Block Print

Here is another form of a tree... my latest block print. In an edition of 20 - two in the shop now. (one is in my gallery and one is in Art under 30) The paper is 6" by 6" and the print size is about 3 by 3 or so..
Tiny, original art ... for $20.

Gosia I. Korsakowski from Blue Bell Bazaar

Tree trunks to sit on!
Available in the USA in january 2007. Mail Gosia above for more info ... she sent photos of these extra cool looking seats/endtables and I think they are too interesting not to pass on here. She also has some glassware which is really stunning too - the write up is here on House and Garden.

Tiny Originals

Finally, I was able to post up into the shop some of the fabulous Ashley G tiny originals! At $15 each everyone can collect original art. Click here and check it out... they are going fast...

Design Sponge/Biz Box

A huge thanks this morning to Grace Bonney of the wonderful design blog - design*sponge for asking me a few questions for her American Express Biz Box post on "Geting your Work out there". I was honored to be asked and the article is so well written that I am going to link it to my side bar for artists to reference. It's full of great tips for artists and crafts people from gallery and shop owners, She also interviewed Ryan at Elsewares, Mark from Sparkability, Rena at Rare Device - (what great company to be in!) Gallery and shop etiquette is often not taught in art schools consistently, nor is there much out there in the way of finding out "how-to" your artwork. We understand. At artstream, each month we get hundreds of emails, letters, and phone calls as well as drop ins (sorry, these are the worst) from artists from around the globe in a variety of fashions. We use a prospectus located on our site and every artist who uses one, gets our undivided attention. Thanks so much Grace!

Ashley Goldberg

A quicky update as I have a meetings this afternoon - but I promised to show Ashley Goldbergs new works we just received .... so..... here goes! We opened up Ashley G's new gallery in our shop today with these three stunning 8 x 8 inch canvas originals - "Turn Away", It's a Big World in there, and "She's the good one" They are paintings which have been created over layers and layers of vintage papers wrapped to the back. The matte surface is lovely and the details only hinted at in these photos. Truly beautiful!
The ten (10!!!) tiny orignals will appear tomorrow morning for sale too. Enjoy the day!

The word for the day is ... progress ... as in pilgrims, advancement and moving ahead.

Cut Paper Beauty!

from Ullabenulla again and her secret agent in Paris... Florizelle! As seen in a jewelry shop window... sigh! Marie-Helene is the artist and her website is here for more lovliness!
Thanks Ulla for brightening our world! Stay tuned for some AMAZING new work which landed in our hands today from Ashley G! All for sale - originals starting at $15!!! Talk about affordable art? We have that.

New Lily Devine arrived!

Lily's bags have been moving out... and here are a few new ones who have moved in...
sage stripes, mod brown squares, chocolate polka dots and pink and orange flowers!
all reversible and accented with a pile of vintage buttons for closures...
check the shop for the ones we still have available!

Paperdoll Calendars

What a beautiful holiday we had here with friends and family this past weekend and I hope you all had a lovely weekend too! My collage calendars are right on schedule... and will be available Dec. 1! Until then... another month to show you - June!

The word for the day is ... contemplate ... as in "many options", reflection and weigh in the possiblities!

Red Rooster!

Something fun and much less noisy than the real thing - also acceptable in the urban landscape!
Red Roosters (or white) made from metal and powdercoated from Blanc Reed. Loving these alternatives to sparrows or current birds of a feather. Plant him most anywhere inside or out and add a little twist to your yard or interior. Available from Cucumber Lab.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Our sky this morning. Happy day to all!

Amy Stacey Curtis

Take some time and check out the new SOUND installationby Amy Stacey Curtis. It's her fourth installation and wonderful. Thanks to Kris Lanzer (February 24, 2006) for keeping me abreast of these cool events.

Calendars

The calendars are almost ready to go - to the shop! Here is one more of the months - July! She originated from a natural vegetation map of Europe. Note the key stating the regions... I have had so much fun with this I can't wait to see them in print form.

The word for the day is ... scurry ... as in a step a squirrel makes, buzzing around finishing holiday touches and off in a scurry!

Party Game Winners

It's Monday and I promised presents, so here are the two winners of the Party Game! The answers were wonderfully creative and were a lot of fun to read - kstyle's potato slices, Ulla's snowflakes at a carnival to the rain on the window from many of you - all good guesses. The two winners are Feli and LadyK as they guessed bubbles and effervecence! This painting is a throwback to what I doodled for hours with as a high schooler - bubbles. That was the original inspiration - even though the end product looks (to me) most like river pebbles as Jan pointed out, my thoughts were on bubbles. Thanks for making my blog-a-versery so much fun! Send me an email ladies with your mailing addresses and your swirldrops will be posted this week to you! If any of you are interested in these ornaments, they are at the shop now too right here 2 for $12.

The word for the day is ... prepare ... as in guest rooms, holiday treats and last minute lists!

filmstream

Last night was another sell out crowd and 14 fabulous short films in three hours. Lots of hard work and dedication to make it happen from all that participated and of course our two wonderful judges - Dana and Matt. Winners were:
Call it Life - audience pick student catagory
Taking back Ordione - audience pick, everyone else catagory
Bloodyville - judges pick , student catagory
Frank the Barber - judges pick, everyone else catagory
A couple of photos of the event above and a little extra napping for me today! The biggest thank you goes to Adam Pearson for the donation of his beautiful metal sculptures (4!) to the event. The winners were thrilled with the gift and artstream is indebted to Adam for his continued support of our events. Too beautiful!
Don't forget to add your guess to the party game as the winner will be chosen tomorrow and announced. See you in then!

filmstream

Yes, it's tomorrow. Rainer made a trailer video of the chosen movies which you can all watch, and for those who can attend you can see the rest of the movies ... come early - we are almost sold out!
Go to our design studio site for more infomation on all the movies, the film makers and other good stuff!
enjoy!



Nice trailer Rainer!
note: there seems to be problems with posting comments - feel free to email me if you have something to say! or guess for the party game... ;-)
photos tomorrow on the film fest!

Bourbon Street Parfum

Corey Amaro's photograph "French Rose"
I am in the sweet cupcake mode of birthdays and Corey's photographs on exhibition here at the gallery as well as the idea of love being the theme of the upcoming holidays for me. This brings me to my personal favorite parfum since 1986 - KusKus from Bourbon Street Parfumers in New Orleans. How did I make that jump? Well, smelling good is part of the scenerio!
I don't wear any other scent and haven't since 1986 and dear friend Eduardo - hailing from New Orleans has helped keep me in stock by fetching said parfum of my choice! Now they have a website, so Eduardo can be off on his South American adventures, with no issue with me being out of stock of said parfum! Actually he has only had to retrieve it once, but it was greatly appreciated!
Go check Bourbon Street Parfumers - it's a wonderful place!

Swirl Drops

A quick preview of WIP "swirldrops" the new ornament for the swap, the shop, and the winner (s) of the Party Game! Still time to guess at the Party Game ... be brave, you won't hurt my feelings!
Finished ornaments to be shown on Monday and for sale in the shop's newest to be released section Holiday Gift Ideas!

Let us eat Cupcake Cafe style!

something beautiful from the Cupcake Cafe!
I promised birthday cake - so here we go. Three options as well, as we know that with desert there just can NOT be enough. I prefer to make my deserts at home, ever striving to live up to the standards (which of course I will never achieve) of my darling mother in law, Hildegard. She is the cake queen of Germany. Her cakes are worth the price of the flight alone.
But for something beautiful here, I would go to my favorite cupcake place I used to visit when going to the Javitz Center in NYC - The Cupcake Cafe! Their treats could sooth my most hectic days of selling inside the madness of the children's clothing shows!
Perhaps we should also order from Wendy Kromer Specialties (via OhJoy!) some petite fours for our daintier crowd who prefer something pink!

or let's feel guiltless and free and go for the extreme chocolate treat but with no calories from our gallery - one of four paintings we have on exhibit from Carol Gillot from Paris Breakfasts - "La maison du Chocolat!" No moment on the hips, but forever French chocolat on your wall. Delicious!

The word for the day is ... rich ... as in the flavor you savor, your sweet life, and moments together.

On the drawing board

Here is a peek at April - yes, that's her name. I have been working on a calendar for quite awhile now and am almost finished. The idea was sparked by the love of paperdolls both of my children (and I!) have. We have made our own, played with old ones of mine, cut out new ones given as birthday presents and well, the idea of dressing in wallpaper scraps from the stash I bought from applehead.typepad.com earlier this year started it all in motion. But where does the time go?
April is splashing in the rain and well, the last month (March) is still on the drawing board waiting to be finished. December 1 they should be ready to go!

The word for the day is ... rise ... as in rise above the drivel, making a good loaf of bread and get up and go!

Gifts from Germany

Textile artist and swap buddy Beate from Dusseldorf, Germany sent me this lovely textile art piece which I traded for with one of my encaustic papers It is so lovely and represents one of my absolute favorite design elements - white on white. The texture and the open work is abstract (love it!) and the buttons so sweet... Thank you Beate! and p.s. your Odeo voice mail to me was lustig!
If you haven't played the party game below - give it a whirl! More later ...

Party Game

First Party Game! Here is my latest 12" by 12" oil painting - one that I did yesterday (love those painting a day challenges) to celebrate the blog's birthday. It's good to work out your ideas fast sometimes.
If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you can see I have a lot of hair brain art ideas which vary (as Andrea noted last week) from monotypes to collage to painting to ceramics and mixed media. That's ok with me as I would never want to be noted as working "outside" my medium! However, I digress - so the party game here is called: "Name the Painting"
Try to figure out where this abstract idea just might have come from. The person who names the painting most closely related to my original idea for creating this painting, (good luck - you'll need it!), will be announced the winner.
The winner will be announced on Monday morning and gifted one of my soon to be released stoneware clay Christmas Ornaments which I have been making for this wonderful Ornament swap! Photos of my new ornament will be shown soon as soon as they cool off -- they are hot in the kiln right now. Leave your guesses in the comments section please. Have fun!

Lily Devine

It's birthday week ... so presents all around! Today we will have cake, presents, and party games with little prizes!
Our first guest comes by with Lily Devine handbags - straight from the coast of Maine in our gallery shop! They are reversible and easy to care for, as well as being colorful and fun to wear. No two are ever alike, as Lily uses vintage buttons, stacked high for the closures and different combinations of fabric for handles and lining each and every time! Her fabrics run from mod dots to brocade and silk. Something for everyone with a fabulous simple design which just works. We love Lily!

Happy Birthday Blog!

a pretty old box of paints i was given years ago ... and just had to keep.
Today is the blog's birthday! It has been a wonderful year, with so many meaningful friendships emerging and meeting a few fellow bloggers in person. My original goal, to be journaling and improving my writing on a daily basis - through practice, came from watching my daughter Grace write (by hand) in her journal for 12 years, daily. I thought it would be good to take a stab at it and explore the idea by including bits and pieces of our life in the gallery, a dash of personal, (but not too personal), and the launch of our ideas and online shop.
To say the least it has been a wonderful experience. I've learned a lot, met some of the nicest people and many talented artists from around the globe. It has opened a lot of new doors for our gallery and design studios and has set our mind free to explore the world from a new perspective. Thank you all, each and every one for sharing your experiences with me too!

Watch this space for some birthday treats and the announcement of our international call for entries exhibition ... (yes, that is part of the surprise... just a hint)
p.s. New items in the shop this morning too! - collages by Corey Amaro, Lily Devine handbags!

Lesa Morrissey

For about a year now we have been carrying some special art rugs at artstream. Lesa Morrisey is the "hooker" behind these designs. She has taught classes from Canada to California in her unique and innovative techniques which includes three dimensional work as well as more traditional flat pieces. We also have some little gems of hers - all under $40 which can spiff up your coat (wool flowers at $20) to your desk (small mats $20-$40) with a little textile art made from 100% wool. She even does portraits and sculptural vegetables! She will commission full size room rugs and most anything you might like in a wool hooked rug - and some things you might not even think of. Contact us if you are interested in something special. The smaller works of Lesa are now available in our online shop!

More Flavour design goodness

I know I showed a few things I found from Flavour Design Co. last week, but one more item which is enviro friendly, luscious and would look so good on a holiday table! Love these tealight holders - made from dead fall spalted alder wood -- aged to perfection and just look at that grain! three sizes and only $26.

artstream

Last night was our finale to the Ekphrastic Art Project II. We revisited the poems and the visual art response in the gallery and then after some wine and tidbits we moved over to the Roberge Center to hear the poets perform their work and see the dance response to the poems. It was a very memorable evening filling everyones eyes and ears with art that will stay with us for a long time. The exhibition will be up through Jan 2, if you happen to be in our neighborhood.

Clear

the tree of my life
mixed media/transfer on birch plywood 17" by 12"

Clearly, this is my family tree. My maternal grandmother is at the tippytop. My namesake is at 3 o'clock holding my mother as a baby. I had just finished this piece for a family gift this Christmas and well, it clearly is full of our personal history. It fit the IF prompt -- clear, for me!
Looking for clairity? Check out Illustration Friday.

Boiled Art Letterpress

Our newest line of lovely new letterpress cards arrived yesterday! They are in our gallery card section from Boiled Art Editions from Minnesota. We chose five designs and colors to make these our very own. Find them here in our shop! Nice new work from Brian Aldrich and Boiled Art Editions.

Busy as a Bee

student "Grace" w/painting
daughter Grace with date
The last five days have been ... busy, very busy! If I haven't gotten back to you, it is not because I haven't wanted to, I have just been swamped...

Our online shop is all a buzz, (thankyou dear readers) the gallery is simply filled daily and there are four major events at artstream this month! Last night was the children's art exhibit at the library, with 60 of my students work on display. It coincided with my daughter Grace's senior semiformal and some rain thrown in for good measure. This Saturday brings our Poet to artists project conclusion with a performance and next Saturday is filmstream our short film festival.

Through all this we are cooking up something grand for next year -
We are going to announce in early December a special call for entries for a project in Feburary for the gallery and a very good cause. That is all I will say for now .... All you artists - stay tuned!

The word for the day is ... patience ... as in ... one can never have enough.