A Little Something, South Berwick, Maine is proud to feature  local artists, authors, and artisans. It's their unique creativity and personalities that make A Little Something so very special and a magical location for gift giving. South Berwick, Maine is fortunate to have so much talent living and creating close by. A Little Something is the best destination for finding just the right present for those you care about.

NEW ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Sean Patrick Guidera

Sean graduated with a degree in interpersonal communication from the University of Delaware. He was born and raised in New Jersey and moved to Colorado after school where he started writing poetry, short stories, and children's books. His other work can be found at www.spgwrites.com. He currently lives in Dover, NH.

I met Sean and his mother in the store last week and fun, brilliant, unexpected conversation broke out. We laughed, asked questions, and quickly gained a knowing of each other. We learned that we were both writers and had recently published a children's book. He had shared that he would bring some back by. Children's books are one of the most difficult pieces to write. They seem easy enough in premise yet creating a book that captures, captivates, and continues to invite readers to rediscover is a heftier challenge than one may imagine. Words appear almost naked on the page and have just a small window to win over the heart of its reader. 

Sean and his mother returned with copies of his book. The cover was brilliant, colorful, and inviting. As they continued to talk I peeled back the pages and landed on prose. I was instantly captivated and denied his offer of gifting the store some copies. "Oh no, these are going to sell. Your book is rather quite lovely and I can't wait to offer it to my customers."

And so it's here waiting to be discovered. A copy has already been purchased as a gift for one of the local schools to help in learning the water cycles. I'm excited to see where the other copies may land!

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Danielle Lehoux

Danielle (Losier) Lehoux was born and raised in Cape Neddick, Maine. Her passion is creating graphic artwork similar to a block print style that is loosely inspired by the vintage “See America” posters of the National Parks. Being a native Mainer (8th generation), Danielle loves her home state and enjoys creating artwork that reflects the beauty of her surroundings. Her favorite subjects are birds and lighthouses. 

​Danielle always loved to create art and spent many hours of her youth drawing with markers and pastels, shaping clay into pots, dabbling in printmaking, and painting. During college, she started exploring graphic design and found that working on a computer really spoke to her for many reasons. This medium quickly became her favorite way to create art. 

One of the most asked for items at A Little Something is anything with a red cardinal. We love the way in which Danielle includes birds and scapes to make the very best art of Maine. We invite you to come and check out her many prints, magnets, coasters, cards, and trivets.

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Brenda Hess-McAskill

Roots Pottery - Eliot, Maine 

Brenda throws and fires functional stoneware pottery and decorative forms of pit fired and horse hair pottery. 

Pit Fired pottery begins by gathering and drying several items such as fruit peels, seaweed, nut shells/pits, coffee hulls/grinds and hardwood. Copper carbonate, cobalt oxide, salt, copper pieces and more are also used in the fire. The pots are made on a potter’s wheel, burnished and several coats of terra sigillata are applied. Once the pots are dried they are then bisque fired in a kiln. The pots are then placed in a pit and the pots are covered with all of the dried items and a huge stack of wood. The fire burns for several hours and then the pit is covered for 24 hours. Once cooled, the pieces are then rinsed and hand waxed with beeswax. Each pot has its own individual design made by the organic reaction in the fire.

Horse hair pots are made for owners to honor their horse. The horse hairs are burned into a burnished pot that has been coated with terra sigillata. The hairs create black lines on the pot as each pot creates its own design. Each piece of pottery is naturally unique and takes shape organically. Brenda trusts the process and allows the pot to become its own individual. 

Brenda’s love of nature, animals and universal energy are a big part of who she is. In addition to being a Potter, she is an equestrian, Reiki Master and a dog lover. She began working with clay as a child. She dug up natural clay from riverbeds in Pennsylvania near her childhood home. She took pottery classes in high school where she began throwing on the wheel. Classes and seminars taken from professional potters continued in college and beyond to continue to grow as a lifetime learner.

Brenda hopes that  you enjoy your one of a kind pot as much as she enjoys having them take shape and unveil their patterns. Brenda feels that “Handmade pottery has a special energy and feel, connecting us to one another with art”.

Please join us to view Brenda's work as well as other local artists, authors, and artisans at A Little Something, 11 Paul Street, South Berwick, Maine.