swallowfield

splashy

hi! it's friday, and i'm feeling pretty happy about that.

i think i am in love with the idea of spring right now, having enjoyed a wonderfully warm and sunny day yesterday. it's time -  this winter was just way too damn long. and every year when this time comes around, spring makes me feel in love with color again, so i thought i would share a bit of color with you tonight.

these are a series of collages i just finished.

and these are some lovely ranunculus flowers that are currently making me feel very happy.

have a lovely weekend.

dedicated to the ones i love: betsy thompson

to wrap up my week of artists i love, i thought i would share a local portland maine friend whose talents really wow me. 

i'd like to introduce you to the super-talented betsy thompson : she's an illustrator, mixed media collage artist, and a homeschooling mom of two sweet little girls. she is also very smart and very, very funny. i am in love with her bold use of color and + her line drawings.  she did all of the illustrations for amanda blake soule's forthcoming book, the creative family, (i've seen them and they're lovely!) and she has plans to illustrate a childrens book.  i'm absolutely smitten with everything she makes.  {{all images courtesy of betsy thompson and used with permission, except the one i secretly snapped of her from behind while she discussed her lovely work at nahcotta's enormous tiny art show last month. thanks betsy!}}

dedicated to the ones i love, day three: abby glassenberg

i've been a big fan of abby glassenberg's for awhile, via her flickr stream, her etsy shop and her blog, while she naps. we have some definite commonalities in our lives - chiefly, i feel an affinity for her because i know we're both trying to carve out time to work with small people around who require a lot of attention, and we share a love of vintage bits that show up in our work here and there.

her soft bird sculptures, with intricate and exacting pattern work in the wings + meticulous attention to every single other detail, knock my socks off and make me feel all wanty, even though i've vowed to carefully consider each item i bring into my life this year. these are works of art she makes; things you'd want to have around your house is a place of honor for a lifetime, and then pass on as a special gift for someone else's lifetime.

i first saw her work in person at three graces gallery last year, and this week i have been super thrilled to see abby get some well-deserved press from all over the place for her part in an upcoming group show at artstream gallery in new hampshire. susan at artstream even did a podcast with her, which i loved listening to.  she is sharing the show with some other great + talented artists: alana hennessy, tara hogan (whose work i love from the enormous tiny art shows at nahcotta) and daryl berger.

good luck with the show, abby, and thanks so much for allowing me to share your beautiful work on my blog. (all images by abby glassenberg and used with permission.)

dedicated to the ones i love, day two: heather smith jones + friends

i forget how it was that i landed on heather smith jones' amazing artwork for the first time, but i can tell you i literally gasped out loud at my computer monitor when i saw her absolutely terrific wallpaper pinhole project. i think it is easily among the most gorgeous work i have ever seen. her paintings and drawings also blow me away.

heather is a multi-talented artist who also takes incredible photos and is keeping herself quite busy with several collaborative projects, both of which are lovely and inspiring.

the noticing project {an image a day in 2008} is a collaboration between heather and alicia alferman (otherwise known as the mayfly.)  you can also visit the noticing project's etsy shop to purchase selected images.

inspired is a new collaboration between heather and jennifer causey of simply photo + simply breakfast.  i am really looking forward to see what they come up with. i expect it will be amazing.

 

images and photos by heather smith jones, used with permission. thanks heather!

dedicated to the ones i love - danna ray

this week's posts are going to be dedicated to things i think are beautiful, and the people who make them.

first up, danna ray, otherwise known around etsy as groundwork - i got to see her lovely work in person when we were in the enormous tiny art show together last month at nahcotta, and i fell in love with it instantly. i can't wait to see what she gets up to this year - i am smitten with everything she makes. here is one particular favorite (photo by danna ray, used with permission):

gocco-a-go-go, or better-late-than-never-holiday-stuff-making

it's beginning to feel a lot like... i'd better get my act together on making some stuff for the holidays. i got started today. i don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing, but i have lots more ideas up my sleeve.

and since i'm thinking about gocco printing, go and take a look at sarah parrott's lovely 2008 gocco calendar. she's one talented gal.

what i like: morning light

i love the light in my house in the mornings, when i have time to appreciate it. saturdays and sundays generally feel rather luxorious to me, and i'm known to wander around with a cup of coffee in hand, staring at shadow patterns. "mom's looking at nothing again," the kids will say.  i hope they will learn it's something sooner than i did.  i pretty much let ++ too many years go by before i slowed down and appreciated these things.

what we all managed to appreciate this morning: three robins hopping around on the small patches of exposed ground, looking for worms.

we're off to boston for the night for a small celebration of school vacation. we'll visit the childrens museum and i will go and absorb the goodness at anthropologie in a window-shoppy kind of way - my few-times-a-year pilgrimage to the mecca of pattern. oh, and spend  far too long in the pool,  until we're all  wrinkly and  sleepy in that good kind of way.   
enjoy your saturday.

 

<3, <3, <3

has anyone ever given you a little something that made you do a sharp inhale of pleasure? perhaps where you knew the little something instantly  changed your life for the better?

it's pretty fun when it happens.

i am happy to report that it happened to me this week when my lovely and super talented friend aprill handed me a little bit of this vintage shelf paper she'd gotten at a yard sale. thanks aprill! my life is nicer now because of this little bit of goodness! and you'd have to be a really good friend to be willing to hand something this amazing over to someone. (pssst: she is.)