new art - celona...

Here's one piece in a new group called celona...

indie revolution - fey handmade...

Ok. Am I the last one to the party??  I have just discovered fey handmade, and I am totally in love!  This carefully curated site offers wonderful handmade finds from art, home accessories, stationary and everything in between.  They offer gift certificates and their site is just gorgeous to top it all off!  I have a new bookmark under my shopping column for sure!



dimmalimm | marymary handmade | pretty much art | branch handmade | heidi devlin | leah duncan

pieces of me: a personal note on patience...

a personal note and small insight into my life in this moment and this moment only.

how do you tame a soul that wants to run free? how do you balance rationality and dreams?

how do you practice patience when all there is is the present?

do you walk down the perfectly paved road, or do we lay the path stone by stone as we go?

a stallion must run, just as a bird must fly.  we wait, and wait, and wait, but why?...

tomorrow, back to your regularly scheduled program...

hour glass via Martin Taylor

new gold dream Kevin Law

i have a dream Marijka Willis

jet stream - out of africa...

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Happy Friday all!  On today's jet stream we are going to talk trend.  This global/ethnic trend has been everywhere for the past three or four years it seems - and its here to stay for a bit.  Ikat is still going strong (yay!), block printing (or the look of it) is really picking up, and "primitive" inspired prints with a futuristic spin (think late great Alexander McQueen spring 2010) are really keeping things moving forward and fresh.  The effects of globalization are spattered all over the runways and home decor.

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My personal thoughts?  This is fantastic!  The plight of the world is making us examine everything about the way we live, consume, and create.  Naturally this is going to manifest in the primary way we all express ourselves - clothing.  It seems right collectively we are all striving for a simpler life and celebrating the things that make us more similar than we are different - and THAT is exciting!

artist interview - kristina sostarko of inaluxe...

I stumbled upon this fabulous work by Kristina Sostarko of Inaluxe and just had to know more!  She's been kind enough to chat for a bit!  Be sure to stop by her blog and fab etsy shop too!



My name's Kristina Sostarko, and I'm the artist behind inaluxe. I have a blog www.inaluxe.blogspot.com and an online store www.inaluxe.etsy.com where you can come and visit me. I live in Melbourne, Australia with my partner Jase, and our little fox-dog Kibi.

what three to five words would you use to describe your work?

Tough one to answer. I think I better draw from what others have said as well as how I see it - although I don't really think about the work in these terms, so it's a fascinating question. I guess bold, graphic, flow, whimsical, and pop are all relevant.

what inspires you?

The maddening need to change, fix, make better, improve, and explore. It's what drives me, and gets me out of bed in the morning. Primarily, this is what inspires me. On a more tangible level, architecture, music, people, textures, colour, pattern, the everyday. Everything from animals, and their behaviour, to a large old broken down shed in the country, or perhaps it's a wild 1970's velvet sofa in orange and turquoise stripes, etc.

what was your first job?  when/how did you know you wanted a career in art?

My first job was working in a young women's refuge. It was such an amazing experience, and while it did not fulfil my creative vision at the time, it did help me to learn alot about my self, and others. It gave me certain skills, and awareness about the world around me. I loved it. I knew I wanted to be an artist when I was 8 years old. I would sit and draw all day, everyday. Birds, horses, and I recall I had a huge thing for the tv show "I Dream Of Jeanie" and I would just draw her constantly.

finish this sentence.  I could eat ______ all day.

peaches.

design books/blogs you can't live without

This is a can of worms. A nice can, but nevertheless, a hard one to control, and answer without giving you a giant essay on the topic. ha!  It changes for me all the time. I don't really have one favourite blog, or book. At the moment I am working through some of my bird reference books, and learning more about particular birds, and not just painting them. It adds something to the work for me: their habitats, personalities, quirks, etc are all omnipresent and part of what inspires the pieces.

what do you do when you are not doing art?

Is there such a thing? I'm usually thinking about it, or not thinking about  it. At the moment, I am doing the art full time.

name one thing about you that would shock the outside world.

I like death metal? I don't know, but that's one thing people tend to get surprised about. I don't really know if there is something that really would shock others, and well, there probably is, but some things are better left not shared! :)

finish this sentence.  If I could time travel, I would arrive...

right here. No time like the present - as they say.

what's next?

Lots and lots of thing I hope! I'm just about to start a new range of giclee prints on canvas, and I'm working on textiles for homewares at the moment. These are the two most significant changes happening right now. See where the journey leads, and keep exploring.

print and pattern book arrives!...

I'm am just so very tickled to be a part of the print and pattern book!  It's been a project long in the making and the fabulous Bowie Style has knocked it out of the park.  There are so many incredibly talented artists in this book, I just can't wait to have a moment to dive in!  Exciting!

blog it forward - what inspires...

Pulling up the rear today for the blog it forward mash up!  I hope not to disappoint.  It was wonderful pulling these images together and really thinking about what inspires me.  What I've learned?  Travel is essential to my well being!  Coming up on seven months since my last journey abroad!  Time to start planning!  I hope you enjoy a little insight into the world as I see it.  Cheers!

Be sure to stop and smell the roses today on these fantastic blogs.

bliss | paislee press |create girl | ruby press | from the rightbank |surviving green | the well-rounded woman | miss makes a lot | yvestown

Thanks to Victoria over at sfgirlbythebay, for always fostering and encouraging creativity, inspiration, and community!

via little brown penavailable in my shopvia house of turquoise

it never gets old...

Awhile back the fabulous Libby Unwin purchased my simply provence print for her "bike corner".  She's was so sweet to send me a picture of the print on her wall!!  Yay!  It always thrilling "seeing" your work.simple provence is available now in the shop!

new collection - las ramblas...

Finished up that collection I showed you pieces of last week!  Loving the hot and spicy colors, a little different for me.  Hope you heart it!

hello spring!

and.....NOW!  It is officially spring friends.  Here are a few lovelies that will help put you in the mood to frolic!

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Fifi Lapin for Forever 21.  J'adore!How fun is this??!  Wimbeldon dress - French ConnectionGreat remake of the classic trench.  All Anthropologie

jet stream malvern, pa

We're heading back to eastern Penn., to catch up fantastic artists Stephanie Corfee.  She gives us her take on her town, and how it touches her artwork.  Enjoy!

I have lived in Malvern, Pennsylvania since i graduated college back in 1997. Two of my 4 residences here have been on the main drag, King Street, that takes you through the heart of our quaint borough. My other 2 homes were about 50 paces off that same thoroughfare, right on our town square park, which was another 50 paces from my parish church and school and, well,...it was pretty much within 200 paces of everything; a pub, a bank, some shopping, the train station, and whatever else you could dream up. People in town here don't need to lock their doors and we actually have festivals and fairs on a rotating schedule!

My husband and i bumped into each other in the corner pub here, "The Flying Pig" way back in 2001. We started dating here, shared our first apartment, bought our first home, got engaged, and had our son all in this sweet, Norman Rockwell kinda town. When we bought our first single family home 2 1/2 years ago, we went through the motions of looking far and wide and whaddya know? We still ended up right back where we started. In fact, we're just under a mile away from our previous house. My friends and family joke that we could just walk all the boxes to my newest address each time i've moved. They're right. One move we made was literally into the house next door! But i don't care. i love this place.

And here's the nitty gritty.

The town, itself, is "located in southeast Pennsylvania, approx. 25 miles west of Philadelphia. The Borough is 1.3 square miles and has a population of approximately 3,200. Malvern dates back to the Victorian era and continues to reflect this in the Victorian facades found in the business district, the Victorian street lamps and the brick pavers." Our house on the square was almost 100 years old with slanted floors and deep window sills. The word charming just fits perfectly.

We have an old town clock, an adorable tiny post office which i frequent!, historic buildings renovated into homes and big old estates with hulking trees which tower above giving shade. Even the cemetery in the heart of town is so ancient as to be beautiful with it's obelisks and crumblin headstones white with lime.

Now how does where i live affect my artwork? Well, my artwork is not traditional looking. I'm certainly not getting any direct inspiration from my historic and sugary-sweet surroundings. But i'd have to say that the comfortablility and sense of community and family that is all around me here, gives me a kind of peace that is helpful when creating. i am so relaxed when sitting here in my studio. i love my view across the yard. i feel very planted here. So, while i sure could use a lot more of today's upper 60s temps, this place will forever be home. (Even if i take a certain friend's wise advice, and give sunny Austin, TX a try one of these days!)

artists i love - jen oaks...

i heart her work (Jen oaks)!  that's all k thanks! and she has an etsy shop!

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new work - pieces of las ramblas collection...

Two lovelies for you today from my las ramblas collection...

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