Amy C Collins

first day of NaNoWriMo a success...

Well folks, I hit the mark and kept on writing this a.m.

2,663 words on day one. Yippee!

 

I don't have a title, but I've got two characters named Judy and Celia and a basic plot line. Here's the synopsis:

 

Two girlhood friends go separate ways as they grow up. Big deal, cliche. But our narrator, Judy, sees herself as the one on the straight and narrow path, the accomplished one, the successful one, while Celia is a wayward soul, floundering in the waves, uncommitted at best. And yet, it's Celia that just might be the happy one of the two, despite her unconventional trail through life. And so Judy's idea of success fades as her own life grows shaky. 

 

OK, that's enough about me. I promise not to berate you all with requests for money all month, but seriously check out this video. The NaNoWriMo organization does a lot of great things for schools and libraries across the country. I'm trying to raise $250, so if you can give anything to this cause, I would be very appreciative. Just think of it as a Walk-A-Thon, only it's a Write-A-Thon.

Video:

 

 

Donation Link:

(sponsor me!)

Let's Help Some Kids Fall in Love with Writing!  (and avoid the sad ending of this short story in the photo on my Donations Page.)

 

6 new paintings:

 

click on images to enlarge

 

 

4 x 4 inches, oil on panel, Luna Moth, 2009       

 

 

 

 

4 x 4 inches, oil on panel, Japanese Beetle, 2009           

 

 

 

4 x 4 inches, acrylic on panel, Proud Mary's Wheel Bug, 2011       SOLD

 

 

 

4 x 4 inches, acrylic on panel, Hood Nation (caladium & bloom), 2011     

 

 

 

 

 

4 x 4 inches, oil on panel, 13-year Genius (perennial cicadas), 2011   

 

 

 

 

4 x4 inches, acrylic on panel, Wormwood on Parade (artemisia), 2011   

 

 

 

Each painting is on a 4 x 4 inch block panel, unframed. They are small paintings with tremendous detail, varnished, titled and dated on back, and ready to hang.

Please email or message me if interested in purchasing.

 

~Amy

 

 

 

 

 

she searches shark teeth at the seashore

The Ponte Vedra collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

earnest affirmations

Yesterday's Writer's Almanac from Garrison Keillor has impressed me this morning - how wonderful and coincidental to have Lahiri & White talk about their writing passions and their disinterest in fame on the same day I attempted sharing some reflections on the earnestness of being important - ahem, famous.

Monday, July 11 Writer's Almanac

 

"The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace." - Cornel West

the garden in macro: new photos

I'm trying something a little different today: a midweek post. I've been thinking about all the photos I make, all the paintings I create, all the inspiration I run into on the web, in books, and elsewhere during the week, all of which stays inside these four office walls - for the most part. And maybe that's where it should stay. I don't know. But I want to share my work. My work has been clawing at my ego, share us! my work says. It's your blog, my ego tells me. You can do whatever you want to! 

 So we here at Amy C Collins have decided to introduce a new aspect on the blog: midweek posts! These might be photographs, artwork of various mediums, quotes or anecdotes, and links to other artists, designers, writers, and bloggers who are doing great work and sending inspiration out over the internet. Creativity's objective, after all, its mainline lifeline, is the sharing of ideas. 

These midweek posts can show up at any time between Monday and Friday and Friday and Monday, in multiples or singles, several times a week or every couple of weeks; it's a freelance brouhaha!

Don't worry about missing cartoon friday and The Column on Monday afternoons - they remain solid staples. 

And please, my loyal, regular readers, let me know how you like the new additions! Leave me a comment or send me an email. 

Now, on to the show...

the garden in macro: photos

I recently acquired a gently used macro lens (from friend and fellow artist/photographer Emily E.) These are some of my first shots.

 

echinacea, cranberry cupcake

 

echinacea, powwow white

 

lemon mint, an ornamental

 

pinta

 

pinta

 

young lavender, we're looking forward to next year...

 

 lantana

 

lantana

 

pineapple sage, a gift from friend, June

 

tiger lily, on its side

 

tiger lily

 

phlox, purple

 

foxglove, watch out! (it's poisonous)

 

foxglove, catawampus

 

monarda, jacob cline

 

cosmos, orange, wild, reseeded from last year

 

anise hyssop, me thinks...

 

blue speedwell, "deer resistant" (not true!)

 

twins

 

same as above, which I planted, but I don't know what it is...suggestions?

 

rose verbena

 

and rose verbena

 

 

*All images are copyrighted under a creative commons license. Please feel free to share or repost my work (link back to me!) so long as it is not for profit.

Copyright Amy C Collins