Sunshine, on a cloudy day

o clementine, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

Little clementines can lend a lot of sunshine in November. How do you turn up the sun when it's not shining?

Jerseymaids: Interview!

Today I wanted to bring to you an interview with Lauren Beacham from Jersymaids one of our newest lines of jewelry here at artstream. So read on to learn more about Lauren and her beautiful work and successful business!

Q:Tell us about your younger years relating to art ...

As a child I was in the indefinite mode of imagination and creativity.

Constantly drawing, painting, sculpting with clay, participating in the local

theater, I even had a knack for puppet shows! Art was a big part of my life in

all shapes and forms. My parents also made it a point to take me to museums,

plays, sign me up for classes involving the arts and really encourage that part

of my personality. I owe a lot to them for allowing me to pursue my passions

with no reservations.

Q:How did you decide to work full time on your art?

After college, where I received my Bachelor's degree in Fine Art

Photography, I had an abundance of prints from projects and my own experiments.

I decided to open up an online shop to try and clean house a bit. After I sold

my first piece, it was a mad addiction. Since that first sale, I have

transformed my images beyond the realm of 2D prints and created a large line of

functional art such as clocks, lamps, jewelry, cards, and other unique gifts

based exclusively on my Polaroids. The shop took off within just a few months

of opening and it's been on the steady uphill growth ever since. I still get a

rush with every sale, with every happy customer, with every crafty relationship

I get to form in this wonderful handmade life!

Q: What is the soundtrack playing behind your work?

My soundtrack is on constant shuffle. Throw in a little modern folk with

some old classics, a few dance-ables, a dash of 80s and 90s and that's a good

start! My music is easy to listen to, makes you feel good, and you always know

the words. I try to make my work reflect the same - easy to enjoy, fun,

colorful and dream-like with some hints to the old vintage classics we will

always love.

Q:What are your three favorite things in the world?

I don't know if I could sum it up in just three! But I would say the

people/animals I love, my music and my Polaroid camera equipment. I can't

imagine life being complete without them.

Q: What sort of advise would you give to someone starting out in your field?

Go with your gut. In this fast-paced digital world, I knew in my heart that

my place was with analogue photography. People think I'm crazy and if I had a

dime for everytime I heard "where on earth do you find the film?" or "it's so

expensive, I don't know how you can do it!" or "isn't there a Photoshop filter

that does that?" I would be a rich lady indeed. The thing is, there is nothing

quite like film out there. The way it captures light, the dreamy images, the

unexpected mistakes that become miracles, the anticipation, and the awe I always

feel of watching that image appear out of nowhere right in the palm of your hand

- waiting for what feels like ages for that old-school "instant" gratification.

It tries your patience, it pushes you to new limits, it makes you truly think

about what you're about to do. And most importantly, it still feels like

magic. I knew in my gut this is where I belonged and it's taken me farther than

I ever dreamed...and I know this is only the beginning.

Thank you so much Lauren for taking the time to do this interview! Lauren also does custom work with your images as commissions. Please contact us if you would like something special for your wedding (think bridesmaid gifts, groomsman gifts, etc!)

Some more from Molly Bosley!

A quick peek at some of the new smaller works of Molly Bosley which just came into the gallery today. Tiny and very affordable, these beauties pack a punch ... and are going up in the shop first thing in the morning - but don't wait, they won't last!

Views from the weekend ...

Wonderful NH Open Doors weekend + opening for Nostalgia. Lots of warm cider, wine and nibbles were consumed as well as new art pieces going home with nice patrons! We have new classes starting this week, so we are extra busy with everything around the gallery!

New! Jerseymaid lamps and jewelry!

More beautiful things in our gallery - lamps from Jerseymaid - check out their jewelry too!

Hadley Hutton more peeks!

Just one of the many Hadley Hutton pieces we have now at the shop!

This weekend: Nostalgia!

Specials all weekend long - NH Open doors tour stop #30

Hadley Hutton :: new work!!

It is with tremendous pleasure that I unveil the new work in encaustic (painting with wax) we just opened by Hadley Hutton! Yay! Words can not express my joy over these pieces, which I am sure will not linger long. Fly away is shown above appropriately as they will do JUST that!

freshly blended ornament swap!

love letter swap ornaments, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

Just got a nice note from Nicole over at freshly blended and it's on again! The original format Holiday Ornament Swap is back starting Nov. 1st. Here is a photo of my second year ornaments I sent out. I love participating in this swap and this is such great news. It really gets me into the holiday spirit each year and it's just fun to get little handmade packages from others out there too.

Florian Pucher Landscape rugs

Via the incredible Flossy-P - landscape rugs! This one is called Europe and I just love it. The cows are cue too, but this rug would be perfect in my entryway. Here's a link to the site - enjoy!

Wisdom

So cool for a Monday morning ... Wisdom, via my delightful daughter Grace!

What can artists do?

dreaming by susan schwake mixed media on panel

What can artists do? Artists can change the face of an area, inspire others for greatness, make us laugh and cry, infuse a city with economic riches, develop a new way of thinking, illustrate an era, illuminate a thought and spread the word of change. -- just sayin.

Erin Slingsby :: new work

A little peek to pique your interest in our upcoming show: Nostalgia. For November. Stay tuned and have a wonderful weekend. It's going to be a great one!

Maira Kalman at designsponge!

photo of oysters by maira kalman which i snapped last february

Just about squealed when I saw that Grace at design sponge had Maira Kalman in her column on What's in your toolbox. Check it out! sa-woooooon!

Erik Boettcher :: new works!

Thrilled as always to have Erik stop by with a load of goodies for us. All kinds of new super affordable (think $25 for these little 6 inch squares!) originals on wood with lots of Vespa goodness and other nostalgic images. He has been busy - they will all be in the shop soon.

Succulents need a beautiful home too!

Hop over here to pick one of these one one of a kind planters for your favorite succulent! A beautiful presentation ...

Mushroom LED Lamps

via BoingBoing, these beautiful lamps on driftwood with additional fungi made my evening over here... very cool. From Japan, they are available here...

Building wild vases

Just a quick view of the really large vases we started last night in the adult clay class. I am thinking of making a little movie with them as they are SO incredible!

Sunday walks

We took a walk in the woods on Sunday. It was so sunny and quiet. We found a huge shag bark hickory tree and these fallern chestnuts and a seed pod. Reminded me of walking around the woods as a child and finding chestnuts. That was enough to make it a perfect day.

Printing with Leaves and Watercolor

one of mine - as a card

one of the littles work

one of the children's work

one of my adults work

another one of mine - my favorite!
Today my adults and our preschoolers printed with leaves. The process is simple and fun and you can enjoy finding your favorite leaves outside before you start!

First - go out into the sunshine and find a leaf or two or three whose shape you admire. Then, take your watercolors and paint all of your favorite colors - fall like or not - onto a piece of paper. Let them dry.

Take some black printmaking ink and roll it out onto a smooth surface with a brayer.

Using the brayer, roll some ink onto the back of the leaf to cover the entire surface.

Flip the leaf over and press it gently onto the original watercolor painting.

These pantings can be used for cards, gift tags and wrapping paper if you wish - or just frame up your favorite and hang it on the wall.

Fall splendor

Yea! It's happening -- the fall colors are exploding. Here is an example of what you can find right in your own backyard here. It's so perfect. Stay tuned for a nice little art project based on leaves.

Megan Bogonovich another shot of Majolica

Just another little view of the majolica ware we will have in the shop -- today!

Making Art :: just photos

Just a few weekend gatherings of photos to illustrate some of the beautiful work and happy artists in process at the studio. Happy long weekend!

Rainbow connection

Somehow this week just all fell into place. Beautiful skies each morning and night with so much packed in between, lots of exciting news on the horizon, but that will have to wait. So for now, here's a scene from late yesterday. I love rainbows ... they always come when you least expect it and seem to bring luck. Do you believe in luck? I am not sure if I do, but I believe in rainbows.