the dailydress project: November has arrived!!!

the dailydress project: November has arrived!!!: AND REMEMBER TO VOTE!!! feel free to print and use as you wish! if you have received this post as an email click below to visit the entire b...

'dear jeff ...' has a permanent home in NYC ....

 Upon doing some research on this blog I have realized that I have fallen hopelessly behind on sharing the ebbs and flows of my creative journey ... but in lieu of explanations and apologies, I just diving in.

'dear jeff ...' had found a permanent home at the
National September 11 Memorial & Museum 9/11 MEMORIAL.

It has not been on exhibit as of yet, as the museum has so many pieces to share and exhibit.  When I delivered it to one of the warehouses in NJ, I was aghast at the shelves and shelves of items that are connected with the events of 9/11.  

At this point in time, nothing is on exhibit as the museum is temporarily closed because of the COVID virus.  But when it does reopen, the museum's administration will inform me when the piece is on view in their galleries.  And when it is I plan to have some kind of celebration gathering in that wonderful city - NEW YORK, NEW YORK (SO GOOD THEY NAMED IT TWICE).

Until then you can see the piece online as well as the many other art pieces regarding 9/11.  Also below I have added some of the notes and comments from the page.

Historical Notes
Hartford, Connecticut, native Amy Toyen lived in Newton, Massachusetts. She and her fiancé, Jeffrey, planned to marry in June 2002. Amy liked writing, drawing, and going to the theater. A marketing employee at Thomson Financial in Boston, on September 11, Amy was presenting at a technology conference on the North Tower’s 106th floor. She was 24 years old.

Curator's Comment
Amy Toyen (age 24) was engaged to be married in June 2002 to her college sweetheart, Jeff Gonski (age 26). The couple was busy planning their wedding in 2001 when Toyen’s life was cut short by her untimely death on 9/11. She had just ordered her wedding dress.

Around the time of the 10th anniversary of the attack, Gonski embarked on an artistic endeavor in honor of Toyen in what he referred to informally at the time as “The Dress Project.” Using a photograph of Toyen's wedding dress for inspiration, Gonski commissioned Virginia Fitzgerald, a Natick, Massachusetts-based artist, to design a replica of Toyen’s dress made from the newspaper clips, cards from well-wishers after 9/11, Toyen’s own letters and cards to Gonski, and other ephemera, such as announcements of Gonski and Toyen’s engagement and would-be nuptials and Missing posters. “It’s not just about Amy and myself,” Gonski told reporters, “but the support that came out of the community after it.” 

Fitzgerald titled the finished sculpture Dear Jeff . . .  . Created on a smaller-than-life-size scale, the delicate wedding dress is composed of largely handwritten notes and ephemera designed to tell a story of a courtship violently interrupted. According to Fitzgerald, “It was this outpouring of love and sympathy that Jeff really wanted to highlight with the sculpture. When we met and spoke about the commission it was clear that this wasn’t to be a memorial to Amy, but a testimony to the power of community and how Jeff would not have made it through this horrible life event without the love and support from friends, family and the community. He spoke about how not only did he survive but he wanted to celebrate the idea that even after such a hard loss, life goes on. To represent Jeff’s thoughts and emotions about survival and recovery I created branches with leave[s] and seedpods coming off the bottom of the sculpture and growing back into the piece. I wanted to capture the feeling of the phoenix, rebirth from the ashes.”


 https://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/118706

Your May calendar (before the month ends ...)

the dailydress project: Your May calendar (before the month ends ...):

Where has the time gone?? But here is my #virginiacreates May calendar for you. and once again I was inspired by Max Ehrmann, Desiderata....



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keep peace with your soul ...

... and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul. 
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,  
it is still a beautiful world. 
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy. 


Max Ehrmann, Desiderata, Copyright 1952

the dailydress project: introducing the fairylandproject to bring some mag...

the dailydress project: introducing the fairylandproject to bring some mag...:

“Always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”  E.B. White

 introducing a quarantine activity for all, the fairylandproject !...

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This month let us remember to be gentle with ourselves ...

Desiderata - Words for Life

Go placidly amid the noise and haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible without surrender
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons,
they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain and bitter;
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.

Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs;
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals;
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself.
Especially, do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love;
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.

You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be,
and whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life keep peace with your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful.
Strive to be happy.

— Max Ehrmann, 1927

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Feel free to download and print this calendar for your personal use this month. to print: open up the calendar image by clicking on the calendar, then with two fingers click on calendar and your should get a menu and select download file. 

Once it is downloaded you can print as usual.

This calendar should  fit on an 81/2 x 11 piece of paper, however I always click the printing option "scale to fit".
enjoy!!