design*sponge

design sponge 2/29/08, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.
A huge thanks to Grace for posting about Abby Glassenbergs' work included our upcoming exhibition "Stories and Tales" over at design*sponge yesterday!

Grace will also be joining us next fall over at Squam Lake for the exciting Squam Art Workshops. Check out the links to SAW and more about Stories and Tales.
I am totally down for the count today with the cold/flu so will just watch the snow fall (yes, again) from my bedside window.

Pippa Caley new pillows!

One last quickie for today - Pippa sent over some lovely new pillows from her collection. All are above my budget, but a girl can dream, can't she? They are made up of hand dyed silks, linens and velvets. They have detailed areas of print and embroidery. They are 30cm x 50cm and are £65 - and totally beautiful! I am partial to the twig imaged ones... sigh! All information right here.

Barbe Saint John "Love Necklace"

BARBE SAINT JOHN -Love Tattooed on My Heart Necklace, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

Just another love-ly heart at the shop -- all profits go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation!
Two amazing necklaces by Barbe Saint John, still available! This exhibition will be closing soon, so don't forget to take a peek.
I have been down with the flu here so keeping this short ... more this weekend!

Lark Bunting by Abby Glassenberg

lark bunting, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

A little sneak peek at one of the beautiful sculptural birds coming our way for the March show "Stories and Tales"
The bird was made by Abby Glassenberg and uses the most beautiful tones of grey and neutrals. Her work is impeccable and she is one of thte nicest artists we have met. Of course, we only work with nice people!
I am thrilled about this exhibit as it has a lot of images of animals of all sorts and secret stories hidden amongst each piece.
I am growing my files at flickr (click through the photo) so you can all get a better sense of the exhibition.
More snow out there. Off to shovel!

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!

Credenza love!

Well, our trip to a NH craigslist ad proved fruitful! We are happy owners of a fun new piece of furniture for a mere $175. I am not too much into "things" but this "thing" is useful and lovely.
Here it is in our halfway renovated kitchen - note the lovely subfloor which it sits upon. Also one little fun ceramic piece I bought from an Australian etsy shop for myself- a little cat bank, made in Germany. This is our vacation week, so I will be posting lightly here between fun little mini vacation activities and more *snow* shoveling. Yes folks, 90 inches is not enough, we are bracing for another bit of winter madness as I type.
Don't forget to visit the Lovely Hearts section of our shop - the profits all go to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

persistence of the wisteria

persistence of the wisteria, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.
for bibbi!
click through the photo to see more snowy steps through our garden... it's been crazy! snow snow snow.

enjoy the weekend!

and the winner is ...

future girl!
Out of the hat of names future girl wins her choice of bird paintings.
Klimt is it. I had begun the painting prior to getting to the Museum Moderner Kunst, in the museum quarter, but upon returning it took on a whole new patterning. I just got lost in the large scale figures of Klimt's that we saw in the Leopold. I love the Hundertwasser house and the idea of no straight lines, but it was Klimt that blew me away. (not that the painting I did have any sort of resemblance to any of his work, but inspired by folk, inspired by...)
We actually went to Vienna for my birthday and to see - hopefully - the work of Egon Schiele. Sadly most of his work was "on loan" elsewhere. That happens a lot to us when we are searching for something. Either way, we had a wonderful time there enjoying the public art, the beautiful buildings and icing like details on the ornate facades.
So, that's it for this morning. I hope that the snow doesn't fly to far and hard today as I am tripping over to Keene to pick up daughter #1 and on the way back hopefully - grabbing a bargin of a credenza I found on Craigslist. $175. I hope it's not disappointing! Cross fingers...

blue skies

let's here it for blue skies!, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

today.
finally.
the best blue of all!
And more beautiful blue here and here and over here! (last one via Imedagoze!)
sun sun sun here we come!

Blue?

All things blue today - even my color, but not my mood... here I am for SPC (haven't done THAT in awhile) in front of one of my favorite artworks by artist and friend, Edibeth Farrington. Encaustic 8x8 called "what up love?" and I love it!

Making hand puppets

chloe's puppet, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.
My children's classes are busy finishing up their claymation videos and thinking about what they would like to try next. Some of the groups will be making puppets.
This is exciting to me - every time they choose this - as I love to make puppets. Some will be large scale, other classes will make hand puppets like the one above.
8 years ago daughter Chloe made this little gem. She took a pair of her old ballet tights and cut them up to form the head. She used fleece for the "coat and scarf" and felt for the hands. Being the glitterglam she is she added the huge sequins for buttons. Her simple drawing on the stocking head was done with a sharpie -(my favorite part!) and the hair was some repurposed fake fur handed over to us by a friend.

As she was just starting to sew at the time, we used a combination of hot glue and stitching for the construction. All in all it stands as one of my favorite pieces of her artwork ...(so far)...

Mug warmers

I know spring is somewhere... but until then I still look for everything warm and wonderful. Like this cozy mug warmer. What a great idea! Found at etsy this morning. The button makes it removable for easy washing and well, adds a bit of dash to the whole design. My hands would love to wrap around something like this during our chilly months! And to think - the maker is from Arizona... go here for more details.

Hadley Hutton

modern peony 8x8 inches $190 encaustic
We have some beautiful new Hadley Hutton pieces now available in the shop. They are so bright and spring like I just have to walk by them a few times each day to remind myself this snow will pass. Hadley's work is highly detailed with much care and expertise taken in execution. The paintings bring the viewer to a restful place looking deeper below the top layer to find more detail below. Each piece is an original and each work a special piece of spring for your wall. Sigh!

Unshaven is cool...

Bearded men -- ooh argh! They are arriving next week from Ashley G. Thought I would give you a little sneak peek of the three: Kristof, Nicholas and Finegan. Popping into the shop very soon for preorder! They are $35 each - with a limited edition of ten prints per bearded man.

Warm Theory

warm, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

In theory, this painting would have been easier to achieve in a smaller scale. It measures 3 x 4 feet and I did this back in 2005 in oil and oil bar.
It was fun to paint.
Guess what I saw that inspired me- in Vienna prior to painting this?
Guess in the comments below and the winning answers will be put into a hat at the end of this week (February 22nd) and I will draw a winner. The winner gets one of my new larger scale bird paintings, painted just for them.
Have fun!

Deer men are back ...

deerman

unusual growths

spider - man!
and they have brought some friends of Megan Bogonovich... Check 'em out here at the shop...
Have a wonderful weekend!

happy valentines day to you all!

happy valentines day to you all!, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

Here are three of seven valentines we made as a group.
add polkadot ribbon and voila!
Hearty Banners!
happy lovey day to you all dear readers!

Vinyl for your wall - by you!

Jan over that fabulous blog Poppytalk, posted a great link to Computer Arts. I had to share as I have been thinking of doing something largescale and hand drawn on one of the walls in my kitchen. (yes, the renovation drags on...) This might be a great solution for that wall. Check it out here.

Stingray Chair

Today is about love... so I am going to show you a few things - yes, things that i love.
I am loving this chair which won the Interior Innovation Award this year in Cologne!
More about that and the Danish Designer Thomas Pederson right here at Fredericia Furniture. So beautiful!

Snow day, shmoe day

flax bread, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios. final pics of bread
click through to see them!

Instead of my whining about the horrible weather .... Let's make bread!
Wisk:
3 eggs
1.5 cups of milk
1/4 cup safflower oil
1/3 cup honey
Add:
4 cups of King Arthur Bread Flour
1/2 cup King Arthur whole wheat Flour
1/4 cup Flax seed
1 Tablespoon seasalt
Knead it like mad. You will know when it is done when it feels as soft as a baby's behind. If it is dry where you are you might need less flour, if it is raining like hell or here, you might need a bit more.
Knead it for at least 15 minutes off and on to your favorite B-52's album.
Let it rise in a greased bowl - (the one you mixed it up in works)
Punch it down and gently knead it a bit. Make it into free form loaves, little breads - (broetchen) or nice baugettes. Heck you could braid them too!
Bake in a 350 oven until they are golden brown- tap on the bottom of a loaf to test the "thump". If it "thumps" it's done.
Enjoy!