Today we’d like to introduce you to Amanda Cevallos.
Hi Amanda, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
My story starts out in Houston and moves around the United States. I’ve lived in California, Montana and even New York. My love of the arts is what’s taken me from here to there and back. I started oil painting and modeling at 9 and dancing soon after. I’d say as a young person I was a dancer and an artist. I was head of my drill team in high school and went on to get a degree in modern Dance performance and choreography at The University of Montana in 2006. During college I played guitar , wrote songs, and released my first album, Rainy Day. I also was an actor and a playwright. I wrote my first play in 2004 and it was picked up for a few theatre festivals in Montana and even performed by equity actors. Missoula Montana is a special place and I dabbled in all the arts while I was there. I moved to Austin in 2007 w the goal of becoming a country music artist. Since I was a child I idolized Willie Nelson and I wanted to be just like him, a songwriter, and that’s exactly what I did. I even ended up meeting him multiple times and he even listed to the first album I released in Austin. That was a cool moment. One I created and it was powerful. I toured all over the US and even France and Spain. I also danced and performed w a great group of local dancers and choreographers for the first few years I was in Austin. After touring and performing music for ten years I started to want to get into something different. I missed art. I was discovering tarot and I needed to figure out what was next for me. And that’s when the pandemic hit. I was teaching my self tarot at the time and once I was stuck at home I just did nothing but study the cards and then I started a Tik Tok that went from 20 followers to over 300,000 followers and it happened very quickly. At first I was doing readings online and some readings in person and just daily readings on Tik Tok but as the years went on I decided to step back from being online all the time to reevaluate what I was gonna do with tarot and with this following. I just wasn’t sure what direction I wanted to go anymore, but I didn’t wanna continue doing readings online or basically have like a business of tarot. It just didn’t line up with where I was in my life anymore, but I love tarot so I didn’t want to abandon it. I just needed to figure out what my next move was and how I could keep the tarot side of things in my life – just in a way that made more sense. I knew I wanted to create art. That’s always the goal. Little did I know going back to my roots as an artist was gonna line up with tarot somehow. Early on I just started drawing and sketching pretty much anything and everything. In 2023 I ordered a viral drawing book and took the entire course and once I felt ready I started oil painting again. Painting pretty much anything that inspired me. I painted fruit, toys, plants, people, still life photos I took and anything that seemed challenging or unfamiliar. I’ve always been an artist so the transition wasn’t scary it was just what made sense. I just hadn’t linked it with tarot yet. In 2025 I finally got the idea to do the deck of tarot cards in oils but it’s a big idea and although I had the idea, I still had to figure out how I was gonna afford it. I forgot how expensive it was to oil paint. I stretch my own canvas and prep all my canvas as well and all those material add up! Not to mention artist grade oil pants and oil pastels as well as brushes and paint mediums. The list goes on- gesso, linen canvas, books, and TIME!! It’s just expensive and so I’m applying for a GRANT. Hopefully that works out. Wish me luck on that! So now I’m just trying to figure out how I can be an artist, what that business look like and how to put out my own deck of cards, paint them myself and fund all of that and have the time for it, which is also something that I’ve had to carve out because I have so many interests. If im not painting, im sewing, cooking, working out, spending time w my dog, playing drums and singing in my all girl band Sad Patrol, gardening, thrifting, reselling stuff on Poshmark … I have no idea why I’m so busy but I’ve always been this way so its normal to me. However, my plan is to slow down the second half or 2026 and focus on getting this new project up and running. Ive learned a lot about new beginnings cuz I’ve started over so many times in my life. Im not a baby. I’ll be 49 in January. I’m pretty good at getting something unfamiliar and challenging off the ground. It’s just scary in the early stages. I’m really excited and too busy fleshing out the ideas for the tarot cards to be scared anymore. I’m so glad you guys reached out because I was wanting to talk about this new venture, and I think this is the perfect place to do that, so I’m really grateful!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Smooth?! Not even a little bit. I’m rough around the edges in general. I’ve always wanted to try and do everything so I get distracted easy. The struggle is getting me to focus, but once I do, stop at nothing. I finish what I start, don’t get me wrong. I just start a lot and get arrested by all of it. And getting older hasn’t slowed me down one bit. It’s hasn’t been smooth but I’m no stranger to a rocky road. I’m just navigating like I always have. Fearlessly.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m most proud of my collaborations. Co-writing songs. Working with other talented artists and being a part of something outside of my own little world. I’m a bit of a loner and can spend a lot of time alone creating but it’s not as rewarding as making art with others. I play drums and sing in an all lady band. We’ve played together for over 5 years. We just get together and jam and it’s the most fun I’ve ever had in a band. We all sing and we all play our second instruments. So we learned to play together in a safe environment and it’s been such a joy. All we do is crack up and rock out. We might start off w a Gillian Welch song or Daniel Johnston, sing some Toadies , Toni Price and probably a Hole song at some point. And then end our rehearsal w some Waylon, Buddy Holly, Ray Wylie, and or Nirvana. You just never know.
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Gosh I’ve been hopping around in all the different spaces of entertainment for so long I never know what to expect. It’s always changing and evolving. I’m curious to see what happens w social media cuz I think that’s the industry at this point. It’s not abt who’s the best or who stands out , it’s about who is visible. I think we are ultimately in charge of where we wanna go w what we we do cuz the world is so connected by social media. Anyone can go anywhere they want in any industry they choose. We are no longer bound to where we live. I just hope the artists keep making good art, great music , writing amazing stories, making incredible films and never stopping. The industry will go where the art and artists takes it.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: Cevallos_cevallos_
