design*sponge holiday wishlist!

It's a little late in the day to post, but I have been working nonstop since early this morning on the shop and gallery proper but I had to get to my thank yous before the day was out! I was so pleased to be asked again this year for my holiday wishlist from Grace at design*sponge. The post went up today right here and it is filled to the brim with so many wonderful ideas for holiday giving and getting. Thanks to Grace for inviting me along.. So much fun!

Mimi Kirchner on Etsy's handmade portrait

I love Mimi and her work - now see the movie! Yea Mimi!!

Albina McPhail :: beauty in the small

“2gether”, 6″ X 6″ mixed media collage on paper

“4 me and you”, 6″ X 6″ mixed media collage on paper
Albina is an artist par excellence in all fields 2-D. I love her work in florals and now we can fall in love with her collages. Here is the skinny on her latest exhibition at the Rochester Contemporary Art Center in Rochester, New York.

6×6x2009: the second and final exhibition of thousands of original artworks, made and donated by thousands of people. Each artwork, 6×6 inches square and signed only on the back, is exhibited anonymously. All artworks are available for sale to the public for $20 each, to benefit Rochester Contemporary Art Center. Artists’ names will be revealed to the buyer only upon purchase and all artworks will remain on display for the duration of the exhibition.

where:

Rochester Contemporary Art Center
137 East Ave,
Rochester, NY 14604

when:

June 6 - July 12

Opening Reception & Artwork Sale:
June 6, 6-10pm

Preview Hours:
June 4, 7-10pm
June 5 & 6, 1-6pm

Creative Kismet :: Martha Stewart Show

The lovely Regina from Creative Kismet is going to be on Thursday's Martha Stewart show featuring her groovy/creepy eyeball tee shirts. I loved these when I saw them on Regina's blog thinking how much fun those would be to make... and well now we get to see her tutorial right on TV! Check her out (love that smile Regina!) on this Thursday's show. 

Mimi Kirchner's #50 doll

After seeing Mimi this weekend, it reminded me that she has a quest going on over at her beautiful blog "Doll". She has hit her personal mark of making 50 handmade dolls this year (and still going strong)...#50 is a beautiful lady - don't you think? I am partial to the tattoo men, her babies and some of her other work, but this flower lady is so beautiful I had to share with you.
Go see more beauty at Mimi's etsy shop as well.

Swampgril is making Whoopie!

One of the best things about living in New England is Whoopie Pies. Yes folks, I know that you think it's all fall foliage, Hotel New Hampshire, and historic cities here, but nay nay. It's the Whoopie Pies which keeps us staying here through the long horrible winters. So you can't visit us? No need - just click over here to Moe's site for a recipe which will literally knock your socks off. Trust me, I know whoopie pies.
psst- while you are over there getting the recipe - make sure you send your wedding greetings to Moe too!

Go ahead, make my day!

part of my valentines bouquet
Thanks to two kind bloggers Beate and Maralena and for awarding me the "you make my day" award. They both had such kind words to say, well, I guess I did blush!
So the rules are this:
1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make your day.
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver.3. Display the You Make My Day Award logo.
4. Tell the award winners that they have won by commenting on their blogs with the news.
Of course I am bad with "rules" so I am late posting this as well as doing all the steps. Oh well!
So, here are five of the many many I read which make my day - most everyday. I hope you enjoy visiting them too!
Imedagoze, for her lovely posts on design from her side of the world!
cally creates, for her beautiful photographs in color and not. (look at her white posts!)
juju loves polkadots, for her witty preludes (i love her humor picks)flowing into colorful art posts.
monster crochet, for her wild, mad creative heart which never, ever ceases to amaze me.
bloesem! for the quiet beauty she finds in art and design - and her own beautiful work!

Brain Shawl

Brain Shawl, originally uploaded by ladylinoleum.

Regina from Monster Crochet has done it again. I love this woman and the way her mind works. This shawl was crocheted in thread and of her own pattern and design. Is she a brainiac or what?
Too good to miss, Regina's way with fiber is twisted for sure and always unique. I had the pleasure to meet her this past summer at the gallery on her visit to NH - all the way from L.A. She immediately fell in love with Megan Bogonovich's unusual growth dogs (no surprises there!) and I found out that she not only has her way with fiber but an MFA under her belt too.
This woman is a true artist. I guess that it shows here plainly, n'est pas?
Bravo Regina!

New Davis Pottery

Just opened and oh so beautiful - new white on white work from Mary Anne Davis. The big bowl is a knockout and well, just in time for the holidays! In the shop soon as well, it was JUST in the door!

Quiet day

cally creates paper beauty!
Somehow I have come down with a sort of flu and am under the weather. Here is a bit of cheer from dear Angie over at omondieu! (yes she's back!) and dear Cally's lovely work. I updated my shop at etsy a bit too, with two square foot originals from the "girlhood" series I started this summer... but for now I will be going back to the tea pot and books.

new angel rings by omondieu

Tsk tsk's new holiday cards!

tsktsk cards for the holidays in green and red... gumnut greetings!
One of my favorite Australian artists (and goodness knows there are more than a few...) is Teil of Tsktsk. (see sidebar) Here are a few of her lovely new holiday cards. I think her colorways and designs are so sweet. Shop right here.

Darryl Berger "one time too many"

one time too many, originally uploaded by redhandedpictures.

This painting is just too good to pass up. Darryl posted it over on his flickr. It's 16x16 inches and part of his string series.
Lovin this work!

Sweet things

a felted bag from Belinda

a Fiber art purse from Beatte
Time marches on ... sometime earlier in July - er was it August - a rather lost month for me - two blogging friends from across the sea - Beate, from Dusseldorf and Belinda, from Luxembourg dropped two nice blog awards on me. Too busy to do much about it at the time, I have finally surfaced now and will thank them properly ... thank you ladies for thinking of me!
These two women have incredible fiber arts talents, I visit their blogs and flickr accounts almost daily and love to see what they have created! Belinda just came back from a felting symposium holiday in Kyrgyzstan. Go see her posts on yurts, fashion and traditional felting at her blog. AMAZING.
Beate has just finished a beautiful new piece of fabric art here and you can browse her black and white photographs in her portfolio (my favorite one) and pop by to see her set of love letter books which are more than cute!
I am the happy owner of a beautiful felted poppy which sits on my desk at the gallery gifted from Belinda and a sweet set of fabric postcards from Beate on my small studio table at home.
Wonderful artists, bloggers and blogging friends!

jardin en fleurs

come into the garden!

My sweet friends just outside of Paris in Sartrouville sent me a bouquet of photos of their lovely backgarden. La petite Bernadette has been busy and her darling husband took these photos. Sigh! My garden plots are simply green with envy from the thought of such blooms.
Speaking of blooms - Angie is back at omondieu. Please visit her and say bonjour! See you tomorrow with details of the *swap*

Amy Evans

image from Amy Evans

I found Amy Evans hmmm, or she found me? Not sure which happened first but never mind - her work is really lovely. She has her art site here: and her blog here. Something magical happens in her paintings when you look at them - your own experiences seem to entertwine with them! They are witty and deep and beautifully executed.

Check them out live - if you are in Houston, you can visit her work at the Koelsch Gallery (it has to be good to be named after my favorite beer!) for a first hand look at the lovely layers of paint which go into her work.

Tomorrow is packed tight, so perhaps you can enjoy some photos at flickr or pop over to some of my sidebar links >>>> feltbug has some neat posts and cally has my favorite veggie photographed so beautifully today, peek in on ms. lino at monster crochet- she's heading to NH next week for a huge knitting and crochet trade show and we will be meeting up! too too exciting! (I wonder if she can teach me how to crochet while drinking margaritas?)

brevity

Anna has a lovely line of jewelry which I have been meaning to show here for at least two weeks... I love all of her work, on paper, canvas and now something new (to me at least!) brevity - her line of jewelry.
She sold it at Renegade, so maybe some of you lucky people out there saw it live! Here it is in her etsy shop for the rest of us. Beautiful Anna!

Albina McPhail seeds and pods

Nothing says summer growth to me like Albina's seeds and pods.
See them here. Don't see the one you want? Email me, for availability.
Each is a gem. All are beautiful! She uses acrylic and ink to get the layers upon layers of lovely color. Small yet powerful.

Summer comes along

growing in a pot in our back garden - the colors wake me up!
What a wonderful weekend. Perfect weather, croquet, pingpong, endless chatting, amazing food, family and fun. (pop over to my flickr if you want to see some more of that) On to summer now! Taking a little break from here for a couple of days, but leaving you with some links to explore...

• I wrote a new post up at Bizbox - (all about things which have inspired and influenced the way we do business at artstream)
  
• Saw some pretty neat things through the eyes of jan over at poppy with renagade craft fair in Brooklyn...sigh, next time! note jan's new banner, i just love it.
  
• crust station had a post which captured my attention on fairgrounds and circus because it had some great links to coney island- a special spot in the world to me.
  
• a great new product from Herman Miller - called c2 climate control (it's going to get hot here soon...) via MoCo Loco
  
• a great sounding call for "edgey crafters" at freshlyblended blog in case you missed it?
• this amazing house posted over at sfgirlbybay blog - truly pink. wow!
• a fine clock which would satisfy my thirst for fonts... via swissmiss
• bblinks - a new to me blog full of great linkity links!
  
• three layer cake does it again (of course I am late in even mentioning this) but in case you missed it - The new design trend - paper! Full of photos to make you want to go out and buy even more paper. oh! and if you have not seen the wonderful photography from Kristina, check out her flickr pages - beautiful!

So off for a few days to college orientation with the dh and freshly graduated daughter. I am completely thrilled to be kicking away from the computer and work in general, so don't take it personally - I still love you best and will be back soon.
The word for the day is - direct, as in dial, conversation and no b.s. Have a wonderful Monday!

Ashley G (aka kitty genius) Interview!

Welcome to our second podcast at artesprit! A huge thank you to the lovely Ashley Goldberg who's hair has reached competitive heights, works a lot on her labtop with the greatest of ease and most importantly creates artwork which has inspired and awed many a viewer here at our gallery and of course, around the globe this past year and a half. So turn up your speakers, grab a cup and give a listen and enjoy the slideshow!

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Kiosk

Cuckoo Clock$180.00

Gernrode/Harz
Wood & Clock Mechanism
8"x7"x7"

My DH is rolling his eyes over this post, but I can't resist a good Black Forest Cuckoo clock! (ok harz is not anywhere near the Black Forest...) We have seen ones similar to these whilst traveling through the Black Forest on the way to friend Angela. This particular one is so lovely I think, because of it's natural wood tone. It is available at Kiosk right here and will satisfy all your needs for time... which today seems to be ticking away a bit faster than ususal...
Also at the fabulous Kiosk is the beautiful, handmade comb from Groetsch. The Groetsch family has been making these combs since 1848, it is a father, mother and daughter operation, which is pretty incredible as their combs are fairly well represented in Germany. The father's father was the last master comb maker in Germany. Today all of the work is still done in the traditional way by hand. Read more about them here and to purchase.
I can't leave this post today without mentioning a beautiful post which you might not have seen yet - Cally gave us a peek into her world of art with her pods in drawings and sculpture.