Dresses on the move!!!

Well besides working frantically to finish and promote 'this comes from within' I am needing to shuffle around some dresses!!! First, some dresses are coming home from the ALL Gallery in Lowell and from the Bromfield Gallery, Boston. It is amazing how fast August went this year!!! It was a pleasure to be included in both of these shows and I am sorry that they are ending. But as some dresses come back others are going out ~ In Memory of.... was juried into War & Peace: Images of Conflict and Resolution in the 21st Century at LynnArts Inc., Lynn MA. The juror was Ken Hruby, West Point Graduate, Visual Artist and Associate Professor of Sculpture, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The show will run from September 4-October 9, opening Reception: Saturday, September 12, 2-4pm (galleries open M, T, W, F 10 am- 4pm, and Thursday 10 am- 7pm)

I am very glad to have this dress back out in the world and especially in this themed show. David Lang also got a piece in show, Extraordinary Rendition, which LynnArts has featured on their calendar page.

So things are happening here. The anticipation for 'this comes from within' is building. It is exciting to see it coming together but also nerve-wrecking to see all that still needs to be done. I am having the toughest time finding the right fabrics because everything needs to be fire retardant and nailing the right stuff down has been a major struggle!!

Also last week I had one of those 'creativity lessons' when i realized that the two pieces of the installation (the front room and the back room) don't exactly work together as I have planned. I had been creating them each individually and hadn't really step back to see if they work together and they don't. So it is back to the drawing board for the backroom. The lesson here is to not get too attached to one idea and to keep looking to the piece for direction. My only problem is right now I am feeling a little frantic about the time so it is hard to sit back and be quiet and listen to the piece ~ one of my life lessons :) So I am off to do some yoga before bed and practice my breathing!! Peace, good night & namaste!

We have a DATE!!!!

The date has been set for the opening reception of my installation at Medicine Wheel ~

drum roll please.......

Friday, September 18th 5~8pm.

So mark your calendars, plan your evening, get a babysitter... it should be worth it!!

Of course I still need to finish it but all in good time. Right now i am trying to create the invite and I am struggling with my photo decision. Since the space is not finished I am going for a detail, a close-up, kind of a teaser ~ here are some that i am thinking about ..... any suggestions???

bachelor #1 ~

bachelor #2 ~

bachelor #3 ~

bachelor #4 ~

bachelor #5 ~

Also Medicine Wheel got a great article in the Herald this Sunday ~ http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20090823reclaiming_no_mans_land/srvc=home&position=7

Lots going on ~ very exciting!! So spread the word because this installtion, my entire summer of work, is only going to be there for a few weeks!!! the fun of an installation!!! Peace!!!

inspiring New Hampshire

This week as the summer heat was showing its prowess I headed north with my family~... to one of my favorite spots - New London, NH. Although i was technically on vacation - I lasted only two days before I had to make dresses. The first two were made while visiting the Fells in Newbury, New Hampshire. It is an old summer estate that they have opened to the public and the grounds are breath-taking. Beside just the natural beauty of the gardens, this year there is a contemporary sculpture exhibit called Animal Attractions (very interesting), an area set up with rocks for anyone to create a sculpture if so inspired & a FAIRY VILLAGE where anyone can make their own fairy house (you can only imagine the excitement). My girls and i were happy building and creating until hunger overtook us. As everyone else was making fairy houses ~ I, of course, made dresses.

Then after the Fells we headed to the beach where I had to make a dress. This certain beach is one of my favorite places in the world so I had to "mark' it with a dress. While walking the shore looking for materials I began to notice these small, brightly colored leaves floating in the water ~ a sign of summer's end and fall's arrival. This time of this month does tend to make one think of fall ~ even with the unbearable heat, the light is warmer and the shadows are longer & you know autumn is just around the corner. So I gathered this small collection of leaves and created this petite dress right at the water line. I like the combination of the turning leaves and the bright summer flower ~ summer and fall. It was wonderful to be making dresses outside with natural materials but now it is back to eggshells......

Happy summer all & peace!!!!

Eggshell installation update

The installation @ Medicine Wheel is coming along!!!! Here is a view of the gallery ~ showing the door cutout and most of the mural. In the middle of the floor is an 8 ft circle of sheet metal.

Below are some close up of the mural (the white lines are chalk lines)

It has been an adventure to see where the mural goes - it just grows and grows....
After the mural reached a certain stage it was time to focus on the main point of this installation...the eggshell dressafter collecting mirrors we started breaking them ~ a popular job among my helpers. I told all who asked ~ that if you break a mirror in the name of creativity you get 7 years GOOD LUCK!!! There is a lot of good luck at Medicine Wheel :)

Once broken then we pasted the pieces on to the metal circle. I wanted to do the mosaic before the dress so that the dress would sit on the mirrors. I have now come to reconsider this order of process because as i am building the dress I hear the mirror pieces readjusting below my knees.

But once the mirror mosaic was complete ~ the dress was begun!!!! eggshell by eggshell.....

There is still much to be done and time is running short. The official opening reception date has not been finalized although i believe it will be in the second week of September as there will be a new show in the gallery at the end of September.

It has been such a wonderful experience working with the Medicine Wheel crew ~ we have realized that almost everyone of the fifty some students that are working there this summer has worked on this installation in some capacity.

This summer the students are also working hard on a park in the community called No Man's Land. The Medicine Wheel youth group began reclaiming this area of South Boston in 1998 ~ this summer they are selling bricks which will be used to make a path which they call 'Our Common Path'. If interested you can buy an engraved brick which will sponsor their Youth Employment Program - all funds go directly to employ the Medicine Wheel youths. If you are interested email medicine wheel or go to their website http://www.medicinewheelproductions.org/. I was able to go to a hot dog social this week at No Man's Land and I found it a very inspiring oasis!!

So there is the update .. now back to the eggshells!!!! peace!!!

Big weekend coming up!!!!

Here is official information about the two show that I am participating in during the month of August. The opening are both this weekend - so get those party shoes on!!

WOMEN'S CAUCUS FOR ART
From Aug 5 - 27, Bromfield presents two exhibitions by the Boston chapter of Women's Caucus for Art.
"Sense (of Humor)"
Who says feminists don't have a sense of humor! Juried by Carolyn Muskat of Muskat Studios, this group show includes work by the Boston chapter of the WCA, dedicated to creating opportunities for and expanding recognition of women in the arts.

"Heat Wave"
"Heat Wave." Hot color, hot vibes, hot flashes. In the spirit of the season, this sizzling group show features members of the WCA, Boston.
Opening Reception***: Friday, Aug 7, 5:30-7:30 pm.

** during the SOWA first friday celebration which is lots of fun on a hot summer night.
Closing Reception: Saturday, Aug 29, 3-5 pm.

BROMFIELD GALLERY is located at 450 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA,

across the Mass Pike from Chinatown. Parking is available at 500 Harrison Ave.
Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat, 12-5
Wheelchair accessibleMember, Boston Art Dealers Association
BROMFIELD GALLERY
voice: (617) 451-3605web: http://www.bromfieldgallery.com

Fabrication of Imagination

August 1 -- August 30
Reception at the gallery on August 8 ~ 2~4

The ALL Arts Gallery presents two demonstrations in fiber art technique.

Linda Dunn will demonstrate Improvisational Printing on August 6th from 1:30 - 4:30 PM.

Susan Webber will demonstrate Free Form Free Motion Stitch on August 8th from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM.

Please drop by to watch and talk to the artists about their technique.

Expanded Gallery Hours: Thurs. 8/6 10:00 AM - 8:30 PM - (Museum night 5:30 - 8:30) Fri. 8/7 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Sat. 8/8 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM - (Artists Reception 2:00 - 4:00) Sun. 8/9 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Curator: Gwen Stith

I am going to be gallery sitting Aug. 8th from 12~2 if you happen to come by early. When I dropped off the dresses for this show was the first time I was in Lowell and I thought it had an palpatable art buzz. This month there are many exciting art events ~ there is Quiltscapes at the Whistler Gallery, A Sense of Balance at the Boot Cotton Mills, and What Followed Me Home at the American Textile History Museum, all running in tandem with the Lowell Quilt Festival .

Also there is a nice write up of Fabrication of Imagination by Jeanne Williamson in the Boston Artisans Examiner ~ take a look if you have a moment.

hope to see you ~ peace

under the full moon light we dance.....

I am blessed to be part of an amazing all women African drumming circle which met last night to celebrate the full moon, the hot summer and Lammas. Besides the wonderful experience of drumming with women this group has reconnected me to the natural rhythm of the seasons - highlighting olden traditions & rituals from times when we were more in tune and connected to nature. Last night I learned about Lammas and I wanted to share. Lammas, in the Celtic tradition, is the time to celebrate the "first fruit", a time of the initial sheaves and gratitude for the harvest at hand, and those to come. Last night we celebrated our own harvests - taking time to note a personal journey that we may just be seeing the first fruits of. I found this to be an empowering experience, taking the time to reflect. In these past three years I have experienced an amazing growth spurt ~ personally and artistically, and last night i was given the space to breathe and acknowledge my journey so far. It was powerful!

So I want to encourage you to go out and look at the amazing moon during these hot summer nights and, if you want, think about your own personal 'harvest', the 'first fruits' and celebrate ~ peace