Happy Birthday Mom!!!

This post's for you, Mom!!! It is my way of standing on a mountain top screaming 'Happy Birthday'. It is a small way of making up for the many gifts that have not made it to her door recently; because of a pending gallery show, girl scout event or my new job!!! Both my parents have been so patient and understanding as birthdays and holidays come and go with me saying 'I love you' & your gifts will be coming late because i am swamped. They never complain and in fact are totally supportive. However as the time ticks by the well intended gifts never find their way to the post office and for this i am distressed!!!

With that i mind I am posting this for her, so she knows there is a special something crafted for her, waiting to fly across the country with some homemade peanut brittle!!! And this dress was made especially for my mom!! She is a lover of sweets and shares her passion with us (aren't we lucky). Recently a box of Fannie May Chocolate Pixies were sent to our house (thank u Mom) and were quickly devoured. As i stared at the empty box I saw the making for a perfect dress (how surprising) & the timing couldn't have been better. So to the studio and voila ~ 'Ode to the Pixie' !! and as one of my girls pointed out it is a dress my mother would wear.

I think this would also be a good time and place to thank my mom. She and my dad have been wonderfully supportive of my artistic endeavors, and as any artist can tell you, that is priceless!! But it is recently that I realized how much their personalities and zest for life has given me a freedom to follow my inspirations. This said, anyone who knows my upbringing can see 'a bit' of contradiction. In many ways I was raised with endless 'rules', 'should's and 'shouldn'ts' & obstacles to thinking out of the box. However I believe it is true that children learn more from their parent's actions than their words. Even though I was receiving many limiting messages I also saw my parents doing 'crazy and loving' things ~ wearing crazy hats in an antique store, swinging in a playground wearing a bow tie and shorts and my mom always donning wonderfully colorful hats decorated with numerous pins and buttons.

Since starting 'the Dress Project' many, many people ask me if I wanted to be a fashion designer. I answer honestly no, not really, BUT my mom wanted to!! boy did she want to!! She was always sketching dresses on envelopes & cocktail napkins. She haunted second-hand stores for fashion nuggets that she could alter to make something unique for the next cocktail party. We were constantly snipping, sewing and adding embellishments of some kind of another. This influenced the Dress Project in many ways. One is that I learned to look beyond the face value of any garment or item ... everything can be altered. Another way is that I witnessed the importance people put on clothing and appearance and I questioned that. Why would what a person wear reflect on who that person was or what they had to say and do?? I know that these rules and premises exist but I believe it is time to question them and knock them down. That being said, I wonder if we can free ourselves from such judgement. Talking with some friends we were looking at this endless need humans have to categorize ~ to place people in their personal assessing system. This conversation stemmed from having girls in middle school, a place where the hierarchy system thrives. We were wondering what makes 'popular' or 'unpopular'?? Is it really wearing Hollister jeans? (gag) What is this need of ours to makes ourselves feel superior over others?? While we pondered this conundrum my friend's dog walked into the room and we realized it is not only humans who create a peeking order. So I go back to my question : can we free ourselves from such evaluation? especially based on one's appearance?? It is a question I hope I address with my work.

But wait this is a birthday greeting, so back to the pomp and circumstance!!! (trumpets please)

Happy Birthday Mom ~

to that wonderfully creative spirit that you are, I LOVE U!!

&

thanks for giving me those unconventional genes!!

xxxooo & peace

p.s. New York is waiting for us!!!!!

& the dress is in the mail :)