New Website

Hello! I have not blogged on this site in over a year. For current updates about me and my artwork visit http://www.amandajozaitis.com

Thank you!

The News Dispatch: Families thrilled by First Fridays

On Friday June 5th, I volunteered at the Lubeznik Center for the Arts in Michigan City. My job was simple, I put temporary tattoos on kids... and adults :) Everyone loved them, and I got to help in some way. I'd like to keep volunteering there in the future since I always mean to go to the events, but often forget, so volunteering is a way to remind me to visit.. since I then have a responsibility to go. The theme to the activities this First Friday seemed to be oddities and carnival to go along with the tattoo exhibit going on. Talking to a friend that works at Lubeznik, I mentioned awhile ago that I had this cousin, Darryl, that swallowed swords, ate glass and had his own freak show of two-headed turtles.. only in my family right? Well they were interested in him being part of the entertainment and he volunteered to do it for free! How great is that? Well the News Dispatch took an interest in him and wrote the story about him and the event. Click here to check out the article.

Shady Creek Winery + Active Art Salon Openings

Images from my art openings at Shady Creek Winery and Active Art Salon. Shady Creek winery has a beautiful space, with great lighting and white walls, a blank canvas that just asks for artwork to be hung there. Active Art Salon has great people and has a cool way of mixing art within their hair salon. I'd like to thank Tim Anderson from Shady Creek Winery and Liz Mares from Active Art Salon for giving me the opportunity to show my artwork in their spaces.

Color Test

I took a color career counselor test to see what career I should be in. The results did not surprise me! http://www.careerpath.com/career-tests/color-test/

Best Occupational Category

You're a CREATOR

Keywords

Nonconforming, Impulsive, Expressive, Romantic, Intuitive, Sensitive, and Emotional

These original types place a high value on aesthetic qualities and have a great need for self-expression. They enjoy working independently, being creative, using their imagination, and constantly learning something new. Fields of interest are art, drama, music, and writing or places where they can express, assemble, or implement creative ideas.

CREATOR OCCUPATIONS
Suggested careers are Advertising Executive, Architect, Web Designer, Creative Director, Public Relations, Fine or Commercial Artist, Interior Decorator, Lawyer, Librarian, Musician, Reporter, Art Teacher, Broadcaster, Technical Writer, English Teacher, Architect, Photographer, Medical Illustrator, Corporate Trainer, Author, Editor, Landscape Architect, Exhibit Builder, and Package Designer.

CREATOR WORKPLACES
Consider workplaces where you can create and improve beauty and aesthetic qualities. Unstructured, flexible organizations that allow self-expression work best with your free-spirited nature.

Suggested Creator workplaces are advertising, public relations, and interior decorating firms; artistic studios, theaters and concert halls; institutions that teach crafts, universities, music, and dance schools. Other workplaces to consider are art institutes, museums, libraries, and galleries.

In the Times - Heise Takes Bold Approach to Art

Amanda Heise of LaPorte is bold and graphic when it comes to art.

Her work will be on exhibit through June 25 at Active Art Salon and Gallery, 9339 Calumet Ave. Suite B1 in Munster. An opening reception is 7 to 9 p.m. May 14 and Heise will be available for discussion of her work at that time.

Her exhibit consists of 20 pieces she calls Interiors. "Like an oversized dollhouse, I have always loved the store displays of fake rooms," she said.

"The possibilities of these rooms are endless. I am interested in the change of perspective and design while walking from kitchen to kitchen or wandering from bathroom to bathroom. In my artwork, the choices of tile, countertop and wood become like movable pieces in my composition. While I find it ironic to create a generic living space through my work, it is also important to record the spaces of home and family that are engrained in me."

Heise also has a show at Shady Creek Winery in Michigan City through June entitled Maps of My Mind. This exhibit consists of exterior based prints.

Always active in creating original pieces, Heise first took private art lessons when she was 14 years old from Sue Henshaw in New Buffalo and had her first showing that same year at the Gaia Gallery in New Buffalo. She graduated from LaPorte High School and then attended Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design graduating in 2009 with Bachelor of Arts degree in print making and a minor in graphic design.

"Art is something I pursue, really love and I'm very ambitious in," she said.

In the past she's taught monotype print making classes at Lubeznik Center of the Arts in Michigan City and her first teaching job was a Studio Art Classes in Mishawaka where she created and taught kids art camp.

When she's not creating original pieces in her studio, Heise works as a graphic designer at Royal and Langnickel in Merrillville. She is also planning her September wedding to fiancé, David Jozaitis of LaPorte.

By Sue Bero, Times Correspondent

http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/lake/article_883f4c61-ff22-57a3-86aa-c623693eaef9.html

Interiors + In the Press

I have been very happy and grateful for all the press I have been getting lately. Last Sunday the interview I was in for Shady Creek Winery was published in the Michigan City News Dispatch following the Herald Argus a week later. This Friday, May 7th, I have been interviewed for another article to be published in the Northwest Indiana Times for my show, Interiors (see previous post). I found a short blurb that could be in the interview on these sites: http://www.flashnews.com/news/wfn12100503fn19751.html , http://www.freepressrelease.com/interiors-exhibition-amanda-heise/24778/ , and http://buzzspree.com/decor/

I am really really really excited about the art show, Interiors, at the Active Salon and Art Gallery! The venue is a hair salon while also a gallery, which I feel fits with my theme of interiors. Women (and men) will be able to enjoy and relate to the domestic displays in my artwork. The artwork in Interiors are a bunch of pieces and ideas I have been creating for awhile before I started doing my abstract landscapes. It will be nice to see them all perty and framed on the wall! So I am looking forward to the opening on May 14, and I hope to see some of you there as well!

Active Art Salon & Gallery

Along with my Shady Creek Winery art exhibit is another show at Active Art Salon & Gallery that is starting this Saturday! In this show I am focusing on interior spaces, instead of the landscapes that you have been seeing. The Northwest Indiana Times interviewed me and the article will be published on May 7th.