Japan – Amanda Milke

Stockpiled creativity

October 1, 2008 by Amanda, posted in Art, Artist, creative, Drawings, female artist, For Sale, Japan, photos, Uncategorized

Morning/Afternoon/Whatever time of day it is,

Today feels more like business than pleasure.

(Which granted isn’t necessarily a bad thing since it’s the Art business.)

I’ve spent the morning scanning some art to make into prints for the trade show in November.

I’m hoping to do up a bunch and whatever doesn’t sell at the tradeshow will be put online to sell.

So as I was scanning, I came across a postcard sized piece I did last Christmas while on a train ride to Tokyo and thought I’d share it with you today.

So as is the norm, I was sitting with my feet up. I have this tendency to either sit crossed legged or with my feet on something. I’ll probably suffer with bad hips or arthritis when I’m older but what are you going to do. I also had the camera with me because we were taking pictures out the train window. So I snapped this pictures of my feet and thought it made for an interesting composition. Continue reading “Stockpiled creativity” →

Blogging Anniversary

September 22, 2008 by Amanda, posted in Abstract, acrylic, anniversary, Art, Artist, canada, commission, Drawings, For Sale, ideas, Japan, Life, Musical Instruments, Paintings, photos, Series, sketches, Uncategorized

Well, it’s been 1 year today since I first decided to give this blogging thing a whirl.

I must say I was apprehensive at first simply because I’m not a writer. Usually I’m a person of very few words but 123 posts later I seem to be doing alright.

I started this blog with 3 goals/desires in mind:

1-I’ve always been of the opinion that art should be shared and experienced with others, yet aside from my close circle of acquaintances, I was doing nothing to get out there. I wanted this blog to be a chance for me to step outside of myself, to leap beyond my inverted-ness and open up a little more. I’ve always been a quiet person, even around my friends and family. It’s actually one of my friends’ and familys’ pet peeves about me, and also the reason why I have such a small social circle. But I am trying, and this blog has helped me to spread my artistic soul a bit more as it were.

2-I go through creative phases, by which I mean I’ll be really creative for months and then just dry up. I realized, that if I truly wanted to make a career out of my art I couldn’t go years or even months without doing something artistic. So I created this blog with the thought of it serving as a constant reminder/challenge for me to always strive to be creative. Granted there’ve been “off” months, but things have taken off and I find myself always with a project in mind or a piece on the go.

3-Simply put, I wanted unbiased feedback. I wanted to put my art out there and see what people actually thought. I’ve always been of the opinion that criticism is a good thing. I mean sure, I love hearing why people like a certain piece, but I also need to know why people don’t like something. I know I won’t always please everyone, and I never expect to. But criticism helps you to see the other side of things and ultimately helps to strengthen the work.

So those will continue to be my goals and things have been going well so far.

Obviously I can’t do an Anniversary post without looking: to the past, at the stats and at some art. Continue reading “Blogging Anniversary” →

I am free from language constrictions

April 5, 2008 by Amanda, posted in Artist, canada, Japan, photos, Uncategorized

which is to say, I am no longer an English Teacher but instead, a tourist once more.

Since, I’m on vacation I haven’t had much time to work on my art. We have however, been taking loads and loads of pictures. So far we’ve been to Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and now we’re presently in Okinawa. You can see some of our vacation pictures and write ups of our travels by visiting my husband’s blog: “He’s just so stalkable.”

Anyway keep checking back, I promise I’ll be adding more artwork once we’re settled again. Til then, I plan on doing a whole lot of R&R 🙂

Cheers,