

I hope you're all having an excellent weekend!

Love, me

warm numbers

I love this commercial:

It's something about the song and going back in time, and people from all generations and different wonderful decades being young at the same moment. It's like the best of all worlds at once.

I hope you have an excellent weekend! :)

evergreen sweaters

Today, I went to Viviana's Vintage in Clinton with my friends Abigail and Becca.

Becca admiring the Tiger hanger.

Becca and Abby and some mint green slips.

I thought this was a 30s dress, but, alas, it was an 80s jumpsuit. I would have felt so Daisy Buchanan in it.

a real 30s dress

Viviana's Vintage is on Main St. in Clinton MA, right across from the Strand Theater, if you're interested in going. :) Happy Monday!

Love,

me

If I were a princess...

I'd want Mary Blair to draw me.

Almost two years ago, one of my professors took us to her friend's backyard studio to do some printmaking. This woman had an amazing studio filled with supplies and, I'm willing to say, almost one thousand books. After she helped me crank my glass plates and print through the press, she told me she thought I'd like an artist named Mary Blair. She ran and got me a book aptly titled "The Art and Flair of Mary Blair," and she was right - I do love Mary Blair.

Mary did a lot of concept work for Disney (in its golden days), doing preliminary color sketches for movies like Alice in Wonderland and Cinderella. She did the character design for the "It's a Small World After All" ride at Disney (I love that ride!), and she had a successful illustration career of her own working on children's books. The picture above is my favorite kind of children's book illustration - when I was little (and still at age 23), I loved cozy bedroom scenes! They were all I used to draw (along with secret tree houses and jungle hideaways) until I was about 12 when my interests inevitably turned to fashion (I think now my interests are a happy mix of the things I loved at all ages, which I like :).

Nuns looking on while Mary paints.

character sketches

I love this portrait of a city. Mary's art took place in the time I love most (40s, 50s, 60s), and that is when I think cities (particularly New York City) were at their best. It reminds me of things like Breakfast at Tiffany's and I Love Lucy.

Some princess concepts.

Her art has that vintage quality. There certainly was a style back then that seemed to later influence shows like Ren and Stimpy (Log commercial?), but I think Mary stands out among the rest. You can just tell she understood children by looking at her paintings. They just exude happiness and fun to me, and are full of beautiful details to discover. Someday I will make a copy of "The Art and Flair of Mary Blair" my own.

I hope you're all having a not-too-hot, not-too-cool weekend!

Love, me

p.s. - The Pre-College show was held at AIB last night, and it went wonderful! Congratulations to all the students.

my maps the constellations, my inner dialogue

"and maybe I'm the stars, and maybe I was zelda; a bright pale thing

amidst the throttle (meant to be with aristotle)"

Acrylic on Masonite, 8x10"

A new painting for my show. :)

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Today was my last sketchbook class, and it made me sad! I really enjoyed the kids that I had, and I learned so much from them. For my first time teaching my own class, it was a wonderful experience and I couldn't have asked for a better group.

Happy monday to you all!

love, me

a zine and blue dress lemonade

This weekend, I finished laying out/printing/stapling the zines for my class. I'm excited to hand them out tomorrow! All their work looks so great together. This was my first time laying out a book with the fool-proof yet somehow still confusing method of "page 1 next to page 28" etc. Luckily it all came out perfectly! I used pictures I took at the Art House Co-op Sketchbook Project Boston show for the cover. 

I decided to make a treasury on Etsy this weekend. Blue vintage dresses are some of my favorite things, so I gathered together some really beautiful ones in hopes that other people will find their perfect blue dress/in support of some of the etsy vintage sellers I know, who have always been so sweet. 

And last, but hardly least, the lovely Kirsty (who is across the Atlantic in Essex!), gave me a "lemonade stand award" for my blog. Thank you, Kirsty! :)

I hope you all had very nice weekends. I think I'll have a painting finished tonight to scan and post tomorrow!

Love,

me

Jerry's Dog Story

Jerry posted this to the Mudbug Club's blog tonight - it's the album cover preview for his single, "Dig 'A Dog & Bone Story'." I did the painting and Dan Gaynor did the design. I love how it came out!! Jerry wanted a circus dog, and it was so fun giving him all the outfit and accessory options for the dog to wear. Being a huge dog lover, I of course loved the job.

As I type this, a little baby skunk is on our deck! It's one of its first scavenging outings without its mom. We've been tossing shelled (unsalted) peanuts out for it.

Happy Tuesday night!!

three films

Movies I'm excited to see:

Julie & Julia

I've always been interested in Julia Child's life in Paris, and what I've heard about how she and her husband met. I also love Amy Adams, and pretty much every movie she's in.

The Time Traveler's Wife

This is one of my favorite books of all time, so I was beyond ecstatic when I found out they were making a movie out of it!! Eric Bana looks exactly how I had pictured Henry when reading the book, which has never happened before. Usually the actors who play characters from books I've read look nothing like how I'd pictured them. This story is so romantic and fictionally scientific and enthralling. It's wonderful.

Where the Wild Things Are

I remember my mom reading this book to us so many times when we were little. The preview made me tear up - the way Spike Jonze filmed this seems to have added so much more emotion to the story than I ever noticed when I was little, but I'm sure it was lying there beneath the words and the pictures. Or perhaps it's the way Spike himself interpreted the book as a child. I know that I often find certain things to be really touching and emotional and no one else seems to see them that way. I think we all have things that hit us that way that no one else understands.

I'm glad that two out of three of these movies are coming out in August and I can see them with my mom before I move in September! She's my favorite person to go to the movies with.

I hope you're all having a nice Tuesday.

love, me

A Bulldog Named Rocky

Hi everyone,

The MSPCA recently rescued a bulldog called Rocky, who was found neglected and in terrible condition by police. He arrived with a severe case of pneumonia, plus skin and eye infections. He needs so much medical treatment that the MSPCA is requesting donations specifically for Rocky. Once his treatment is done, remaining donations will go to benefit all the other animals at the MSPCA. I've listed this tattooed lady print of which full profits will go to Rocky at the MSPCA. To make your own personal donation, visit mspca.org/rocky. Have a lovely Sunday, and hug all the animals in your life. :)

Love, me

a snail and a dress

I found this snail by a bus stop in Brighton on Sunday. He had climbed all the way up the tree to attach himself to this leaf. I liked being in his presence while I waited for the bus to come. Small creatures go through such great efforts to get places and seem so content in their simplicity. He seemed like a very happy snail. 

I bought this dress on Etsy a few days ago from Retro Renegade Vintage. It came today, and I think it might be my favorite vintage dress I've ever bought! It fits perfectly. It's made of blue wool and grey jersey knit, making it my official vintage dress for winter.

I love the collar! And the buttons! And the colors! And the triangular zig-zaggy pattern made by the collar and jersey knit. Sigh. I wonder who owned this one?

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This week my class worked on a zine. They had the freedom to put whatever they wanted on 8.5 x 11" pieces of paper, and I'm going to make all their drawings into a zine that they'll all get a copy of at the end of class and display in their final show. I thought it was the funnest class so far, but I know they like the field trips better. :)

Happy Friday! I hope you all have a great weekend.

Love, Amanda

P.S. - I added "Google Translate" to the sidebar for those who prefer to read blogs in a different language! Last night I read my blog in French. It was fun, and is possibly a good way to learn French.