Hey Friends! I’m Amanda (she/her/hers). I’m an unapologetically black social worker and Air Force veteran; I’ve been a maker since 2011. I made leather earrings from vegetable-tanned goat hide into organic and geometric shapes. I sold at a farmers’ market every Sunday while in grad school to help pay bills. I loved the process of cutting the leather staining and conditioning; moving through the stages of crafting is therapeutic for me.

 A few years ago I had another artist make a stamp of my logo and it was so perfect that I got obsessed with stamping and printmaking for my branding. Eventually I was spending more time creating branding materials and less making my earrings.

I took a break from full time making to invest in my social work and organizing career but I’ve always kept creativity and making close to my heart. I made my first block in 2018 and have been enjoying and playing and experimenting ever since. I launched my Etsy shop in May 2021.

I draw from my work in healing and anti-violence community justice and transformation to create visions of curiosity, joy, and belonging. I believe that cultural folklore, spiritual connection to the earth, and our own ancestral teachings show us how to survive and thrive together in a chaotic world.

I enjoy the wild ride of carving into birch plywood; a design rarely comes out as planned.  My approach to printmaking and design is simple; I start with shapes and curves that I’m drawn to.  As the images unfold, I develop a story around what appears, tapping into my subconscious.  I invite others to use these pieces as an oracle and make their own sense of what they see.