Molly Bosley :: Artist Interview

One of our newest artists here at artstream is Molly Bosley. Molly has been part of our "Seasonal Travel" exhibition and we were so excited to see all the facets of her work on our walls and to meet her. She is truly a gem! Molly agreed to answer my questions and so here we go today with her interview... Molly Bosley from Boston, MA.

1. What is your earliest memory of art making?

I remember when I was three years old, I sat my favorite stuffed bunny down on a chair and drew it on a chalkboard. My mom said it was an exact replica.

2. What is your medium of choice? (s)

Paper. You can do so much with it. I am always trying to find new ways of using it and manipulating it. People think of paper as a flat surface and base for making the actual art on, I want to challenge that idea and go further with it.

3. What are your greatest inspirations for your work?

Pretty much anything old inspires me. When I go to yard sales and thrift stores, I don't just see a bunch of junk, I see objects for new projects. I love textures and patterns like on fabrics and rugs, rusty metal nuts, bolts and doodads. I think the things that catch my eye the most are silhouettes found in nature and natural objects like sticks, weeds, acorns, seashells , etc.

4. Who was the most influential person in your early art career?

My mom was probably the most influential person early on. She is an artist and always encouraged me to create things. What I remember most from my childhood was my mom telling me fairy tales and pointing out little things relating to color and shapes. These things all come back to my current interests.

5. What is a good art making day look like for you?

Waking up on the early side, getting myself a large iced coffee, sitting down for a good 6-8 hours and just getting things done. At the end of the day I would have a variety of things started and maybe a few finished.

6. Who are your favorite artists - living and dead?

Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Toulouse Lautrec, Monica Canilao, Brandi Strickland, Zak Smith, Eduardo Recife, Dasha Shishkin, Su Blackwell, Robert Rauschenberg, Brooks Salzwedel and so many others.

7. Words of wisdom that you would like to pass along?

Keep making it.

8. What art do you find really exciting right now?

All the paper cutting artists popping up!

9. Where do you see yourself with your art 5 years from now?

I see myself living in a house surrounded by trees, drinking fresh lemonade in a garden and making art every day.

10. Tell us a little about the process of your art.

When I'm making my collages, I usually cut out a whole bunch of images and surround myself with all of my materials and then just begin moving them around. For the paper cutting, it's a lot more complicated. There's a lot of planning the layout, image transferring and tracing the same images multiple times. Even though this process is so structured it's just as instinctual as my other art making.

Pink Ranunculus

the last of the flowers i bought for the opening. pretty, huh?

March showers better bring April flowers because we have had more than enough. Flooding everwhere, gray skies and somber moods prevail. Today the weather man said it should break. We hope so before we do! What's the weather like over in your neck of the woods?

Chloe's orb

Chloe's orb, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

Daughter Chloe has been making a lot of clay objects for her high school 3D class. This one has been coming along pretty nicely and so I thought I would share. It's fun to see what she comes up with and of course I am thrilled that she enjoys it so much and that I can watch her do her homework in ART at the studio and not just algebra and english. Rain rain today yet again, it seems as though we will float away. Sunshine is in the forecast for the end of the week with increasing temperatures so I am keeping my eye on the prize!

Kiosk Carved Bowl

Kiosk rides again -- this time to Portugal ! I love this carved bowl they brought back. Get yours here at the one and only Kiosk. I think this would make THE perfect bread bowl. So beautiful. Get this bowl right here, and read more of what what Kiosk has to say about it all:

Called a "Gamela" in Portuguese, made from one piece of wood, chopped into form with a chisel and hammer, hacked away in a sculptural manner. Traditionally used to give shape to bread before it goes into the oven. Portuguese bread is delicious, the bowl has the right vibes.

Porcelain workshop

funny little fat hedgehog man, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

What I made at our porcelain handbuilding workshop on Saturday at the studio. He just came out of nowhere! It was so much fun and I absolutely love working with porcelain. Megan Bogonovich is a wonderful teacher and we all had success!

Camilla Stacey :: Artist Interview

fortune teller by camilla stacey

Hello Friday! I have been messing about with a new blog look and well, it's been many years with the old one so it was time - right? More fun than that however - was putting together this

little late afternoon post with another wonderful Artist Interview - this time with the other half of Calm Air All Ice -- Camilla Stacey!

I have been friends with Camilla now online for a few years, and have followed her work and am pretty sure that once we finally meet in person, much cake, tea, and chatter would ensue. For now, I have to catch her online and hopefully here, bring her a little closer to you all. I really admire her work and am thrilled to be part of the "52" show. Especially when it's so appropriate a number for me! So here you go - Camilla Stacey!

the Room 212 space in Bristol, England all images via Camilla Stacey

What brought you two together?

Camilla: Many years ago (2003) I decided I wanted to learn to knit, so I thought the best way of learning was to start up a Stitch’n’Bitch group in the shop and gallery that I co-founded (here). Claire was one of the people who came along to the meetings, and also took part in some of the odd craft shows we ran in the basement, as well as being part of one of the exhibitions (Knit One, Build One) that was held to coincide with National Architecture week.

What are each of your favourite media to work with and why?

Camilla: I love working with found materials, old paper, ink, graphite, masking tape, brush pen, photocopier. Although I’m drawn to colour a lot I mainly end up working in monochrome, I’ve yet to work out why this happens, but I think I’m a bit scared of colour.

What does a good art day look like for each of you?

Camilla: Making something! I am one of those irritating people that spends long periods of time and then has a sudden burst of energy and usually makes it all come together at the last minute. This always frustrates me because I’m sure if I went for the slow and steady approach I would make better/more work, but I’ve tried to change my ways and it isn’t happening. I love it when I’m in the studio and I’m just head down drawing, or splashing ink around, when it’s all flowing and I know where I’m going- I rarely have a vision of the finished thing, the process is much more important to me than the end product, but I know when it’s not working and I love solving the problems and making it right.

What artists inspire you?

Camilla:Obviously you do Susan! I admire anyone who can curate and have their own practice as well, as that’s my aim for the future, but it’s a balancing act and I’m not sure how anyone does it. Lots of my other inspirations are going to be taking part in the show- but for ones that we couldn’t fit into the gallery then I’d go for Annette Messanger, Marlene Dumas, Sophie Calle. (interviewer's note: blush!)

What other inspirations to you each have?

Camilla: Found photos, old books, sleeping, childhood, the landscape where I live, memory loss a slightly twisted sense of humour and interest in diseases you thought no-one got anymore and the sea

What is your vision for this exhibition?

Camilla:I thought that by inviting lots of other artists to show in the space it would make it much easier for us to organize, rather than just Claire and I sharing the space as we did last year. I was wrong. My vision for this exhibition is to come out of it alive, I think Claire is more optimistic and hopes to tour a show similar to this in the future to other parts of the UK/World/Universe.

Amy Rice :: Artist Interview

Wings are pretty by Amy Rice

tandem by Amy Rice

Amy grew these flowers

The beautiful and talented Amy Rice was kind enough to take a moment out of her busy schedule to answer a few questions of mine for us to all enjoy. Amy Rice is such a huge talent, with thousands of fans and right now a large body of work here at our gallery under $100. Her positive attitude and cheery spirit radiate from her work and it's just simply wonderful to see the transformation the gallery took on with this show. It hits everyone when they come in!

So, here we go with the Amy Rice interview -- all images by Amy Rice.

1. What is your earliest memory of art making?

I specifically remember my Grandma teaching me how to embroider and the "a-ha" moment when I got it. She left me alone for a minute and I embroidered grass on the bottom of the piece and she was so proud. I was two.

2. What is your medium of choice?

My hand-cut stencils used in conjunction with spray paint are the mediums I am best known for and use the most. I love my gocco machine and can only wish on every falling star that someone, somewhere would start making new screens and bulbs and ink for it so that I can continue to explore and grow in my gocco art.

3. What are your greatest inspirations for your work?

So many things inspire me. I love old printed fabric, vintage prints and dresses, my garden, my memories of growing up on a midwestern farm, and the urban environment I live in now. My sweet old dog Ella. The extreme seasonal changes one experiences living in the Midwest.

4. Who was the most influential person in your early art career?

There were some artists early on that really influenced me. Jennifer Davis, Chris Stain and Terrence Payne all are artists that deserve a nod for their inspiration and influence. The artists of the nonprofit arts organization I manage (Spectrum ArtWorks) have been hugely motivating. To be around so many talented artists as they discover their potential has been life changing and has encouraged me at every stage of my career.

http://www.jenniferdavisart.com

http://www.chrisstain.com

http://www.terrencepayne.com

http://spectrumartworks.blogspot.com

5. What is a good art making day look like for you?

I work best in the evening when I have nothing to do the next day. I love staying up all night making art and going to bed at sunrise exhausted and full of paint.

6. Who are your favorite artists - living and dead

Well, the artists I named earlier as influences of course along with:

Johan Vermeer, Mary Cassatt, Swoon, Seonna Hong, Keegan Wenkman, Allen Brewer, Hokusai Katsushika, Henri Rousseau, André Derain, Camilla Engman, Know Hope, Lena Revenko...there are so many

7. Words of wisdom that you would like to pass along?

Grow Flowers, Ride a Bike, Love an Animal, Try Something New, Find Your Wings, Make Art of it All

8. What art do you find really exciting right now?

Know Hope/ This is Limbo:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thisislimbo

9. Where do you see yourself with your art 5 years from now?

I hope I have a few new tricks up my sleeve, knowledge of some mediums and methods I have yet to experience.

10. Tell us a little about the process of your art.

I use nontraditional printmaking methods such as hand-cut stencils and gocco as my starting point for original mixed-media pieces. My main images come from my sketchbook, from found photos and photos I take. I feel very free as an artist to use whatever material I want, be it fine art supplies or glue and glitter. I am never sure where a stenciled or gocco printed image will take me when I first begin. My worktable always has: scissors, mod podge, acrylic, gouache, ink pens, colored pencils, x-acto knife, random scarps of pretty, found paper and caffeine.

Alena Hennessy :: artist interview

On the heels of the last interview, I am happy to introduce Alena Hennessy to the Artist Inteview section of this blog. Alena is one of the three women who are part of our beautiful "Seasonal Travel" exhibition. We have shown Alena's work before and were so pleased that she would be part of this beautiful tribute to springtime. All images are from Alena Hennessy.

1. What is your earliest memory of art making?

Sitting at my Grandmother's house, drawing imaginary worlds for hours. She was a school teacher so she would give me a stack of handouts and I would draw on the back them until the pile was gone.

2. What is your medium of choice? (s)

Acrylics, watercolor pencil, pen, ink, sometimes thread, resin....

3. What are your greatest inspirations for your work?

around Alena's home and studio in NC

Nature and all the creatures within it.

4. Who was the most influential person in your early art career?

Portland, OR. Well, I guess that is not a person but a lot of the artists that lived there who found ways to make a living with their creative work.

5. What is a good art making day look like for you?

Waking up early, enjoying some tea and breakfast, then its to the studio, spending several hours drawing, painting and designing. Or perhaps ending the evening with a night spent of solid art making.

6. Who are your favorite artists - living and dead

I like Rachel Solomon's work a lot. The most powerful painting I saw in person was Henri Rousseau's "The Dream". His work astounded me with its raw beauty. Andy Goldsworthy is my all time favorite however.

7. Words of wisdom that you would like to pass along?

"Everyday is a gift" (along with) "This too shall pass".

8. What art do you find really exciting right now?

Anything eco friendly or green!

9. Where do you see yourself with your art 5 years from now?

Continuing to do what I am doing now, perhaps along with teaching, writing and travel. I would love to write a book about the creative process or an illustrated story.

10. Tell us a little about the process of your art.

It's an intuitive approach. I allow my hand to move as it wants, express the beauty of forms and lines I admire, and go from there. Sometimes there is a narrative or theme I would like to express. So I start with a pencil sketch and then begin adding color, layers of paint and so on.

Thank you so much Alena for being part of our Artist Series and part of our gallery!

Claire Platt of Calm Air All Ice

Good Morning! Today I wanted to start with some artists interviews to bring you a little closer to the minds behind the new exhibition at Room 212 in Bristol, UK called "52". I have four pieces which will be in the exhibit and am so proud to be in the company of the other 51 artists and the two master minds: Claire Platt and Camilla Stacey. They have a blog for Calm Air All Ice which houses some of the artists interviews, so you should also pop over there

Now, without further ado - here are Claire's answers to my questions!

All photos of Claire Platt's work were provided by Claire Platt. Enjoy!

1.What brought you and Camilla together?

When I first moved to Bristol, I found out there was a knitting group in Bristol so I sent the organiser (one Camilla Stacey) and email and following that I went along to the stitch and bitch group at the Here shop/gallery! (psst. Camilla also co-founded Here) I also did a craft fair (or two? I can’t remember) and took part in the Knit One, Build One exhibition. So knitting brought us together! Yay!

2. What are each of your favourite media to work with and why?

Oh! That’s a tough one for me as I’ve flitted a little between embroidery and knitting over the last few years. At the moment though I would say knitting – particularly with natural wools, and at the moment I am completely in love with some Black Hills yarn. It is beautiful to knit with.

3. What does a good art day look like for each of you?

Hmmm. For me it depends what I’m working on, if I’m making a designated amount of pieces for a show, for example, a good day for me means one in which vast quantities of knitting are completed!

If I’m not working to any deadlines a good day can be something small like one sketch in which an idea is realised, and sometimes a good day is just knitting something non ‘work’ related. I was most excited by the jumper tangent I embarked on a few weeks ago. Those were good days.

4. What artists inspire you?

I admire a lot of artists to be honest – especially those who have paved a career or continue to create alongside various other jobs as I’m still trying to find my feet in that respect. Obviously all the wonderful people taking part in the show are in inspiration to me so outside of those; Kiki Smith, Rachel Denny and Jeffrey Milstein

5. What other inspirations to you each have?

Aeroplanes (how shocking!) particularly WWII aircraft, although I love living under various flight paths – I see lots of commercial airliners everyday. I love going to air shows – not just to see planes but to see the other people who watch the planes. Knitting, old knitting books, other people who knit, visiting the IWM, travel.

6. What is your vision for this exhibition?

Camilla thought it would be easier to invite others to join us, I think I may have escalated the scale of this slightly… One of the first shows Camilla invited me to exhibit in, Abracadabra was inspired by the fact that we had all initially met online. I like that this exhibition has that aspect still – a lot of the artists/designers/makers selected are people whose work I have only ever seen on the internet and the entire thing (including mine and Camilla’s own organising) has happened via email. The vision is basically to bring together a whole bunch of people whose work we love. I think the mixture of different medias is going to make this a really vibrant show! There’s a little bit of everything for everyone and hopefully it will all go off smoothly and perhaps the 52 show will become a regular occurrence!

Projects

work by Alabama Chanin in our gallery last summer.
So many projects come at the same time in Spring. Garden work ( we hacked down a lot of hideously overgrowness in the back garden this weekend) house work, (spring cleaning inside and out as well as the prospect of siding our home AND finishing off the kitchen once and for all!), web overhaul (been ongoing for longer than I care to think about, but the end is near!) clients, artists, end of the year exhibition and my own personal exhibitions and eeps! an award, (hey go vote for me here).

Yes, busy and happy -- but not too busy to look around to find some really interesting projects out there. I came across an interview with Natalie Chanin who's work I adore - and the contest that Burda Style held. The winner was interviewed with her about her reverse applique work and she was none other than Gina Sekelsky. Which brought me to the page about her once a year journal/scrapbook. I love this idea. It makes so much sense to me as well as tidying up one's life of sketchbooks into one neat personal page. I like this very very much. Check it out and peek in on what Natalie is doing. It's always interesting and beautiful.

List of good things

a nest we found two years ago in our front yard bush
Oh March, how you have tired to bat me down, with your floods, your endless dark skies and extra silly work which never comes in any other month. It's true, each March I think that I might be best taking a nice vacation somewhere warm or simply elsewhere... sigh. So today I decided to take the lead from Liane (you gotta go see her blog,if you haven't) I wanted to list some good things this Friday. The past two weeks has been very wearing on me and Liane reminded me that there really are some great things I have to list, to remember:

1. best husband ever

2. best daughters ever

3. my life

4. four full days of sunshine

5. best job ever (includes my students, our artists, staff and partners)

6. perfect shade of gray paint

7. freeda

8. mom back to good health

9. succulents

10. dark chocolate with seasalt by Lindt

Passing this on to you - post your good things or leave them below...

Old Paint

olde watercolories, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

Old Paint is eternally interesting to me. From all sorts of places, even the places where the painting may begin. This is a beautiful tin cased set which I have just put up for sale at my little vintage shop: Flohmarkt on Etsy. Lots of fun things there, eclectic in nature and collectable. The sun is still shining here, so we are making the best of it and scooting off the computer for the day. Happy Springtime!

Joe Papendick :: a place for the birds!

images by Joe Papendick

images by Joe Papendick
It never ceases to amaze me how much beauty there is in metal sculptures. The surprise here with Joe Papendick's work is that they are functional pieces as well.

images by Joe Papendick

The function follows the form. Just the way I love it. I am going to have to save up for one of these beautiful pieces as I simply can't live without one. Joe's site is chocker-block filled with lovely pieces to spruce up your spring and the life of the birds in your yard! The site has a link to buy some of the work from on the left side - and then you can contact Joe directly to pick up one of his one of a kind sculptural numbers as well. His etsy shop is well stocked too!

Haven --a little bit of heaven!

all photos by Haven

I was stumbling around on Sunday and ran smack dab into the most beautiful site I have seen in ages. I mean it spoke to me, in clear tones of magenta silk and floral kimonos. In bold wide stripes of green and white that whispered calm messages in my ear. It's Haven. I am head over heels and spending way too much time looking at these pieces of art. These quilts are sumptuous.

Her aesthetic divine! They also have furniture, cushions and a blog. Go look ... you won't be able to pull away!

Springtime

Alena Hennessy

Amy Rice

Oh it's springtime in New England with rain rain rain. I feel lucky today that we did not lose power as so many did. My heart goes out to them. Without power and without a sumppump many a basement is swimming pool like at this point. The rivers are swollen and the little creeks are now rushing streams. Many roads are suffering too. But the optimistic piece is that SPRING is coming along! Yay! with a capital Y! It's full of promise. I promise!

The gallery is looking quite springlike as well with Amy Rice, Molly Bosley and Alena Hennessy's work cheering up the grey exterior we are experiencing! Much happiness with this too was seen on Saturday night while the skies were spitting ice at us. The reception was quite a success and lots of happy people leaving with smiles on their faces after their purchases. There is plenty of goodness left though so check out the shop for some really affordable and wonderful pieces. Too much fun to pass up - and with Easter and Mother's day right around the corner, these are great gifting pieces as well.

Awards + receptions!

Last night I got a mail informing me that I was nominated for Outstanding Public Artist of the Year by the Spotlight awards people over at the Portsmouth Herald! What a nice surprise ... it's a people choice award which means you dear readers can vote for me, if you would like to. There is a nice little gala and ceremony along with a fun evening of artists gathering at the Music Hall in Portsmouth. So go ahead - vote for me right here! (unlike Pedro, I can not offer you protection)

Tomorrow at artstream, from 5-7 we have our artist reception for "Seasonal Travel" which should be a whole lot of fun! Drop by and peruse the works and have a drink on us ... meet Molly Bosley and let's chat about art. Have a wonderful weekend!

a little bragging ...

Daughter Chloe is already quite an accomplished artist. She has been selling her work for about a year now and is breaking into illustration. Currently she is working in fabric (learning to sew from a friend who is a real creative master), clay (working with Megan Bogonovich) and taking two art classes at school which she loves with fantastic teachers. She's a busy 15 yr old! The above little illustrations are samples of what she is cooking up for some handmade cards she is going to release later this spring. They were inspired by our dear neighbors who are expecting in July. I am pretty excited about her work! Bragging time over - thanks for indulging me!

Darryl Berger :: rides again

Darryl has been up to some pretty amazing painting as of late. This morning these new paintings blew me away. Go have fun looking over his work right here.

Chronicle Books One Sketch a Day: A Visual Journal

the front and below the back of the journal

all photos by Chronicle Books 2010

When Patti from Chronicle Books sent this over to me I could only say: wow! simply beautiful! I would love to get my hands on some of these for presents for my talented friends... There is nothing like a fabulous journal to get you started on your way. Here's what Chronicle has to say:

This charming keepsake sketchbook features spaces to draw each day for one year. Visual journaling is vastly popular, and it's easy to see why—the practice of daily sketching allows budding artists to capture impressions that might otherwise pass them by, to see the evolution and rhythm of their thoughts and inspiration. Students, doodlers, aspiring and established artists will want to make this journal their constant companion, one they can then keep as a lasting record of their work and imagination.

There is also another book called The Designer's Notebook which is equally stunning:

This functional and imminently accessible notebook is the perfect place for graphic designers and creative types of all stripes to capture ideas, sketch out visuals, and develop projects. Straightforward questions walk users through the design process while still allowing plenty of room for imagination and creativity to run wild.Perfect for design students, aspirants, recent grads and current practitioners, the notebook is loaded with useful bells and whistles—including tracing paper, organizational stickers, and a removable ruler—as well as a handy resource section in back that provides essential facts, measurements, and frequently referenced charts.

Thanks Patti!

More shots of the show!

amy rice

alena hennessy

molly bosley

amy rice

amy rice
Just a few more detail shots of the show -- it's online for sale now in the shop right here!