good evening friends. hope you had a cheerful and SPOOKY halloween weekend. i have some festive weekend fun to share, but i’ll save that for later. for now i’d like to introduce you to a gal with amazing artistic talent. she has a unique style that is sure to add a special touch to any room. so, “drum rolls please”…
here with us today is amamda talley.
when did you first pick up a paint brush? and when did you decided you wanted to turn that talent into a career?
i started oil painting from a still life setup in sixth grade with a private instructor once or twice a month. libby crespo was my teacher and she is an amazing artist herself. it was an amazing experience to be in her studio where she and her husband both painted. her husband is also a very important painter, michael crespo. when i got my first glimpse into their world as a student in their studio, i pretty much decided right then and there that was what i wanted to do too.
if you could pinpoint the most important thing you took away from your experience at scad, what would it be?
i think i learned the business side of art. you have to have that with your academic training or you will be lost. i feel like scad really gives you a taste of what it will be like outside of the academia.
how would you best characterize your style?
abstract expressionistic or action painting
what inspires you when you paint?
everything. a beautiful house, a joke, a picture in a magazine, an arguement, falling in love, anything can be the impetus.
who are your favorite artists?
i love egon shiele, lee krasner, milton avery, rose casterline to start
you are given a blank canvas, where do you start?
top left corner-i wish i could change that but it’s just like a magnet. and i grab whatever paints i can get my hands on…fast!
do you have one favorite work of art, from all the beautiful pieces you’ve created?
i do. it’s always changing but i’m attaching the piece that i would have the most trouble selling right now. i do–right now, i’ve created a 4′ h x 3′ w light box and i love seeing it in my studio. here it is…it’s yellow and just glows at night with the lights off
how influential are your clients in commissioned pieces? or do they pretty must step back and let the “master” do her things?
they get pretty specific, or i ask them to, only b/c i want to get it right. i need to know what paintings they are responding to and if it’s the lines or the color or both they are responding to. some people have asked for mid-process photographs and i have to say no to that. it would interrupt my flow too much. i always find a way to make the piece interesting to me so i do not mind commissions as much as i hear that other artists do. mainly, i appreciate that i have a great job, great interested clients, and at the end of the day how terrible is it to have their input on their piece. it becomes a bit of a collaboration. i’m totally ok with it now. i think i have the best of an artist’s temperment. the good part, that is, the interested and inspired part, not the tempermental, sometimes, angry disturbed artist parts.
what’s a typical “day in the life of amanda talley?
” i get up, walk my dogs in the garden district, and around 10 am my studio manager, eileen, comes in to start our day. i try to paint every day and i try to work six days a week, even saturdays. my studio is open 6 days a week. i don’t go out for lunch–i think it eats up too much of my productive day time. i try to stop around 5 and then it’s dog walking again. it’s amazing how fast a week goes by!
if you are not painting, what do you enjoy to do in your free time?
i love to watch movies, cook, and go junk shopping….not necessarily in that order (ha) i have great neighbors so i love to have impromptu visits where i pop over to see them or vise versa.
and for kickers, leave us with a word of inspiration _______!!!
“happiness is a choice!”
amanda, thanks for your time. and readers, if you’d like to see more of amanda’s work click here. if you are considering how happy your walls would be if one of these fabulous paintings adorned your walls, contact amanda here.
First off, props to Mom for my birthday present “surpriseS” in the mail last week. Love them all – fit like a charm! They sure made packing easy. Pretty much packed up my new things in a bag and that was that.
Even my new fragrance is included (yes…it is less than 3 fluid ounces-I’m getting pretty saavy with all these traveling rules). Hopefully this will help mask the “airport smell” that sticks on you when you travel. It never fails. I will shower right before I leave for the airport, and when I get to my final destination I feel like I am literally coated in 3 inches of ICK-i-ness!
My birthday rambling goes on here for a minute, please bear with me. Oh I just love birthdays. You know what my favorite part is? The cards. I have a weak spot for creativeness, and when it comes to the birthday card; well, you’ve already won me over. The sweet I work with left this one outside my door last Friday. How adorable is that little birthday hat?
Now for the good stuff. This guy and I have a love-hate relationship. We have a pretty smooth relationship, but when it gets rocky…IT GETS ROCKY. I mean realllll bad! So today for the most part me was on his P’s and Q’s. He did just what I asked when I clicked print, and was rapidly obeying my commands. Praise the LORD. I only have 2 hours, and A LOT to get done.
So I pulled my “craft box” out of the closet. Prior to this picture I was neatly organized. I am things were stacked nicely and had a little order. Well I brought havoc upon that order. You see my cutting board was at the bottom. Neatly tucked beneath all of these other things. So in best attempt to “pull the table cloth off the table without messing up the place settings” move – I grabbed it from beneath, and things went wild. So you see this is what I got. For now it will stay like that because other things have higher priority in my life right now.
So I plopped myself down on the floor. Yes on the floor. That is where I work best. My family laughed at me ALL of my younger years because while working/studying/being crafty/whatever…you could find my indian-style on the floor. Concrete. Wood. Carpet. Pebbles. Tile. Doesn’t really matter.
And I busy. I took over those little crop lines and had at it. 50 invites later…
You got this.
To be sealed with a little, silver round address label. It’s a fun, little project for a Birmingham Entertainment Shower.
Oh no…It is 5:00. I think my cab awaits. Home Sweet Home here I come!
