#wip wednesday (just on thursday)

Attleboro Flower Show is today thru Sunday
I am going to be painting there this afternoon!! 

Not sure where the days/hours go . . . although I do know I had to lose one whole hour this Sunday!! And I truly don't like losing any hour especially when I don't believe there are enough hours in a day to begin with, however I digress . .

So here is what is happening in the world of Virginia Fitzgerald . . . art . . . inspiration . . . ink :

First, I am so happy to announce that my 'tree of life' mural for the Common Street Spiritual Center is finished and delivered and there is a celebration this Saturday at the spiritual center. More information about the mural and celebration coming tomorrow.

So now that the mural is finished, I got to change hats from mural painter to graphic designer, helping the incredibly talented and provocative artist, Christina Zwart, prepared for her up coming show at the Boston Sculptor's Gallery. 

I have had the honor to work with Christina for a few years and it has been an awesome experience.  We met when our children were in preschool; she was the coolest mom dropping off her child with paint covered pants and pink hair!! I KNEW I needed to meet this woman, and 12 years later I am so happy that I said HI!!

photo by David A Lang

In most of her work Christina takes a single object/idea and multiplies it so that it becomes a totally new object/idea with layers of meaning and interpretations. Here is a bit from her artist's statement.

She works with materials as simple and easily-recognizable as flour and snow, or harder-to-find items like horseshoe crabs and plaster teeth models, giving solitary objects new life as she multiplies them to yield an overall piece.

And fortunately for me she needs some assistance in the Photoshop department (hello graphic designer cap). And not to give too much away from her exhibit, WHOLE (in part), here is just a few of the 'objects' Christina is using as she weaves her creative alchemy. 

For one of her installations she is using ONE condoms!! I had never seen these condoms before and now I want to tell the world about them!!! Why?? Because of the way ONE condoms has thought about the packaging and the design of their product.  The way these condoms look is a great way of removing some of the taboo that is STILL associated with condoms!!! which is kind of crazy in this time where the practice of safe sex could literally mean the difference between life and death!! and as a parent of teenagers I feel it is important to be able to talk about all matters of life, and that includes sex!! So YEA!! One Condoms and thank you!!! and wait until you see what Ms. Zwart does with these gems!!!

I am also doing some working around a one dollar bill . . .  and I can't share those images, however in my research I came across these lovely facts about the dollar bill that I thought I'd share . . . I especially thought the LIFE SPAN of a dollar bill was interesting.

The US One Dollar Bill

The US one dollar bill is paper money worth one hundred US cents. One dollar is written $1.00.
SIZE: US currency bills are are 2.61 inches wide and 6.14 inches long; they are .0043 inches thick and weigh 1 gram.
COMPOSITION: Bills are composed of 25% linen and 75% cotton; red and blue synthetic fibers are distributed throughout the paper.
PRODUCTION OF DOLLAR BILLS: It costs the US government 4.2 cents to produce a U.S. bill. US currency bills are printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP). The BEP prints about 16,650,000 one dollar bills each day. Most of these are used to replace worn, older bills (which are shredded). According to the US Treasury, there are billions of one dollar bills in circulation.
LIFE SPAN: The average dollar bill has a life span of about 18-22 months.

So mark your calendars for April 11th to see this exhibit :

Artist Reception: Sat., April 11, 5 - 7
SOWA First Fridays: April 3 and May 1, 5 - 8

All events are free and open to the public

Gallery Hours: Wednesday through Sunday 12 - 6 pm

And to wrap up this studio round up - I am happy to say that today I am stepping away from my beloved computer screen, grabbing my bag of PAINTS and heading off to the Attleboro Arts Museum to be their live working artist demo this afternoon at their annual Flower Show!! I am SO excited about this, all I need to do is sit and paint flowers for 3 or so hours!!! #heaven!!!  I am also excited to see this show as I hear it is quite an event!! 

other big news in my life!!! Harriet was accepted to a wonderful arts school just up the street!!!
the creative gene is alive and kickin'

This year's theme: Rainforest: Canopy of Color,
Exhibition Dates: March 12 – 15th, 2015
Flower Show hours: Thursday – Saturday: 9:30am – 4pm; Sunday: 12 – 4pm
Admission each day is $3; children 9 years and under are free. 

 Daytime attractions**  are free with daily admission.

** Im a daytime attraction!!! :)