Albina McPhail

Albina's work is some of the finest we have had here at artstream. It speaks to me on many levels with line, color and balance being in perfect harmony. These fabulously intricate paintings are lovely as a single work or a group. They measure 6 by 6 inches by 1 inch deep. They are available here at the shop too as a gift or to keep! Contact me here for free shipping on one or more of these and additional works from this series.

Whip up + Danny Mansmith

OK, I have covered this ground before here and now today at Whip up. In case you are not reading Whip up - I did a piece on my current favorite textile artist Danny Mansmith today. He just is too too. He wrote to me late today mentioning his work was part of Art Basel in Miami. ... a 7 Foot tall fabric wrapped wood figure and he also made 600 paper flowers for Artformz alternative gallery in miami too...
Pretty darn cool. His etsy shop has photos of work that he has sold, (check out his beautiful scarves...) and well, I guess I am just a big big fan now, so you will just have to deal with it. We will be showing his work in a spectacular group textile show in March/April at artstream.

Paperdoll Calendars + Glass ornaments

New shot - showing all the months mostly - of the calendars...
They are flying out of the shop, but there are plenty for all as we printed an edition of 50.
Also! We have just recieved a nice shipment (all the way from across town!) of handblown glass ornaments for Christmas. Here is a grouping of them - will shoot them individually for the shop. Beautiful gift for $20 for yourself or a friend!

Carol Gillot Watercolors

We have four -- (oops! no we have just three left) beautiful watercolor paintings from Paris Breakfast's Carol Gillot. Here are some gallery shots of them. They are all for sale - just contact me if you are interested!

Some more artwork in the Under $30 section of our shop
New necklaces in the shop too!

Lists

corey amaro's photo :cupid available at our shop
This is the time of year for major lists ... for me at least. I have been naughty and not made them for almost a month however. Big problems. Forgot to pick up artwork at 2 (two!) of my shows. One word for that in the words of Bill the Cat "gak!".
Today (always "list make" on a Monday) is the day to wrap my head around that fabulous notepad and get it down in ink.
While doing that I thought of JuJu - one of my daily reads. I like her writing so much I even reread her posts between posts. She has a little list of likes and dislikes. (Thought I would try that here today too.) Meanwhile for you - check out these links which are full of inspiration... design*sponge has her new shop up full of great great things, Jan over at Poppytalk posted the most whimsical candle today, ullabenulla has more shots of her inspiring studio and new banner today, some more of Ashley G's tiny originals in our shop (and hers) along with the beautiful photographs of Corey Amaro!
And last but certainly first, thank you all for the warm and wonderful response to my calendar! It made for a busy weekend ... of the best kind! Orders are being shipped today! You all make me blush.
The word for the day is ... cerulean ... the blue which the sky is most August days... the color which goes so well with yellow ochre and the word which is so hard to remember how to spell.
likes:
coffee at dawn
quiet painting time
fedora chocolate
dislikes:
whistling
sirens
two of anything

Paperdoll Calendars are Ready!

Here they are! My Paperdoll 2007 Calendars.
They were printed on high quality matte paper with archival inks so they are sutible for framing later if you like them that much, or you could cut them out and make new outfits for them as well. They are for sale now at the shop! The dates were kept at the bottom so the prints were in tact for later - the rough edges show the painting lines which i liked. I used the classic typeface "Venitian" as it speaks to the age of the papers.
This was a fun project for me this year. Paperdolls have always been a part of my life - from ones we made long ago as children - to enjoying them with my daughters when they were young. The ones we always loved best were the ones we made up ourselves. So here are my twelve ladies, ready to play in 2007!

Sale!

It's that special time again ... time to give and get. Here's a little gift for you all - 15% off all of our items in the shop! Use the code ESPRIT at the check out and redeem it for your one time use on the total of your order off any of the unique work we have! Good until December 10th...
Stay tuned for the Paperdoll 2007 Calendar! To be released .... today!

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!