We were lucky to catch up with Amanda Penecale recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Amanda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What did your parents do right and how has that impacted you in your life and career?
My parents always celebrated that I was an artist. From a young age, they enrolled me in art camps and classes to help me explore my creativity. They also raised me to enjoy the outdoors and showed me how to appreciate nature. I remember planting vegetables and flowers in my earliest memories, and we still garden together today.
Amanda , love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I am a painter, photographer, and illustrator and I love to take photographs and make art about the natural world. I especially enjoy the seasons in Pennsylvania and how the colors and textures change throughout the year. During the pandemic, I started a sticker shop on Etsy and named it Penny Cow Press. The shop name is a play on the sound of my last name, Pen-e-cale. In my shop, I sell hand-printed greeting cards made from linoleum blocks and nature stickers. I have been enjoying cutting blocks and exploring how to incorporate more printmaking in my work, but watercolor has been my favorite medium since I was a child. While some of my stickers are made from original watercolors, some are also done on an iPad using Procreate. All of my work for the shop is inspired directly by walks in nature and the garden. My family has an organic farm and we grow vegetables, fruits, and flowers. Being on the farm is a constant inspiration!
While I also make larger landscape paintings and botanicals, I have been enjoying sharing my prints and stickers through my shop as an affordable and fun way to connect. I continue to add new stickers, and at the moment my turtles are the most popular.
This year I have also been working on a certification in Botanical Illustration from the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh. I had no idea how complicated and challenging this particular art form could be, and I have been humbled by the opportunity to push myself as an illustrator. I’m currently working on a new home collection for my shop inspired by my studies and our garden. These new products will include some hand-printed tea towels as well as some sewn pouches that feature our flowers.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I am also an art teacher, so I love being able to give others ideas and new skills so that they can also have fun dreaming and making.
Where do you think you get most of your clients from?
Instagram has been an incredibly helpful way for me to make connections. The visual format work great for what I am doing, and it is fun to interact with other makers. I also sell my products along with our produce at our weekly farmers market.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.AmandaPenecale.com
- Instagram: @pennycowpress
- My Etsy Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/PennyCowPress
Image Credits
Amanda Penecale