Land growth focus

In the past two years I have been spending less energy making physical objects and more time working in the garden. Growing my own food and planting flowering perennials to feed the humming birds, bees and butterflyโ€™s has brought me much needed soothing and grounding during these wild times.

Food gardening is its own kind of joy that has always been important to me. Reducing carbon production by harvesting in my own back yard, knowing that my plants are organic and spending time taking care of them has many rewards. I delight in spreading mulch and planting soil building plants. Top soil is a precious resource that we can grow or deplete depending on what approach we take.

I also started to do some garden coaching last year. Helping others feel confident to take on growing food and tending to the land. Itโ€™s empowering to work with soil and grow plants. They eat sunlight and carbon and create oxygen, food, soil and habitat.

Studio Tours!!

I am excited to be taking part in a new Artists studio tour led by the talented Adrianna Gluck. You can contact her for more information about times and dates. They Happen about once a month. She brings small groups of visitors to see local artists working in their natural habitats in the east bay! Its a great chance to get up close and personal with crafts people and get inspired by how hard they all work! For more information contact Adrianna at the link below.

contact: adriannagluck@gmail.com

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Shared Space made a Catalog!

       Im am so happy to included as one of the participating artists in this amazing collection of inspiring humans. This book is available for purchase on Amazon.

"This catalog chronicles the adventures of resident artists in the Michigan beach town of Pentwater, over the course of a five-year experiment in collaborative art-making and small town explorations. The Shared Space Studio Artist-in-Residence Program operated seasonally from 2011 to 2015, offering facilities and support in a secluded and beautiful setting, with the chance to meet and exchange with other artists. Artists from across the US and Canada made new work inspired by the environment and fostered by the facility, while engaging the local community, building up the studio, and going to the beach. In the summer of 2016, co-facilitators Eliza Fernand and Mary Rothlisberger curated a group exhibition of new work by past resident artists, and recreated the studio inside of the gallery, where they spent time working on this catalog. Fernand's candid weekly recaps of the artist's work and play adapted from blog posts, and contributed essays by visiting artists and Pentwater locals, are accompanied by photo documentation in a brilliant layout by Rothlisberger.โ€

The Land of Here and Now

The Land of Here and Now

Standard Parts Studio up grade AJK ceramics!!

I moved into the amazing Standard Parts Studio March 2017. This Space is amazing and I am in awe of all the women who have put all the hard work in to make it what it is. 

The studio has come a long way since move in,

My little corner before I moved into Standard Parts Studio

My little corner before I moved into Standard Parts Studio

Things are still feeling a little disorganized but this space is starting to feel more like home

Things are still feeling a little disorganized but this space is starting to feel more like home

I built some brand new studio tables, with the help of my sweet heart Steve, that really help me utilize the space better!!

I built some brand new studio tables, with the help of my sweet heart Steve, that really help me utilize the space better!!

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The Land of Here

Currently enjoying the Grand Rapids area and getting excited for the opening of The Land of Here and Now tonight at the Kendall College of Art and Design. This show is a collection of all the artists who have participated in the Shared Space art residency over the past 5 years.

The show looks amazing and i am so excited to be included in a group of such astounding talent. 

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Shared Space Studio wrote about my visit!

check out their website to see cool pictures and read about the other amazing artist!

http://www.sharedspacestudio.com/2014-amanda-kennedy.html

"AMANDA KENNEDY
 OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA

Resident Artist, July 18 - August 1 2014

Drawing inspiration from the natural world and the impact of the Human Experience upon that world, Amanda creates sculptures, collages, interactive installations, and vessels.  As soon as Amanda arrived, she set up her studio outside, with a wheel and one-hundred pounds of clay, and began throwing pots.  She had a plan to put on a dinner party event, where each guest took home a handmade bowl.  She taught the rest of the residents how to throw and glaze pots, and with planning and contributions by everyone at the studio, put on A Pleasant Evening.  This event was a space for conversation between strangers, and a showcase of our resident artistsโ€™ talents.  Amanda finished thirty bowls to serve the guests, and she made the cornbread and soup to fill them.  She also made sure that almost all ingredients at the dinner were sourced from local farmers, most of whom she met at the Pentwater Farmers Market."

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Pottery!

I just took a whole bunch of goodies out of the kiln! I am so excited for the next batch!!

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Blue Thunder Circle ART LAB residency 2012

Driving through the desert landscape of southern Utah during summer monsoon season was an amazing way to begin my adventures of creating work at Blue Thunder Circle ART LAB

I am grateful to have spent 18 days, collecting and creating in the high mountain desert town of Gunnison, Colorado.  I was inspired by the dramatic landscape of the Rockies, the squat burly sage brush and the resourceful, graceful magpies. Blue Thunder Circle studio was an amazing place to get away from the distractions of my city life and focus on making work.

Somniare Domum or in English, "Dreaming Home", was created while considering what it is we mean when we call a place home. What symbols and objects represent home to us?  What materials are effected by our human way of creating home spaces.

Thank you so much to everyone for hosting me and helping me make everything happen!

The B.T.C. ARTLAB, Gunnison CO

work in progress