June was a month of parties

What great fun was the month of June! I hate to say goodbye to it, but there it goes. Last night's birthday soiree was illuminated with lovely sparklers, cool weather - so much that blankets had to appear, and salads a plenty.
As June flew by, I missed responding to Beate's meme, so here goes in a 7 + 7 format.

seven things i like:

1. June weather
2. original ideas - no matter how strange at first they may seem
3. lemon quark ice cream
4. long walks
5. indigo and naples yellow
6. playing croquet with my family
7. morning coffee

seven things i dislike

1. february weather
2. magazine scans in blogs
3. seeing people i know in the grocery store - i dodge them every time, yes, even you.
4. photographs of people larger than 5x7 inches
5. cable television
6. fast food
7. rude drivers

Enjoy the weekend, here in New England it is just wonderful weather!

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Rainer! (hbty)

bird and a twist! ink on a vintage book page available here.
Twist - for my favorite Friday distracton. Illustration Friday. See more twisted illustrations there. The weather has turned extra lovely for my dear husband's birthday! Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Rainer!
A reminder too - the last three days to pick up a print of "wired" at prettydarnswell - where did the month go?

MuchachaK Bags are here!

Last year, our dear intern Mattie introduced me to Katy Brown's line of bags - called MuchachaK. Katy is a busy NH girl working hard for the South End Market down in Boston and stocking artstream with ultra sweet bags made from some of the finest selections of textiles I have seen. Subtle and beautifully designed I fell in love with the small clutch and zipper pouch as yes gentle reader, I still misplace my keys often! The makeup bag has already been a big hit too.
The big bonus with MuchachaK is that not only are her bags well designed and hip looking, Katy herself is a genuine peach of a person and an ultra organized business woman - something we are always thankful for in our shop.

Pippa Caley - To Dye For

Pippa Caley sent over some lovely shots of this fabulous show she has going in London. Check it out - she knows how much I love her work. I am tardy posting this and feel terrible about that, but please do go see the work if you are in London before the 19th of July! Stop by her site here to take a further look. I couldn't post just one of the photos she sent me - they are all too lovely! The work just speaks volumes to the printmaker in me...

• TO DYE FOR……Exhibition celebrating the traditional workmanship of hand-dying, screen printing and embroidery by Pippa Caley - running from Thursday 21st June until Thursday 19th July at Pearlfisher Gallery, 50 Brook Green, London, W6 7BJ.

Albina McPhail seeds and pods

Nothing says summer growth to me like Albina's seeds and pods.
See them here. Don't see the one you want? Email me, for availability.
Each is a gem. All are beautiful! She uses acrylic and ink to get the layers upon layers of lovely color. Small yet powerful.

Vermont

downtown Brattleboro secondfloor windows...

a few miles from my old home near Westminster, Vermont
After long last, doing the catching up, working like mad, taking a break from here to go over there and then going to see this and that, I wanted to share a few photos of our time away down in the southwestern part of our state and our rambles through my homestate of Vermont.

a favorite tree in a beautiful spot simply called "The Boat Landing"

Have a wonderful weekend! Summer is here! ::::added late:::: the wonderful Karen over at K-style featured my new website on her slideshow feature of her blog today! Thanks Karen so very much for the presentation!

pixiegenne vintage brilliance!

Fabulous is the only word I can think of for this ingenious use of decoupage. Get over to pixiegenne to view a few more of these lovely luggage pieces. Her work is so much fun!

Prints a plenty

citybird
Some people have inquired about prints from some of my paintings so we dove into the fray and have created three new ones. Limited editions in archival ink on Hahnemuhle 310 gm paper. Email me if you would like one - they are $40 and 8x 10 inches. Thanks too! to Jan over at Poppytalk for the mention of Pandora!

Graduation

We are through the graduation process,(with honors I might add...) parties and celebrations and flew right into the college orientation process! Just a quick one here to say hello and show my daughter's smiling face. (I can be proud for a moment can't I?) More photos later of our lovely trip to Vermont, stomping around my old homestead and enjoying a few moments away from it all...
The word for the day is ... absorb - as in each moment, a lot of information and the summer sun's rays.

Summer comes along

growing in a pot in our back garden - the colors wake me up!
What a wonderful weekend. Perfect weather, croquet, pingpong, endless chatting, amazing food, family and fun. (pop over to my flickr if you want to see some more of that) On to summer now! Taking a little break from here for a couple of days, but leaving you with some links to explore...

• I wrote a new post up at Bizbox - (all about things which have inspired and influenced the way we do business at artstream)
  
• Saw some pretty neat things through the eyes of jan over at poppy with renagade craft fair in Brooklyn...sigh, next time! note jan's new banner, i just love it.
  
• crust station had a post which captured my attention on fairgrounds and circus because it had some great links to coney island- a special spot in the world to me.
  
• a great new product from Herman Miller - called c2 climate control (it's going to get hot here soon...) via MoCo Loco
  
• a great sounding call for "edgey crafters" at freshlyblended blog in case you missed it?
• this amazing house posted over at sfgirlbybay blog - truly pink. wow!
• a fine clock which would satisfy my thirst for fonts... via swissmiss
• bblinks - a new to me blog full of great linkity links!
  
• three layer cake does it again (of course I am late in even mentioning this) but in case you missed it - The new design trend - paper! Full of photos to make you want to go out and buy even more paper. oh! and if you have not seen the wonderful photography from Kristina, check out her flickr pages - beautiful!

So off for a few days to college orientation with the dh and freshly graduated daughter. I am completely thrilled to be kicking away from the computer and work in general, so don't take it personally - I still love you best and will be back soon.
The word for the day is - direct, as in dial, conversation and no b.s. Have a wonderful Monday!

Ashley G (aka kitty genius) Interview!

Welcome to our second podcast at artesprit! A huge thank you to the lovely Ashley Goldberg who's hair has reached competitive heights, works a lot on her labtop with the greatest of ease and most importantly creates artwork which has inspired and awed many a viewer here at our gallery and of course, around the globe this past year and a half. So turn up your speakers, grab a cup and give a listen and enjoy the slideshow!

rss feed

feed it to itunes

Party

party birds, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

Party is the name of the day this week. This is a birthday party photo from Saturday, with some handmade birds we sell at the gallery. having fun!
Stay tuned, Ashley G. interview podcast #2 up tomorrow!

Kiosk

Cuckoo Clock$180.00

Gernrode/Harz
Wood & Clock Mechanism
8"x7"x7"

My DH is rolling his eyes over this post, but I can't resist a good Black Forest Cuckoo clock! (ok harz is not anywhere near the Black Forest...) We have seen ones similar to these whilst traveling through the Black Forest on the way to friend Angela. This particular one is so lovely I think, because of it's natural wood tone. It is available at Kiosk right here and will satisfy all your needs for time... which today seems to be ticking away a bit faster than ususal...
Also at the fabulous Kiosk is the beautiful, handmade comb from Groetsch. The Groetsch family has been making these combs since 1848, it is a father, mother and daughter operation, which is pretty incredible as their combs are fairly well represented in Germany. The father's father was the last master comb maker in Germany. Today all of the work is still done in the traditional way by hand. Read more about them here and to purchase.
I can't leave this post today without mentioning a beautiful post which you might not have seen yet - Cally gave us a peek into her world of art with her pods in drawings and sculpture.

Sofia Barao

libellule digital print on vintage paper

Sofia does it again! Available at our gallery shop right here!

Growing

This weekend marked a 13th birthday party, baccalaureate, and visit from my mother. This photo taken by Chloe almost age 13 sums up the budding, blooming and aging process. It is a very emotional time with change being the only piece which is constant. Life is rich and full.

Musical Suit(e)

october, originally uploaded by artstreamstudios.

It's old, but appropriate. For IF's prompt "suit"...
Her suit is for Halloween - with an emphasis on music.
From my calendar 2006, October.
Have a wonderful weekend!

Lisa Congdon + Penelope Dullaghan + Ashley G.

There are still some choice pieces left from the {un}limited show here at artstream... If you haven't browsed the exhibition here are three beauties still available!

Someone Good /Room 40

Look what came in the snail mail today! My "winter" painting from last year ... on a new album cover called "Add to Friends" by the label Someone Good, (a sister company to Room 40) from Australia.
I am thrilled that Someone Good (pun intended) liked my painting enough to want it on their debut record - one which embraces the friendships made on the internet.
The inner sleeve notes say: "Add to Friends" is testament to the phenomena of sites like MySpace and the opportunities offered by file sharing and p2p networks for the discovery of new music frrom across the globe. The artists on the CD are "friends" of someone good, both literal and virtual. Artists whose music has found a place in their lives and hopefully yours!
How fun. The music is very progressive and fresh too. The packaging is extremely well made and doesn't involve much plastic. Thanks Rebecca for the mail .. it made my day!

K-Style Lampwork

Signature earring charm and hoop set. Each bead is made with murano glass from Italy and then finished with a silver lining to precisely fit the beads.

I really love K's lampwork and now you can snatch up a pair of these beauties at her etsy shop. Yes, my name is Susan and I really have too many earrings already! These are so deep in color and the design is just simple and perfect. Take a peek at her fun blog as well!

The word for the day is ... saturate ... as in color, water and schedules!

Hello and thank you ...

hello! watercolor 3x4 inches
The best "words to live by" I have heard in a very long time:
"My future starts when I wake up in the morning ...Every day I find something creative to do with my life." -Miles Davis (this amazing quote came through the mail to me via a thank you from this person)

Thank you all for your lovely emails and comments and even posts about my new personal website. It is sort of amazing to me that we didn't do it before, but as the cobbler's children go shoeless, so does the website of the wife of a designer. Life is extra full right now - so keeping it short and real here. You all made me very happy...thank YOU!

My new website

Morning all. Hope you had a wonderful weekend!
I am happy to report that my new site has finally "hatched". See it here at:susanschwake.com. A hug and a kiss goes out to Rainer for all his help. He set it up so I can do all the adding and subtracting and pushing it around. What a man! If you get a moment to click there, let me know what you think ... and thanks so much for taking a look!

The word for the day is ... windy ... as in a spring wind, a breezy day and an old old song from he 60s.

Pretty Darn Swell

wired mixed media on a map of southern france 2007
Happy June! Today marks the opening of "The Long Way Home" show at Pretty Darn Swell.
My artwork entitled "Wired" was chosen as part of this first "group exhibit" and is up and ready to roll. Go check it out - it's in a lot of very good complany with other "long way home" artwork at the fabulous Pretty Darn Swell.
Like my last show there, of each print is $20 - $5 goes to my favorite chairity - The Mayhew Program. Enjoy your Friday!