Ouch.

Last night was the opening for my first art exhibit. I entered this piece into the Vision of the Flint Hills jury selection process back in July.
I was thrilled to receive my acceptance email last month.
Last night was exciting for me, my first exhibit on a First Friday, my first exhibit ever. The space [...]

Adventure lies ahead

Or rather, the adventure is laying out now. As I prepare for the Amsterdam Discovery trip, I am already amazed at the growth and stretching that is taking place in my own life.
In celebration, Wendy’s trip costs have been covered by donations, plus she will have just enough extra money to cover the meals [...]

Art Journal Morphing

First Fridays at VERONICA’s Voice are so much fun. The art journaling class has morphed into a general art class due to necessity. I found it difficult to explore new art journaling techniques when so many times the women in class did not have their journals or had not begun one yet. Many times the [...]

Circle Journal Joy

My dear friend’s inspiration has evolved into something grand. Alexandra invited many of her Artfest sisters to join in on a collaborative altered book project. Since then the idea has become a circle journal with a group of about 15 gals making and sending their journals around the group each with a distinct theme.
I was [...]

Symbols Shaping Space done!

Artfest was over 2 months ago. I am still finishing up details and adding thoughts to my Artfest journal. Yesterday I was thrilled to have completed the mobile from Katie Kendrick’s class: Symbols Shaping Space

This was my absolute favorite class. Katie is an intuitive artist, so as she taught, she drew out creativity in each [...]

Clean = Inviting

Inviting and refreshing, that is how the art studio feels when it is clean. As we wrap up the school year, I have had very little free time to express myself creatively. To hinder me further, piles were accumulating and swallowing up my work spaces. Today I tackled the studio and won the match. Creativity [...]

A Handmade Life

Issue 4, Creative Community, is available.

Robin at Alchemy Studios puts out an inspirational zine, A Handmade Life, and she was so gracious to include some art and writing by moi. Other contributors besides Robin herself include Patricia Mosca, Dawn Rice, and Jim Dubois. Check it out, folks. And thank you, Robin.!
amanda ∞

Botanica Exotica

The last class I took at Artfest was Botanica Exotica taught by Melissa Manley. We formed botanical shapes from wire and added sausage casing. Having had little experience working with wire, I found forming the shapes to be the challenge. Also the lack of sleep from several days of Artfest infusion was affecting my ability [...]

Have spray paint, will travel

One thing I have learned on this creative journey is to take advantage of each available moment. I’m becoming even more creative with time management. Do you suppose it will become a right brain activity at some point?
Tuesday is baseball practice day for my son. It takes 20 minutes to get there and practice is [...]

Pure Experimentation

Mary Ann Moss is offering an online stencilry class over at Dispatch from LA. There is still time to register folks! The class officially began a week ago Friday, but the nice thing about an online class is the flexibility in timing. I just finally got to the assignment from last week today. No sweat, [...]

Connections

The longer I live, the more I believe we are all connected in some cosmic way. Over a year ago I posted about a 1948 Calling All Girls magazine found in my grandmother-in-law’s attic. And last month I received an email from the daughter of the cover model of that same magazine! I feel I [...]

Artfest

Artfest caused yet another shift within me. Surrounded by such beauty and so many others who think in ways similar to me, I felt that if I did have a place I fit on this earth, I had found it. I have never felt more comfortable around so many people I’d just met. Just being [...]

My daughter, the teacher

While I was away at Artfest filling my head with creative things, my daughter became the teacher for the art journaling class at VERONICA’s Voice. She did a wonderful job leading and teaching and guiding.  Here’s the mosaic collage technique she demonstrated that day:
She sketched out the tree for placement, then added the color. [...]

Preparations, anticipation

Artfest is fast approaching. I’ll be leaving in 10 days! As I gather the supplies needed for my workshops, the excitement builds inside my chest. I find it a little harder to fall asleep each night as my mind whirls with anticipation. This will be my first year attending, so I’m keeping things pretty low [...]

Innovation – Trash to Fuzzy Socks

I’m making a robe for my son, a soft fuzzy robe. I’m so glad my mom and dad were in town when I was cutting it out. My mom is such an expert at pattern placement, especially when I am short on material. You see I bought the material when he was a little younger [...]