Amy E. Fraser Art

  House In The Meadow by Amy E. Fraser      Once upon a time, not so very long ago, a young couple yearned for a clean and wholesome environment in which to raise their newborn son. The man and woman scraped together all of their savings and put a small down payment on a beautiful piece of land on the side of a mountain, deep in the New Hampshire forest. They went through many trials and tribulations but eventually they began to build their dream home. While still unfinished, the couple, anxious to begin their new life, moved from their noisy apartment in an ancient Round House on top of busy train tracks into the quiet new house in the middle of the forest. When they arrived, they imagined that the most difficult part was behind them and looked forward to the next step in their journey together.      The house in the forest represented the dreams the couple shared for their future. However, the beginning times were very hard. ...

Photo of Amy E. Fraser from 2000      Sounds SO dramatic right? In all seriousness it really has been 20 years since I wrote my Masters of Arts and Liberal Studies Thesis: “Dissecting The Western Woman Artist; An Artist's Dialogue”. Much has happened in the two decades that have passed since I graduated from Dartmouth College. Sometimes it feels like that was forever ago and at other times, like it was only yesterday.      So, you may have noticed if you have been reading my blog posts over the past few months, I’ve been feeling a bit nostalgic. Although I’m not sure nostalgic is exactly the word for it. Maybe its melancholy, mostly I think I’m just suddenly feeling old? Without even realizing it, our lives happen along. We often set aside our original dreams and goals for, well, reality. This usually means that we work toward smaller, more practical accomplishments. We learn the art of compromise and we tend to whittle away our existence ...

Photo of Amy E. Fraser      My husband and I have been binge watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. Last night’s episode where Abe exploded about the opulence and excess of Midge having an entire room dedicated to her dresses reminded me of one of my best friends from Parsons. She had a sweet three bedroom village apartment (in New York City) that her parents gifted her, only requiring her to have a roommate for safety reasons. So of course she had the biggest bedroom, the roommate the smallest and her shoes lived in the best bedroom in the house. Yes, you read that correctly, an entire room for her shoes! She was a fashion major at Parsons, so of course, an entire room for shoes made perfect sense.      Oh my, how I loved that girl! She was able to get up and get ready for school in 7 minutes flat after a wild night of clubbing! She said the secret was to not fall asleep on the makeup. I don’t know how she did it, but she looked fresh a...

Photo of Amy E. Fraser      Today’s heartwarming and inspirational art talk is entitled Embrace the Suck. I was originally going to call it “It’s all on You: The Solitary Existence of the Art Entrepreneur” but it didn’t sound nearly as catchy or as motivational (lol).      As I periodically grumble, stumble and complain about starting my art career over again at 46, my husband asks: what’s the point?   We are financially stable; I really could be doing something much more entertaining with my time, right? This morning, while slogging through morning chores, feeling overwhelmed by this daunting task of starting over so late in life, I begin replaying my husband’s question in my head. In the midst of this unhelpful mulling, my diabetic cat’s insulin alarm went off. The song “Eye of the Tiger” by Survivor, chosen for its tongue and cheek cat reference, was playing longer than usual. For some reason I actually listened to the words....