amanda blake's oil painting blog

enormous tiny art 11 and other news

2012-02-01T12:36:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to again be part of Enormous Tiny Art at Nahcotta gallery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. It's a wonderful group show of original art all under 10 inches square and all pieces are available on their website.

February 1944, Anita and me - Verna
original oil painting on wood block
3.5 by 4.5 inches
$150.

For the show I did a series based on some of the vintage photos I've collected from estate sales and ebay over the years. I chose to work only with images that were written on and used that writing as the titles. The six pieces in the series (along with a few of my little portrait blocks) are available on my page of the Enormous Tiny website - here.

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After many requests the Sebastian Foster gallery and I have printed a second edition of "rebecca wore a dress of wildflowers." This version is slightly smaller - the size of the orginal piece and is an edition of 250. You can buy it here in my store or through the Sebastian Foster gallery.

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I'm thrilled to be the featured artist in the absolutely beautiful Australian magazine Frankie. There's a lot of beautifully printed images, an interview (that I've been too nervous to reread in all it's printed glory so I hope it's good) and even a poster. You can read about the magazine here.

she carried with her the sea

2011-11-28T13:33:00.001-08:00

8 by 10 inch original oil painting on one inch deep birch panel.
Framed in a custom made dark stained wood frame.
See one of the frames here:
http://thisisalliknow.bigcartel.com/product/her-secrets-were-beautiful
$800.

The problem with the format of my blog - post a painting and something about how it was done or what it's all about - and the order in which I post all my work on line - flickr, my shop, twitter, very occasionally on my neglected facebook page and then eventually here - is that when I finish a piece if I don't come up with something to say about it fairly quickly it often sells and then I've moved on to the next piece without ever getting around to showing it here. So while I currently can not think of anything to write about this piece I'm just going to go ahead and share it anyway so that I get a chance to and so that I get something posted here at least once a month, which is nowhere near as often as I'd like to post but at least it's something.

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I have new paintings, block portraits and prints in my shop as well as new paintings available through Sebastian Foster.

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If you are in the San Francisco area I now have some of my prints available at press: works on paper.

they took with them all that mattered and lit fires to remember their way home

2011-10-14T07:31:00.000-07:00

"they took with them all that mattered and lit fires to remember their way home"
original oil painting on birch panel
14 by 18 inches
$1800.

I don't usually have quite as clear of a final painting in mind when starting paintings of this size and larger so it's not really the best example of how I work, generally quite a bit more things come and go in the composition, but I still thought it would be fun to share.

2011-09-28T13:18:00.000-07:00

she always saw beauty
signed limited edition print of original oil painting
image size 8 inches square with a one inch border
$45.

I've added two new prints to my shops, the image above and "the flowers she carried reminder her of the places she'd left behind".

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After way too long I've updated my website with new images and a page about commissioning a custom piece.

she taught her children the language of the seas and the skies, the animals and the flowers

2011-09-16T21:31:00.000-07:00

original oil painting on wood
eleven by fourteen inches
$1600.

Just realized I never posted this painting that I finished a few months ago.

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I've added custom blocks back to both my shops.
http://thisisalliknow.bigcartel.com/category/custom-paintings
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thisisalliknow?section_id=6728943
As always if you are interested in larger custom work just send me an email and I'd be happy to fill you in on how it works.

they built a life out of hope and flowers

2011-09-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

original oil painting on birch panel
14 inches square
$1500

I've been playing with idea of how to paint thoughts and time for a bit now and suddenly it seems to be my main theme when I look around my studio at the work I have in process. This painting started with a drawing from my (too big for me to complete) project I tried last year and with many many sketches and tossed out ideas came to this image. The people are wearing clothes of light, air, life, water and earth (there's a very small fifth figure in the garden). If just felt right that anyone who could build a home of hope would wear clothes of made much more that just cloth.

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As I have been for some time now I'm one of the artists participating in the wonderful Enormous Tiny Art Show at the Nahcotta Gallery in Portsmouth, New Hampshire and as always my work for the show is available online.

mitzi

2011-09-03T07:20:00.000-07:00

original oil painting on wood block
approximately 4.5 by 3.5 inches
$120.

After a lot of time spent packing, a wonderful cross country drive and a bit of time to settle in I've made it to my new home in Madison, Wisconsin and back to work. I'm starting my jump back in to business with adding a selection of ten new portrait blocks to my shop. If you'd like email updates when new items are added to my shop just click here, thanks.

he would always be close to her

2011-06-09T13:18:00.000-07:00

original oil painting on birch panel
10 inches square
sold

The last in my series of superstition paintings (for right now). Hair knit into clothing will make a stronger connection between the knitter and the wearer and for sailors the hair will remind them of home.

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I've been a bit behind when it comes to some things as of late. I'm busy preparing for summer shows and I still have Frances at home with my full time and now I'm packing up for a huge move. This August my family and I will be leaving our beloved Portland, Oregon for Madison, Wisconsin. My husband will be returning to school and we're all pretty excited about the move - although I do fear the cold.

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I've had quite a few people ask about commissions lately - I removed them from my shop because I just don't the time right now but will be adding them back as soon as I'm able - at the earliest October. I'll be sure to post here when I have the time to work on them again.

Ivy and Parker drifted through black seas with only candlelight to guide them

2011-05-31T11:13:00.000-07:00

original oil painting on wood
six inches square
$400.

This piece is one of several new smaller originals available through Sebastian Foster gallery.

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Since I last posted I have quite a few new original oils, acrylics and portrait blocks in my shop.

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I'm currently preparing for July shows:

Cherry Creek Arts Festival
Denver, CO
July 2, 3 and 4

Salem Art Fair and Festival
Salem, OR
July 15, 16 and 17

Bellevue Arts Museum Arts Fair
Bellevue, WA
July 29, 30 and 31

in hope of changing their fate

2011-03-24T14:30:00.000-07:00

original oil painting on wood
36 inches square
sold

sometimes it's rather difficult to decide what to say about a painting when i post it here, how to sum it up in a few sentences. i could easily provide a list of the meaning of every detail but i don't want to kill the mystery. i worked on this piece off and on for two years - the lists of possible characters and stacks of books with marked pages can all finally be put away - and last night i decided on the title and now it's all done and just explaining it all away seems rather anticlimactic. so i'll say this - often the most difficult part of painting is knowing when to stop but then there's also the moment when it all suddenly comes together and you know one brush stroke more would be too much and that's what happened here and that moment is wonderful and i hope that feeling comes through in the finished piece.

there's my sappy blog post for the month.

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i added another original to the shop (i'll feature it here later) "she taught her children the language of the seas and the skies, the animals and the flowers" it's another piece i worked on for a year before it finally came together and i'm pretty in love with it.

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i have several new prints in my shop and one more to come - tomorrow maybe?

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and one last bit of news - i'll be at the best of the northwest show at magnuson park, seattle. do stop by and say hi if you're in the area.

she longed for visions of love

2011-03-11T15:33:00.000-08:00

8 inches square
original oil painting on birch panel
sold
burning letters to see visions of her true love in the smoke

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i have one new print in my shop - every night she sent out messages and waited for an answer

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i have a few more little block paintings in my shop. you can read a little bit about some of them in a recent feature on the my love for you... blog

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to my readers in japan - i hope you and your families are safe, take care.

they took apart the world they had to make a better one

2011-02-25T11:08:00.000-08:00

original oil painting on wood
18 inches square
$1800 through sebastian foster gallery

i recently took part in the group exhibition re:form school. the artists were given several themes to choose from, this is my piece based on the idea of community.

brick by brick the people tear apart their buildings and come together to make something new.

tonight her dreams would be beautiful

2011-02-14T14:45:00.000-08:00

original oil painting on wood
eight by ten inches
sold

as i near the final stages of a 36 inch square piece about superstition all the time spent researching ideas for it left me with many ideas that didn't fit into the larger piece so i'll have many new smaller superstion themed pieces to share over the coming weeks.

this piece is about the superstition surrounding dreams and nightmares. some of the imagery - keys under the pillow, boughs of fir decorating a bed, a necklace of peonies... are ones found in books and some are my own inventions. while studying art history in college i was often frustrated by the presumptions made about the meaning behind so much of the work we studied but then one day it all clicked the other way for me - i love that just by painting something it gives it meaning and much of my work has been about that idea. the importance given even the most simple things just by adding them to a painting is so fascinating to me.

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working on some new prints - should have three new editions to share soon.

eugenie

2011-02-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

oil painting on wood block
approximately 3.5 by 4.5 inches
sold

eugenie is one of many new blocks in my shop right now. which isn't really news enough for me to generally post on my blog (for little updates like that it's best to just sign up for emailed shop updates). the actual news is that i had made a little coding mistake and had made it impossible for people to purchase anything in my shop for the past few days, oops. it's all better now.

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also happy to announce i'll be at the best of the northwest art show in seattle march 26 and 27.

suddenly the color of the sky reminded louisa of all the dreams she had ever forgotten

2011-01-31T16:37:00.000-08:00

original oil painting on birch panel
eight by ten inches
sold

several months ago i turned over one of my panels and saw this title scribbled on the back. i'd been sure enough of the concept that i skipped my usual places to jot down ideas while i think them over (on my easel, on my desk, on my wall, in the margin of one of my dictionaries of superstitions or occasionally in my sketchbook) and had gone straight to writing the title on a panel, an action i generally reserve for finished pieces but then somehow i forgot completely about it, which i guess is rather perfect. now that i've finished the piece i have to wonder if i'll ever remember when the idea came to me.

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i added an email subscription box on this site and in my shop so you can have my blog posts or the latest additions to my shop emailed to you.

i added one more little block to the shop today - maureen.

diana, susannah, emeline, arabella, alfie and oscar

2011-01-28T15:18:00.000-08:00

oil paintings on wood blocks
size varies - approximately 3.5 by 4.5 inches
$100 each in my shop
1. diana, 2. emeline, 3. arabella, 4. amelia, 5. alfie, 6. clifton

The above photos are a selection of my available little portrait blocks - I currently have 14 (plus two custom options) for sale in my shop. For some time I've had a goal of actually showing up at an art show with a full booth, I think I only really achieved this goal one time at my first ever show at the Bellevue art festival something like nine years ago now but I'm really going to try to do it again this year. With that goal in mind I'm working on creating a bit more of a steady stream of these little paintings to try to build up a bit of an inventory in a slower calmer way than I generally go about things but of course I can't imagine having the patience to just hold onto things as I wait for a show so I'll be listing them all in my shop as they are finished.

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For the past few months - or should I say year or perhaps always - I've been terrible about responding to blog comments. Sorry about that and I'm trying to remedy it, going through and replying to all the old ones and starting now replying to them as they come in so please do feel free to comment or ask questions or just say hi in the comments and I'll say hi back. Promise.

Thank you to all who've already purchased pieces from the series I posted yesterday - so happy to see half of them have already sold before the show's opening - if you had your eye on one you might want to head over to the enormous tiny site now.

enormous tiny art show no. 9

2011-01-27T13:47:00.000-08:00

sizes vary - approximately 3.5" by 4.5"
oil paintings on wood blocks
sold

1. vonceil - missouri 1935, 2. carmen - mexico city 1958, 3. karl - ottawa 1940, 4. henrietta - boise 1932, 5. girard - los angeles 1954, 6. james - denver 1938, 7. bill and ed - 1944, 8. poppy - des moines 1960

people often ask if i work from photos and the answer (except for custom work) is generally no but when trying to come up with a theme for my latest series for the enormous tiny art shows i decided to try a series based on many of the vintage photos i keep in my studio for inspiration.
the show opens at the nahcotta gallery in portsmouth, new hampshire february 4th but the pieces can all be purchased on their website now.

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i've just added a few new little portrait blocks to my shop.

after a bit of a break i'm pleased to announce i'll be back doing more art festivals this year and my first confrimed show to announce is that i will be back to do the lovely cherry creek arts festival in denver, colorado this july.

louise gathered the things she needed most

2011-01-20T07:38:00.000-08:00

oil painting on birch panel
8 inches square
sold

i don't know that you can be an artist and not spend at least some time thinking about the importance and power of objects.

i make things and hopefully these things connect with people and fit into their lives in meaningful ways. it's important to me not to bring anything into the world that just takes up space, i want to create emotion.

to me painting about people with their belongings - their sentimental collections or their magical talismans - just seems right because after all i'm trying to make something people will connect with and love so making the action the subject seems a natural thing to do.

i often think of the william morris quote "Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful." and though i don't follow it the way i'd like to and have a house with quite a bit of meaningless junk in it, i feel that in a perfect world while you still need the useful, so much of one's objects they choose to be surrounded by and interact with can go beyond beautiful to things with beauty and meaning.

i'll likely come back and edit this post or maybe i'll just do a few more frequent ones soon to bury it a bit because i'm not quite sure i'm saying what i want said but for now that's my little soliloquy.

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and now for little bits of news:

in my new shop i've been offering free shipping and reduced international shipping for january but since it's been taking me so long to get the word out to everyone that i would like to about my new shop i've decided to extend the shipping rates through february. the reduced shipping rates work out to about 10% off on prints, 5% on the block paintings and just a nice little bit off on the larger work.

i've had people asking me about a few of the prints lately - "rebecca wore a dress of wildflowers" is sold out everywhere and while i'm out of "she saw through the night by the light from her crown of stars" and "though evelyn knew the circus was her home sometimes late at night she would consider leaving" both are still available through sebastian foster and poster cabaret.

i just finished a new series for the next enormous tiny art show - here's a sneak peek - i'm not sure when they will all be up on the website but soon i think.

if you follow my flickr to see all the little things i work on you might have seen my little hobby of miniature photography - i've mounted some of the images on wood and they are now available in my shop.

they waited for the stars to tell them what came next

2010-12-29T16:33:00.000-08:00

original oil painting on birch panel
14 inches square
$1400.

i said in a recent post that my lucy series was about searching for answers in nature but i guess that was simplifying things a bit - it's not just the lucy series, it's really the subject of most of my work - the idea of searching for meaning and creating order out of the randomness of everything in nature. looking for meaning in the sky just feels so universal, it's a theme i can't imagine ever tiring of.

now that my christmas commissions are all finished i'm taking orders for valentine's day (or any other occasion you can think of) and have custom listings available again in both my new shop and my etsy shop.

every night she sent out messages and waited for an answer

2010-12-09T13:09:00.000-08:00

original oil painting on birch panel
six inches square
sold

lola - a recurring character of mine - alone in a candy colored landscape waiting for replies to the messages she sends in little paper boats.

the postal service gives the 21st as the cutoff date for christmas delivery shipping in the u.s. and i will still be shipping by priority mail with my fingers crossed on that date but if you'd like to be more sure of receiving your order in time please try to place any christmas orders by the 17th. thanks.

this is all i know - my shop
this is all i know - my etsy shop
sebastian foster gallery

new drawings and a new site

2010-11-30T15:33:00.000-08:00

maria at the forest's edge
watercolor, pencil, and ink on paper
$50

it's still a work in process but i thought now might be a good time to share it - this drawing and several others (with more still to come) are available in my new shop www.thisisalliknow.com i'll be posting new originals there, slowly adding the rest of my available prints and moving the originals that already are in my etsy shop over there. i'll still have the etsy store for prints but the new shop will be my main site.

for those of you that subscribe to my etsy shop in a reader to keep up to date on new work (and for those of you that would like to) here's the link for subscribing to my new shop - http://thisisalliknow.bigcartel.com/products.rss

lucy waits for spring

2010-11-22T09:26:00.000-08:00

oil painting on birch panel
14 inches square
$1200 available through sebastian foster gallery

another lucy painting, one of my favorite series. as always with the series this piece is exploring themes of hope and the searching for answers in nature and this one in the series is really about the magical color of the sky and the beautiful light of snow.
several new smaller pieces of mine are also available at sebastian foster, this is one of my favorites.

other new things:
i've posted photos (they're terrible photos but they get the general idea across) of my work that is available at noun on flickr.
i've added some new hand colored gocco prints to my etsy shop.

so much newness

2010-11-05T09:45:00.000-07:00

not yet titled

10 inches square

oil on birch panel

$800

today is the day when all the deadlines come to an end. a series of new acrylics is dropped off at noun, several new pieces are available at sebastian foster, and piles of prints are packaged and varnish is drying on new paintings for the little winter market this weekend.

so if you are in portland definitely go by noun on SE Belmont, it's a lovely shop and i've sent a series of 13 pieces many of which are quite a bit different than my usual work.

Also you Portland people must make it down to the little winter sale at The Cleaners at The Ace Hotel. It's going to be an absolutely lovely market. The website has information about all the vendors and also a little meet and greet party happening tonight at West Elm.

new prints

2010-10-09T11:31:00.000-07:00

i haven't completely disappeared, just been busy with long term things but i hope to have some that i can share here soon. in the meantime i've added a selection of new prints to my shop. i'm especially in love with the "they sacrificed everything to the stars" print, it really turned out beautifully.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/thisisalliknow

they sacrificed everything to the stars

2010-08-10T12:42:00.000-07:00

oil painting on birch panel
18 inches square
sold

bonfires, a sky full of galaxies and twinkling stars, a black field covered in flowers signifying rebirth and a family leaving behind all they have.

i've added three new prints to my shop - they drifted through the sea in a boat made of stars, she wrote poems to the stars and crafted them into wings, and she made wings of love letters and cherry blossoms. i'll be leaving for the sun valley arts festival tomorrow and will be taking all the original pieces out of the shop for the weekend but will leave the prints available.