new work [ finally]

 I've been busy in the studio the past few weeks, but every time I sat down to blog about the latest happenings, I instantly hit a wall and a lack of words.  If you follow me on instagram (@amaryllistruth) you may have seen a few sneak peeks ;)

I'm trying to be more intentional with my time in the studio, and dwelling on my blog seemed to be more frustrating that it was worth, so I would walk away from the computer and continue to focus on the piece on my easel.  Nearly seven weeks later, here I am.  Please forgive my absence!

With wedding and our (BIG) future plans on the brain, I think my paintings are most definitely a reflection of my current mindset -- looking to the future, looking through the surface and searching beyond the canvas. 

Here are three of my latest pieces, visit my shop for more details :)
I feel it in my bones, oil on canvas, 30" x 40"
Nothing else will do, oil on canvas, 36" x 36"
Imagine this, oil on canvas, 36" x 48"

I have two more large pieces (36" x 48") that I am relentlessly tweaking... they aren't quite right yet, but soon, hopefully.

Hope everyone is enjoying this sunshine :)

a birthday

it was my love's 24th birthday yesterday, and we were able to spend it doing absolutely nothing. It was perfect.  Mark was able to take the day off from his farming duties and come home to spend the day with his girls :)

On our birthdays, we get to do whatever we want -- with no complaining from the other person.  (My birthday usually consists of a coffee date and lots of thrifting.)  Yesterday we drove the country side (one of our favorite things), daydreaming and making plans for our future farm and had lots of family cuddles.  I love that man, and can't wait for us to be together everyday.

-------

On the painting front, I'm in the middle of my next series, and am going to *try* my best to wait to share any peeks until I have all the pieces finished.  Yeah, good luck, with that.  But for now, no pictures.  But think big! (I'm currently working on a piece thats 3' x 4'! -- and yes, they are not square!)

Happy Spring everyone!  

[ Shop ] a new look + a coupon code

Have you guys seen my shop lately?! Big Cartel introduced a new template theme this past Friday, and I instantly fell in love.  I jumped at the opportunity, and after customizing it a bit to fit my style a little more, I arrived at this new, complimentary lay-out.  Clean, simple, fresh = perfection.

 

What was even more exciting was that Big Cartel featured my shop's new look and my paintings on their blog!  So honored to be included!

To celebrate the new look, and to help me make room in my studio for my next series of Spring work, I'm offering a (pretty rare) coupon code.  I don't offer discounts very often, so snatch this one up!

Enter HAPPYDAY15 at checkout to get 15% OFF your purchase!

The code expires St. Patrick's day at midnight, est.

AVAILABLE PAINTINGS: www.amaryllistruth.bigcartel.com

Spread the word and share the love! 

big [ news ]

it's been a few months in the making, and I've been dropping cryptic (and probably annoying) hints along the way, but I can officially say that I am now a gallery represented artist!  It was one of my major goals for 2013, and I am so excited to be able to check it off my list and continue looking ahead.

And where, you may ask... seriously, my dream gallery, Gregg Irby Fine Art, based in Atlanta.  I originally discovered the boutique gallery through one of my favorite contemporary artists, Michelle Armas.  Check out her stuff, she's pretty major.  And I found her work on the Anthropologie website... ya, she's that cool.  The gallery focuses on young, emerging artists and from the first time I visited their website, I just had a feeling it would be a really great fit for my work -- similar price points and complimentary (but nothing too similiar) styles.  It's a gallery packed full of color, and I think my more subtle pieces of muted colors and grays will be a very nice contrast :)

For any other emerging artists out there, a little note about persistence and determination... last year I sent a few images of my earlier work to Gregg Irby, and to my disappointment, never heard a response back.  Fast forward to January 2013, I had continued to push myself and paint, paint, paint.  I decided to give it another shot and sent images of newer pieces, but this time... I got an e-mail the very next day!  It just proves to keep going, and continue to develop your portfolio.

I'm shipping down three of my largest pieces Guide You, Let's not lose sight, and Canyon (below) this week to be displayed in the gallery!

I will still continue to list my other available pieces through my website.  And with some extra room now in my studio, I look forward to getting busy working on more large pieces and accepting more custom commission projects.  If you are in the market for a custom piece, visit my FAQ page which outlines the whole process or shoot me an e-mail to get started :)

spring cleaning [ studio ]

"spring" cleaning... despite the fact that we are expecting a few inches of snow tomorrow.

but it does feel good to finally have boxes unpacked, and the rooms arranged into an efficient and welcoming studio.  It's important for my studio to be a place where I want to be, and look forward going to -- my own sanctuary.  It also doesn't hurt that my mom will be in town next week, and it will be at least somewhat decent ;) 

I was inspired by this image, of Georgia O'Keefe's studio.  I'm not even going pretend that any aspect of my life will ever look that pristine, but it definitely is aspirational.  I hate clutter, and fortunately do not get very sentimental about objects -- it's easy, even therapeutic, for me to just toss things out to make room for open, empty space.

The apartment is made up of two rooms, plus a small kitchen and a bathroom and NO closets. (I'm currently using the stall shower to keep all my shipping boxes).  I have divided the two open rooms into a painting area and an office/sitting area.  I tend to get pretty messy when I work, so I'm going to try to keep my office/business space paint free, along with a shipping prep station. 

one of my favorite thrifted chairs. on the walls (left) it was inevitable, (right) fleeting

this weekend I finally put a few of my favorite available pieces up on the walls (I sometimes forget what they are actually meant for, and that they shouldn't be stacked and hidden away ;) and deep cleaned my brushes and palettes for the first time in months.

I have a thing for big brushes :)

 I also escaped for a bit to doodle on my chalkboard wall.  It's a corner wall I painted at the top of the stairs to the apartment, which was one of the first things I did when I moved in.  But since then, I've just stared at the blank, black wall each day, unsure of what to do.  So this is now as far as I've gotten...

   
The studio is still a work in progress (as it probably always will be) as I move in a few more pieces of furniture, and search for a much needed larger easel. Which reminds me... any artist friends in the Hagerstown/DC area getting rid of an easel, LET ME KNOW!

Hope everyone had a great start to their week!

If we don't elope... [ Wedding Plans ]

I'm gonna take the chance to step away from all this boring art speak, and slip into something much more fun, WEDDING plans! ... I haven't talked much about wedding planning, since it seems so far away.  (We are waiting until Mark is finished with his commitment at his current farm, and planning for May 2014) But like everyone reminds me, I'm sure it will come much quicker that I expect.

We've been playing around with the idea of eloping... it just seems silly to spend so much money, especially at this point in our lives where we could use it for much greater things (like a house!).  Our families have been incredibly supportive... "just do whatever makes us happy."  Oh, if it was only that simple!  So if we don't elope... we hope to be married on the farm where we rented a little loft in the barn and lived together for eighteen months following graduation, and where Mark proposed.  It's an eighteenth century plantation, on the banks of the Potomac River.  Absolute perfection.  We only moved a few months ago, and it already feels like a dream.  This place will always have my heart, and I would love for our families and friends to join us there to celebrate our love.  Many (most) of them have never been there, since it's three hours from our hometown.

 

Pinterest has been both a curse and a blessing for planning.  It's certainly inspiring.  But I have this (probably unrealistic) desire for my wedding to be unconventional, non-cliche, unexpected -- unique, and the perfect representation of us.  But then again, I suppose that's probably every bride's hopes... I was talking with my friend (and bridesmaid!) Kathleen about this, and she said "you do realize, this exact conversation has been said a million times, in every different language..." Ha, thank you, Kathleen, for the perspective... maybe I should let go a little.  It's all been done before.  And thanks to pinterest, all of "my" ideas are now pasted all over the internet, and so overdone.  So I'm going to just do what I we like, and hope somewhere along the line, I can put my own little twist on it.

Here's my current inspiration board... that will likely changed twelve more times before the actual day.

visit my pinterest WEDDING board for sources.

So whatcha think? 

Colors -- grayed jade (thank you Pantone!), ivory, and gold.  I hope to save some money by doing our own flowers (I may be crazy to attempt this?), and keeping things simple, minimal, but quality.  We're trying to keep our guest list to the bare minimum to keep it intimate (and less expensive), and are looking at about 125 at the moment.  Not too bad, I think.

I would love to hear any advice!  Did you elope? Did you love it, do you regret it? 

I've put all these wedding thoughts on the back burner while we've debated on what to do... but I have to admit that making this inspiration board and seeing pictures of the farm in spring (and perhaps the 3 cups of coffee I just drank ;) has me really excited!

Happy Wednesday, friends!