The Artings and Life of Amanda Eldridge

I'VE MOVED

2009-10-24T11:29:00.002-05:00

So I'm no longer blogging here and soon I might delete this account. I've moved all my old posts so no worries. I'll see you there! :)

NEW BLOG

New news, and it's big.

2009-10-05T09:29:00.002-05:00

I'm getting a divorce. My husband is not the man I thought he was. I'll elaborate more later, but I'll be able to be much more happy and successful without him. He did me wrong and played me for a fool. No time now, it's been hectic.

Love you all.

White-breasted Nuthatch

2009-09-11T03:32:00.002-05:00

5"x7" Acrylics, pen on paper.

That's all for now, enjoy!

Concealed Handgun Certification Course

2009-09-08T13:07:00.009-05:00

This weekend I took a certification course for my Texas Concealed Handgun License. I have to say, it was a lot of fun. It consisted of a classroom part where we learned about all the laws, followed by an exam, and finally we tested our accuracy at the shooting range. I passed and shot a 235 out of 250. :) .. Oh, and my gun is a Beretta 9mm.

Here the instructor is showing me the basics of the gun and what we will be doing.

Reloading the mag/clip.

Shooting me some evil green men..

See! I didn't do too bad and I didn't miss one! But, I did shoot to the right a lot for some reason.

I took the course with my dad (he's 74), but of course he shot better than me. I beat him on the exam though!

Passing out our paperwork.

Now all I need to do is get fingerprinted, take passport photos, and send in the paperwork and I'll be a CHL carrier. :D

Quit Your Day Job-Etsy

2009-08-31T23:15:00.006-05:00

Etsy.com (a site for buy and selling handmade items and more) posts these wonderful success stories about people who've made a living though selling their work on the site and I found one I enjoyed reading by another artist/painter: Quit Your Day Job:rachelaustin and sagittariusgallery.

I've been considering and preparing to start selling my work online through Etsy for a while now, reading that just motivates me more... It makes me think of more items I should start creating to sell, like more small paintings. It makes me excited to get the ball rolling. :)

Other things I should do:

Complete TEFL certification course (so I can teach English as a foreign language)
Complete FAFSA to get money for school (since I'm no longer registered as "an alien allowed to work" in the Social Security Administration computers.. I know. Crazy, right?)
Sign up and start taking college courses next spring pursuing some major in biology (so if life takes me that way maybe I can become an ornithologist one day.)
Get at least an Associate's Degree and eventually a Bachelor's (so I can travel and Teach English in the countries who require it for a working visa. Specifically, Korea.)
Master the Korean language. ^^ㅋㅋㅋ
Witness and photograph the legend that is the Ivory-Billed Woodpecker (Heck, why not? Then maybe I could claim that $50,000 reward that's being offered if you can lead scientists to a living Lord God Bird's habitat. Dream Big. :) )
Forgot to add, get a master's specializing in Ornithology. Follow your heart, right?

Update: I completed my TEFL Certification. Woot! I think I'll celebrate when the certificate comes in the mail. ^^

Cute Green Snakes

2009-08-28T23:58:00.005-05:00

Yes. I think they're cute. So much so I created my interpretation of one on paper. ^^

Untitled (Rough Green Snake)
11"x8.5"
Acrylics, charcoal, prismacolor, pen on paper.

So a little about this piece...

Most art, for me, is about the process. The art is in the creation of the piece. I love working with tools and techniques that can be unpredictable at times- running ink, paint splatters, even my hand. If you can take the unpredictable-whatever is flung at your canvas, and turn it into a piece of art, you will never make a mistake. I don't usually work with thumbnails, I don't always start with a drawing first. I never know what a piece will look like until I'm finished with it. In this way, every piece of mine is somewhat of an experiment as I explore new techniques while improving my artistic style and skill.

By the way.. I will never be a photo-realistic painter or a medical illustrator, nor do I want to be. My hand is not steady and I do not have good handwriting, but I work with and use it to my advantage it in my art. Besides, making a mess is always more fun. :)

Now, about this work..

For this piece I had a subject in mind, one that I felt inspired by at that moment- the rough green snake. I started with a pencil sketch and outlined it with micron pens. When I got to this point I was a little stumped- I am not a realist painter and in no way was I about to draw every single scale on that snake's body, but the snake needs texture. It's a rough green, not a smooth green snake! So I continued with some base shading using charcoal. Here is where I had my idea for the scales - I could flick/splatter/spray paint over some sort of mesh.
I did some experimenting with different materials and found that some old (maybe even tacky) white fishnet stockings held in place with painter's tape had the best effect. So yellow-green acrylic paint splattered with a toothbrush over fishnet stockings=scales. ^^
More shading, defining, outlining. Added a hint of yellow pastel to bring out the green. It needed something more, I drew the border, flung some Sumi ink at it and got some on my face in the process. I directed the flow of the ink a little by blowing through a straw and reached for this weird brayer-looking tool I found in a shed and that created the lines that look like they've been made with corrugated cardboard. The snake wasn't standing out from the background enough so I outlined it with a complimentary color- red. That did wonders. More charcoal and pen details until I decided the piece was finally finished.

And that is basically how this whole piece was created. Enjoy your day! (and my art! :)

Rufous Hummingbird

2009-08-28T23:54:00.003-05:00

New-er drawing.. done almost a month ago but I haven't uploaded it 'till now. :)

Untitled (Male Rufous Hummingbird)
12"x9"
Charcoal, pastel, pen on paper.

Sad Day.

2009-08-18T23:14:00.002-05:00

Here is my photo album of Petit Jean State Park. I would elaborate more and share some of my favorites, but that will have to wait. I got word this morning that my god-grandmother (to me she is my grandmother) passed away yesterday. She was undergoing cancer treatments.

I just finished watching one of my favorite films- "빈집" (meaning 'empty houses', but the US title is "3-iron"). You should watch it sometime.

Business Cards

2009-08-16T13:43:00.004-05:00

Every professional needs them, so I decided I would make my own using my printer and Microsoft Word. I need a paper cutter though, X-acto knives can only do so much (now my arm hurts!). Here's what they look like:
Neat, huh? And free, free is good. :)

Back from Petit Jean

2009-08-14T20:25:00.002-05:00

I had a great time. Pictures coming soon, but I am almost finished with my web site. Almost all the images are up, but no painting information yet. Might still need some tweeking, but for a free website, I think it's really nice! Check it out: The Artworks of Amanda Canine

Go Fish!

2009-08-06T16:56:00.002-05:00

I've been fishing since I was very little, and always with my mom.

Bluegill are my favorite fish to catch. They're so pretty, tasty too. If I had an aquarium, I'd love to keep a few.

I went fishing by myself for the first time a few hours the other day. I caught 4 keepers.

This is the biggest Bluegill I caught.

And this little male was the prettiest.

...I love fishing.

Recent Rains..

2009-08-06T16:39:00.002-05:00

I love rain.. of course with all the recent rains a few surprises come along too. Beautiful rainbows being one...
And since we have a pond nearby, we see the occasional lost and wandering aquatic creature...

..Like this grumpy snapping turtle.

I would have like to carried to poor lost thing back to the pond, but since it was about 10+lbs and potentially could bite a finger off [they're not very friendly], we decided to let it walk to wherever it thought it was going. :)

Changed a few things..

2009-07-22T01:42:00.003-05:00

..And added the flash art gallery you can find on the right- it's a project I've been working on. I'm also working on a full wepage that maybe I can use one day. I know I do want to set up a selling account at Etsy.com at some point and sell my work there. I'm not showing in any galleries right now, I can't afford to commute and organize galleries in Hot Springs right now. Anyway, tell me what you think of my neat side flash gallery.. of course I'm still working on it.. (btw, click on the bird. :D!)

Mid-Summer Art Show

2009-07-19T13:47:00.002-05:00

Is done and over. It was really nice.

Autumn Memoirs won Honorable mention in Animals

Strong as Silk won 3rd place in Abstract/Contemporary

For the Ashdown Art Show

2009-07-12T22:08:00.007-05:00

As promised, here is the line-up for what I'm entering in the art show(i might decide to enter more.. maybe. I'm not 100% sure yet in what categories or the prices, but I have a general idea (abstract/comtemporary, genre, animals, animals?). The first two of insects(well, the first is a spider) are personal favorites... I might have to mark NFS on one of them. It's always a good feeling when a piece you did yourself inspires you, that is what those two are for me. Money is nice, but I might be heartbroken if one of those babies sold. :'(

Strong as Silk (Spiny Orb Weaver Spider)

18”x12”

Acrylics, Pen, Charcoal, Collage on Paper

Gone to Waste (Cuckoo Wasp)	12”x12”	Acrylics, Charcoal, Pen, Collage on Paper
Crimson Lookout (Male Vermilion Flycatcher)	16”x12”	Acrylics, Charcoal, Pen, Pencil on Paper

Autumn Memoirs? (Carolina Chickadees)

12"x12"

Acrylics, Charcoal, Pen on Tea Stained Paper

And here is the newest piece I've completed, framed and ready for the art show.. No definite title yet, maybe sometime like "Autumn Memoirs". Carolina Chickadees. Acrylics, charcoal, pen on tea stained paper.

I'm getting excited about this art show, I'm kinda being optimistic about it. If I win anything, i will be investing in some new clothes (shoes start to fall apart after about 1-2 years of constant wear :D ) or art supplies.. I need a paper trimmer- one of those evil guillotine looking things, because exacto knives aren't very efficient. Now I'm just rambling. :)

Oh and if anyone has a recommendation on a lens to photograph my art with that won't distort the image, please fill me in.. these were take with my nikon d70 and the kit lens zoomed (+polarized filter for the glare on the glass) in a little to minimize the wide angle distortion. I need to experiment more with taking these photos

up next, kinda faux encaustics with acrylics, with a butterfly! yay (i think?)

Things to share

2009-07-11T03:33:00.005-05:00

For acrylics, these are 2 books I own and would recommend. They're both full of neat techniques to play with, they will also help you better understand acrylic paints and mediums.

I also found this realllly awesome messenger bag at dickblick.com, the Just Stow-It Messenger Bag. For artists on-the-go is seems like a great bag to carry all your supplies in, it even has space for a laptop. Just look at all that purposeful storage! Anyway, it's about $45, but if you think about it, I've seen smaller purses with far fewer pockets that are more expensive than that. I hope to get one someday soon. :)

Bad News, Overdue for an Update.

2009-07-11T03:26:00.005-05:00

Well, for the bad news, the Hot Springs gallery I was hanging in, Salon Muzu Muzu, suddenly closed. That was a hectic and sad event for me, but I have all my pieces here now. Hopefully, I can get my stuff hanging again in The Gallery@404b, but it hard to travel up there when my family only has one car right now to go between all of us.

More bad news, a painting of mine is M.I.A./STOLEN!! Why? More disappointment there. I miss the painting, but on another weird, maybe even sadistic, offnote- should an artisit feel flattered that someone loved their art enough to steal it? I last saw the piece around April in Muzu Muzu. This is the painting:

Berry Bandit

(Cedar Waxwing

12"x12"

Acrylics, Pen on Paper

As simple as this composition is, It was one of my personal favorites. Of couse if you have any information about it, feel free to contact me...

Good news, The Mid-Summer Art Show in Ashdown, AR is next week. I hope to enter 4 peices (i promise to add photos later :) ), maybe even win some much desired(and needed) cash.

Why does inspiration often come at night?

2009-06-10T16:21:00.003-05:00

Personally, I would prefer to wake up early in the morning, but for some reason I feel the most creative long before I should be asleep. Like last night, I was up around 3! I hate sleeping in. But anyway, here is the what I started last night..

I was playing around in my Chinese brushes and ink and I made this little piece. Although I do take hints from Japanese paintings and woodblock prints, I don't normally paint in the traditional-ish Chinese/Japanese style.. I kinda like this actually.. I've added a hint of brown to the plum branch since I've scanned it, put that is a Northern Parula and it's sumi-e ink on Japanese rice paper. I might give this as a gift to my friend.

So after fiddling with my Chinese brushes, I decided to study the compositions of Japanese paintings.. I found this one to the left I really liked (Watanabe Seitei (Sho Tei), Birds on Branch, 1878, watercolor on paper, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute.). It inspired me to draw the painting above (no paint on it, yet). I see the bluebirds here together often, such a cute couple.^^ If you pay attention you start to notice that quite a few birds travel in pairs.. It makes you wonder how many birds are monogomous..

Below is another painting I started a week ago. I'm testing the OPEN line of Golden acrylics on it.. It's kinda neat how they don't dry quickly like normal acrylics. It's a blue-and-white flycatcher, native to Asia, like China and Korea. Part of it got cut off by the scanner, but the bubble says "안녕!" (annyeong) or "Hello!" in Korean. ^^

It's been awhile. What's been going on?

2009-06-10T15:51:00.005-05:00

A lot has been going on. I thought things were going up, then they went down.. Now its seems to be a constant state of bleh.

-We only have one car to go between my whole family. Playing the chauffeur gets dull pretty quick.
- Supposedly, I won 6 months free subscription to koreanclass101.com... but I haven't heard back from them yet... I was all excited about that, more money I don't have I can save, now I'm starting to feel bummed. I first replied to them last Thursday... can I start studying Korean now? Please?
-My god-grandmother, who is 72 was diagnosed with cancer. She's more of a grandmother to me than my biological one, but I'm not feeling very optimistic about her being able to make it though the treatment. :/
-On a lighter note, I sold 2 paintings last gallery walk. One of which was that bluebird peeking out from a birdbox. I'm thinking I'll make a series of quick, small paintings to sell for cheap. Those seem to be going well.

Not-so-Good News

2009-05-05T15:51:00.005-05:00

Well, not many wonderful things have been happening here. My car is out of commission- I just hope the repair for my car is cheap. I'm still working on my art, but because of my car the galleries in Hot Springs that I am in are a little empty right now, but at least I'm up at Stanhope's. Good news! I can play "Mary had a Little Lamb" on the violin!
Here is the finish painting of the nesting bluebird. I didn't intend for the left side to be so dark, but I made a boo-boo on the that eye. Like a good little artist I didn't scrap the painting. Overall, I think it was a good save.

Busy day, but here is a WIP

2009-04-30T10:49:00.003-05:00

Here's the Bluebird that is still a Work In Progress. Of course the baby blues have already hatched and I got the see their cute naked little bodies. Fortunately, the man of the nest wasn't the Blue that got taken by that Cooper's hawk. I can see both parents going to and from the nest to feed their babies from my window.
In other news, today I take my work to Stanhope's and prepare for Hot Springs, but I still don't know if I'll be able to go to HS with new art. :( - My car isn't working at the moment. It turns on, but the gears won't engage ( it's a 6-speed standard rsx-s). Bummer!

Good news: My good friend Tiff and I are working to become Teaching English as a Second Language certified. We're planning to one day teach English in South Korea, China, maybe even Japan. Yay!

The Bluebirds are Nesting!

2009-04-20T23:17:00.002-05:00

It's nesting season. There are 5 bluebird eggs in one of my boxes I monitor at my house now.
Unfortunately, the other day I found feathers of a male eastern bluebird scattered all across the yard. I was about ready to but an add in the paper for "free rat-catching cat to good home," but the more I think about it, it couldn't have been that cat. I found no body, and couldn't locate where the bird was taken, the feathers weren't matted with cat spit... Copper's Hawk.. She must have caught herself that tasty bluebird. Luckily the female bluebird is safe. I see her staring at me though her front door every time I wounder near her home. There are also other males I hear singing nearby. I guess I'll never know if that Cooper left Mrs. Blue a widow.

So here we are. This is what I started tonight. Mrs. Blue peeking out from her nest. ^^
Gotta love bluebirds. :)

Pretty Little Creatures

2009-04-19T23:46:00.003-05:00

I'm sure you've notice by now that I'm a very hands-on type of person and I like to explore. There's not many things that I'm afraid of- not snakes, not spiders (my husband doesn't like spiders.. or wasps). If I find something that catches my eye, I always want to get closer. So here are some more photos of my encounters. :)

This is a Gulf Fritillary Butterfly. They're really beautiful. Those "white" spots actually glisten a bit, like frosted silver. ^^ This one had just emerged from its pupa (that I never found), so its wings were still drying. It wasn't able to fly at this point.

This is a very unhappy male Green Anole. I caught him and used him as a model in a photography class assignment - he didn't agree. This one held on to my finger for a few minutes.

This is a Giant Leopard Moth. They're strictly nocturnal and won't fly (or move much at all) during the day. I don't remember if this was a male or female, or how to tell, but I'd guess female. The Black on the moth has a metallic blue sheen to it when the light hits it the right way. Very beautiful.

Here is a very young Southern Ringneck Snake found in Hot Springs, Arkansas. His cheek was injured, :( but he seemed to be alright. You can see his colorful belly in this photo. ^^ Cute!I even used to band birds with the Arkansas Game & Fish Commission working on the M.A.P.S. project in Mercer Bayou. I really miss it. Here I'm checking the body fat on a female Prothonotary Warbler.

Hummer's Nest

2009-04-19T23:34:00.003-05:00

I think I'm finished with it.. so here it is.. Ruby-Throated Hummingbird Nest, Acrylics and Micron pen on paper.

Hummer Nest

2009-04-18T02:28:00.004-05:00

Here is a piece I started working on today. It's a nest of a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird.

I still have a few things to work on, like the borders and bringing color to the nest. I've never tried the painting technique I used here to create those lines before. I kinda like it. It's called "wet string." Hehe.

Ribbon Snake vs. Green Tree Frog

2009-04-17T23:16:00.004-05:00

I thought I might as well blog about my nature adventures and other things that inspire me, so here's one you might enjoy. If you love frogs and hate the 'cruel' aspects of nature this post might not be for you, but if you love herps, carry on :)

I was working on some old martin houses at my house and I heard a green tree frog crying from a shrub beside my house. I went to investigate and out fell a (Eastern?) Ribbon Snake with the foot of a very unfortunate Green Tree Frog in its mouth. I ran inside to get my camera and a large plastic container.. The original plan was to rescue the frog AND the snake -I was afraid the small snake was going to choke on that huge frog, but I was wrong.
When I came back out with my camera the snake already had both legs down.. (I do wonder how he did that, head first would've been easier.) I gently moved the snake in to the plastic bucket so I could watch and the snake could enjoy his meal in peace (we have cats). I let him free after he was fat and happy. We have a pond behind my house. He'll be fat an happy the rest of his life as long as he avoids the Red-Shouldered Hawks I've seen back there.

April 16, 2009

2009-04-17T02:14:00.005-05:00

Pine Warbler

6"x9"
Micron Pen, Acrylics on Paper

There are some days when you're in an arty mood and you don't feel like working on your current projects. Today was one of those days. Thus here is this pretty little painting I spit out and now this blog. So enjoy my scribbles and ramblings. :)