2017 in Review, quickly. (also, Happy New Year!)

It's the end of another year! And for me (and most of my country) definitely a strange one. So here's the holiday newsletter-y goodness of a end blogpost for the year.  This is the thing I wrote for blogger that my phone did not. It's about 2017 even though I finished it early morning Jan 1st of 2018.

...I drew a lot of birds.

selections from sketchbook, bird studies, Amanda Shelton,from Instagram2017

I received a beautiful leather-bound sketchbook at the beginning of the year from my husband, and started a little birding book for our local avian buddies. It still has a long way to go. We were gifted some amazing birding books over this year to help with our local birdwatching as well to make sure the birds I am labeling in my sketchbook are also accurate ;) 

...I was in Professional Artist Magazine!

from February/March 2017 issue, images from digital issue courtesy of Professional Artist Magazine

Professional Artist Magazine is a great resource for artists, giving informative and well-rounded pieces on aspects of visual art business, trends, and art accessibility to the community. I was contacted at the beginning of the year to be used as a source for a piece in the magazine on a popular business model: the pain-and-sip/paint-and-wine/paint-party business, after one of the writers found my blog posts about it.  There is a main post and a follow-up. 

This was really neat, to be considered someone whose opinion was worth including on this topic! 

Anyway if you want a copy of the magazine, you can get it here! 

I went on a personal journey. I'm still on it. No it's not 'life' in general. 

Well... it sort of is.. it's about family. It's weird and hard for some people who are already close to me to understand, and I hope that maybe I can make some art about it. But even though the pictures in my head spell it out pretty plainly, the pictures I show to everyone else will probably be more metaphors. And I started painting a lot more fish. As in... way more fish, jellyfish, turtles, mermaids... lots of underwater things.. back to the underwater life compulsion. 

Sea Turtle Dream, by Amanda Shelton
8x10 inches, acrylic on canvasboard, 2017
http://amandachristineshelton.com

And there were shows and sales and murals and works made and all that usual stuff, but it's on the website and social media where it can be seen too..and probably shared here throughout when I feel like it later on...  ;) 

In 2018 expect more things that swim and fly from me, while I am still stumbling just walking ;) 

Hope everyone enjoys the new year- continue to make art, and make art a part of your life!!