Searching for the sun....

For those who don't live around here - the Boston area has been getting LOTS of rain!, and the first day of summer was no exception. So as I was taking my dog for our morning 'swim' I came across a sea of Catalpa flowers scattered across the sidewalk. I noted how beautiful these blossoms were and thought they would make a lovely dress, but a father's day breakfast was waiting to be made, so the hound & I walked on. However, when i turned the corner - there was another gathering of these treasures in front of me and in fact the wind was blowing them toward me. I took this as a sign that these beauties could not & should not be ignored. So I collected them and headed home to make breakfast.

This reminded me of my experience making the Luscious Kelp Dress the week that the Dress Project began in Wells, ME. Each day I would walk the beach looking for which material I would use to make my daily dress. I tried to be as open as possible, to search for inspiration with no pre-conceived ideas. On one rainy morning i ventured out to make my dress and I came across a beautiful piece of kelp - lush & succulent - basically calling to me. However earlier that week I had considered using kelp but when I picked up a piece to use, it was covered with crawling, creepy bugs & I decided against it!!(now you should know I don't usually get freaked out by bugs but this was nasty) Even a few days later I was still feeling a little squeamish about the kelp & even though this piece was so beautiful I past it by. But only to come upon another large beautiful piece a few yards down on the beach. So I took this as a sign that kelp was my material for the day and I picked up all the kelp and I made my dress, in the rain (and there were no bugs).

So today, once breakfast was done and fathers were celebrated I ventured back out in the rain to make a dress. Along with the Catalpa flowers I had found some other white blossoms - all that had fallen because of the rain. After trying some different surfaces for the dress - the lounge chair turned out to be the best, and after the dress was done I thought that the chair was quite appropriate - a little entreaty for some sun!!!

So in honor of the first day of summer and for listening to one's muses ....
the search for sun dress

peace