December is upon us ....

Remember This December, 

That love weighs more than gold! 

Josephine Dodge Daskam Bacon

Feel free to download and print out 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!! 

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thank you & peace ...

Happy November ...

In November, the earth is growing quiet.
It is making its bed, a winter bed for flowers and small creatures.
The bed is white and silent,
and much life can hide beneath its blankets. 

Cynthia Rylant

thank you and peace ...

Start celebrating summer with my June calendar ...

What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade.

Gertrude Jekyll

Feel free to download and print out this calendar for your personal use this month.

p.s. if you are having problems downloading or printing the calendar, 

just leave a comment & email and I will send you a PDF.

Thank you & peace,

Virginia

Your May calendar and the morphing of an idea ...

download and print for your personal enjoyment.

Here is your May calendar for you to print and enjoy.  

Also, this calendar works is part of a body of work that I am currently obsessed with, 

which I call 

#100daysofwomenwonders.

This project has grown out of my dailydress blog, on which I posted quotes of women in March in honor of Women's History Month, #femininewordsofwisdom.  Then with April came the #100dayproject and I decided to continue my celebration and sharing of words/quotes of women which I named, #100daysofwomenwonders. 

As so many of my projects go, in the first few days of posting women's quotes with a mixed-media dress collage I felt the need to do more, so now I am sharing women's quotes with a drawing of the woman and a brief bio of her.  

Who knows how else these project may morph by the end of 100 days?!? I do know I am loving doing the project, finding different quotes and researching the women. My head is swimming with amazing women that I hadn't heard of.  I feel like I student again (which is a wonderful thing) and my desk is a mess of library books.  

If you want to follow along with this project there are a few ways you can:

you can follow or subscribe to my dailydress project blog
https://dailydressproject.blogspot.com
or
follow my #100daysofwomenwonders on my Instagram account, virginiacreates:
https://www.instagram.com/virginiacreates/
or
you can join
'the dailydress project ...' group on FB
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bookofmotherlove/

Also if you want a 'virginiacreate's monthly calendar in your inbox'
you can sign up here.
https://virginiafitzgerald.us6.list-manage.com/subscribe/post?u=8978699b24201ab4b3138cbdf&id=4a8fde0071


“In a world where thrushes sing and willow trees are golden in the spring, boredom should have been included among the seven deadly sins.”  
Elizabeth Goudge, The Rosemary Tree

March's calendar is celebrating Women's History month!

And the celebration of women will continue on my dailydress blog, where I will be posting quotes by women daily, and whenever possible a bit of a bio of that day's woman.  

Some history behind Women's History Month:

Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” Throughout the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”

CLicK here to read to learn more:

https://womenshistorymonth.gov

Thank you and peace, 

virginia

Subscribe to receive my dailydress calendar in your inbox! & only my monthly calendar, scout's honor!

February's calendar ~ love is love is love ....

“Love is love is love is love is love is love is love is love cannot be killed or swept aside.”

 Lin-Manuel Miranda

Feel free to download and print out this calendar for your personal use this month.

wallpaper for your phone

AND if you would like to receive these calendars into your inbox, 

please fill out the below form & you will be added to a monthly calendar list, ONLY!! 

and/or if you want to print at home, 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". 

(see picture below)

subscribe to receive my monthly calendar in your inbox! and

only my monthly calendar, scout's honor!

* indicates required

Email Address *

Email Format:  html text

And for the new year, your January calendar!

HAPPY 2019!!

Feel free to download and print out this calendar for your personal use this month.

p.s. if you are having problems downloading or printing the calendar, 

just leave a comment & email and I will send you a PDF.

thank you and peace and 

Happy New Year!! 

AND if you would like to receive these calendars into your inbox, 

please fill out the below form & you will be added to a monthly calendar list, ONLY!! 

promise!! scouts honor :)

can be a phone wallpaper

for your computer desktop image 

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SOS ... any suggestions for my #100DayProject?!??

It is that time of year again!?!? The100DayProject starts its 5th year tomorrow, and even though I am still in the throes of moving I must participate.

And I use the word 'must' for a few reasons. One is that I love participating in creative community challenges. Two, this is a perfect catalyst for me to unpack and find my paints and studio after this chaotic move. And lastly I choose 'must' because this desire comes from deep inside me which is how Elle Luna describes one's passions in her inspiring book:

The Crossroads of 

Should and Must

I first read "the crossroads of should and must ...' in August 2016, after stumbling upon it and I devoured it and it has changed my creative life, or at least gave me a new perspective. 

My 'must' to do this year's 100 day project is so strong that I have numerous lists of possible projects that I'd LOVE to devote the next 100 days doing, such as:

100 days of ...

• Virginiacreates patterns - this would be a continuation of the class, Daily Painting Challenge: 31 Painted Patterns with Lisa Congdon by CreativeBug which I participated in this January and LOVED! For this challenge I could use different materials,  different styles,  and it could be simplified if I am traveling (like when I joined  Francisca Nunes for her #30daysofpatternstudies in February 2016) 

• art blogging - posting here on my art blog, as I really want to get back in the habit of chronicling my creative journey.

• SCRAPs: Seriously Creative Recycled Art Projects* this is my trademarked name I made for my bottle cap jewelry (decades ago) and I was thinking I would resurrect the name for 100 days of collage and working with scraps.  One thing this move showed me was that I LOVE scraps, scraps of paper, of fabric, of labels, of yarn.  This would be similar to my dailydress journal(see below), however or the 100 days of SCRAPs I wouldn't necessarily add a dress?!?! 

(In 2011 I  created a dailydress journal in which each day I created a page from some detritus from the course of the day ~ a receipt, a paper bag, packing material, whatever catches my fancy, then I'd build a collage around that element and eventually I add an origami dress. Sometime the dress is large, sometimes small.   

• dailydresses - it almost feels too obvious, but I would love to create 100 days straight of dresses; ephemeral dresses, embroidered dresses, food dresses, sculptural dresses, painted dresses, collages?!? .... you get the idea.
• visual gratitude - you know how gratitude is the best attitude?! I thought I'd create an image of something I was grateful for each day

'from the land of dragons ...'

• food puns -  I have been considering rendering food quotes/puns, such as 'Olive you' with hand-lettering or using my understanding of the non-traditional material to create some interesting looking phrases.
• 'from the land of dragons ...' since Scruffy past I haven't been walking as much so not wondering through my land of dragons ...
• Virginia's kitchen knowledge - illustrations of helpful food facts, food prep and storage tips, recipes and whatnot.
• my morning coffee - some kind of rendering of my morning cup of coffee 
• 'Karoline Kitty who lives in the city' 100 drawings of the life and times of Karoline Kitty
• Portraiture: I've learned from agent and teacher Lilla Rogers that a strong illustration portfolio shows that an illustrator can do faces!! 

• 100 days toward opening my Etsy shop?!?!
• 100 new designs/posts to my Society6 and Redbubble shops

OMG - the more I write this blog the more ideas I have ....

So I'm not sure how I am going to decide but I need to decide by tomorrow! if you have any thoughts I would LOVE to hear them as I am feeling pulled in many directions!! But one thing I know is that it can not take up too much time!! This project's goal is to be creative on a daily basis. And as much I as would LOVe to do all of this project and spend all day in my studio, I need to unpack! 

thank you & peace, 

va

better late than .... wishing you a wonderful holiday season!!!

Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, 

you can make anything happen. 

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Feel free to download and print out this calendar 

for your personal use this month.

p.s. if you are having problems downloading 

or printing the calendar, 

just leave a comment & email and I will send you a PDF.

thank you and peace

playing a bit of catch-up ... Happy November

When you arise in the morning,

think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive -

to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love. 

Marcus Aurelius

Feel free to download and print out this calendar 

for your personal use this month.

p.s. if you are having problems downloading 

or printing the calendar, 

just leave a comment & email and I will send you a PDF.

thank you and peace

more great art from Potato Hill Poetry's Creative writing program

Before the summer ends I want to share some of the awesome work created by the terrific kids at Potato Hill Poetry's summer writing program.  I had the pleasure of being the guest artist for two more sessions and it is ALWAYS such a treat!! 

Potato Hill Poetry's Andrew Green sets an inspiring environment in which these kids flourish.  By the time I arrive, these kids' creative juices are flowing, making my job just that much more fun.

One week the group was working on written pieces about an imaginary place so I decided to have them create a mixed media map or a travel poster about their place.  Once the map was finished, we folded it up, just like a map, and put it into a cover, ready for a backpack or glove compartment.

The following week I shared my love for the master of color, Henri Matisse.  The Boston Museum of Fine Art had just hosted a beautiful exhibit of Matisse's work and so I thought I would join in on the matisse buzz that was happening.  

I focused on Matisse's later works, his collages. I gave the kids some basic instructions and lots of colored paper and they created some brilliant pieces.  Also to end the session, each writer shared a short story or poem about their collage!! I was over the moon!!!

I am sad to say that the Potato Hill Poetry Writing program is done for this year.  It is truly one of my highlights of my summer!! It is such a treat to work with these creative kids. And an extra special bonus is that Mr Green is alway an eager participant in my art activities which is fun for me and the kids.

'the sisters from Hamilton

I guess all I can do now is to wait for next summer .... 

peace,  virginia

what I'm doing this summer ...

Note the awesome starbucks frappuccino including straw!!!
And the bright & colorful collage that matches her bracelets!!!

Note the top collage skyline with pavement made out of text!! 

The lower left shows the collaged book cover of the journal 

that they use during the week!!! And see how the collaged character 

is wearing the same shirt as the artist!!! 

How I LOVE summer camp!!! I mean what is not to love??? 

long warm days, with friends, arts and crafts?!?!? 

So I am SO happy to say that I have been invited to be a guest artist

 at Potato Hill Poetry's Creative Writing Program for the third year in a row!! (happy dance)

(the 2 above photos are from last summer ...)

click here to register

poet/teacher/writer, Andrew Green.

reception card book- in progress
made of art gallery announcements 

For the past sessions I have lead these wonderfully creative campers in collage, drawing and Zentangle and this year I am planning to make some books, one of my newer obsessions.

spread from reception card book - in progress

So if you are in the area Metrowest/Natick area and you have a little writer on your hands, definitely check out this program.  It is an inspiring way to spend some of those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer.

a camper's collage from 2 summers ago

Come spend five fabulous mornings discovering the creative writer within. You will work with one or two fantastic teachers who will encourage and inspire you to write as never before. Mornings will be devoted to a variety of genres: nature writing, poetry, fiction, and journaling. There will be group exercises as well as individual guidance during the week. A reading for parents will occur on the final morning.

click here for more info and registration  

peace

It is summertime and that means .... ART time!!!!

Last year I had the pleasure of being one of the guest artists for Potato Hill Poetry's Creative Writing Kids program,

 here in Natick, and I had so much fun.  

And I guess the kids had fun too as I have been invited back to do art with the kids this summer!!! 

WOOHOO!!!

Andrew Green in a school

The program is run by poet Andrew Green, 

the talent and inspiration of Potato Hill Poetry! 

"Andrew Green is a poet, writer, and teacher who works with students and teachers in schools throughout New England, offering writing and poetry workshops. He founded Potato Hill Poetry in 1995." 

'such a good thing . . .' Collage from bits & piece found on my kitchen table ©2015

Last year I lead the group in creating collage. I showed them some of my collage work, my 'home, sweet, home' series as well as some of my collages from my #ICAD2015 project. 

I explained the similarities of collage and writing, each taking parts (writing/words, collage images) how, to create a new worlds, emotions, in fact stories. 

'there is no place like home, andy ...' ©2016 

They created some wonderful pictures using my basket of tricks ... catalogs, magazines and other detritus of the day. 

collage from last year's program

This summer I plan to mix it up a bit!!! 

Definitely do the magazine based collage!

 

Eric Carle inspired dress ©2013

But we will also doing creating a tissue paper based collage ~ a nod to the amazing Eric Carle.  

While I was visiting the The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art  I learned how to do these collages and i am excited to share.

And I also want to explore the amazing world of Zentangle with the group.  New to it myself, I find it a wonderful meditative practice which I find very inspiring!!! 

I believe there are still some spots available, depending on the week.  

I have included the sign-up form below or you can click here: 

http://www.potatohill.com/files/2016-camp-flier.pdf

And check back here to see what these creative kiddos create, 

I plan to take more pictures this year.  

Come spend five fabulous mornings discovering the creative writer within. You will work with one or two fantastic teachers who will encourage and inspire you to write as never before. Mornings will be devoted to a variety of genres: nature writing, poetry, fiction, and journaling. There will be group exercises as well as individual guidance during the week. A reading for parents will occur on the final morning.

PEACE

Tonight, some of my girls are holding court in Rockland, ME

'artist from the blue moon ...'/
'black widow ..'

'provocative ...' holding court 

review of "WHAT YOU SEE ..."

This week I took a mini road trip to deliver some of my work up north, where I had the pleasure to meet Jana Hawick and see her beautiful gallery, Carver Hill Gallery, in the artsy coastal town of Rockland, ME.  

Last month three of my 'lilith contemplating ...' photographs were part of Carver Hill's season opening exhibit, "WHAT YOU SEE".  An engaging collection of 'digital and photographic compositions from 7 artist including Sharon Arnold, Craig Becker, Nadine Boughton, Virginia Fitzgerald, Seth Lester, Elizabeth Opalenik, Agnes Riverin.' 

This show received a wonderful review by Daniel Kany for the Portland Press Herald (click here for more info). 

And this month I am so honored to be included in Carver Hill's exhibit FEMMetonymy,  which opens tonight!! and runs through June 28th.  

the catalog for the exhibit

“FEMMetonymy,” a show featuring:
Maryjean Viano Crowe, Virginia Fitzgerald and Lesia Sochor.

FEMMetonymy is a show of three women artists using clothing as a vehicle to challenge convention, tell a story, express an opinion, open a dialogue, and elicit an emotional response.

(click here to go to the gallery's blog and read more about each artist)

I am honored to be part of this provocative exhibition.  I have contributed many pieces from my 'dressproject'; sculptures, large and small, and numerous collages. 

'precious ...' and 'bird by bird ...'

  In gathering the collage pieces I realized that I have three different collage series: 'home, sweet, home?!? ' (2012), 'la petite robe ...' (2012) and the newest collage series, 'alice ...' All of the series start with images of picture perfect environments from catalogs and magazine, to which I add a surreal touch and usually a dress or two.  ' we are all mad here ...' is the first of that series and is debuting tonight.

'we are all mad here ...'

The sculptures in this exhibit are  some of the 'dressproject's stars!!! 

'provocative ...' is holding court at the front of the gallery, strong and straight.  

'black widow ...' is standing tall by the gallery's desk, accompanied by 'artist from the blue moon ...' on her right. 

'this is me, a work in progress ...'

I am so happy to be showing 'this is me, a work in progress ...' in such a lovely space, and there is the room for her to be viewed from all sides, showing off all her spots of embroidery.  

'this is me, a work in progress ...' detail

'red warrior ...' and 'precious ...' also made the trip making this a good representation of my 'dressproject'.  

Lastly Carver Hill is offering for sale my book, 'the dressproject, the beginning ...' allowing anyone to learn how my obsession with the dress began.

'red warrior ...' , 'black widow ...' (in the background)

So if you are in the area, make sure to drop by the gallery.  

And if you are not in the area, then it is time for a road trip!!!  

It is a win/win: exciting exhibit, beautiful gallery, inspiring work, adorable coastal town with many other arty attractions, the Farnsworth Art Museum and The Center for Maine Contemporary Art are both a block from Carver Hill.

'provocative ...' 

'lilith contemplates sanctuary ...'/
'lilith contemplates cutting the grass ...'

Show / gallery details:

FEMMetonymy opens on First Friday, June 3, 2016 from 5 – 8 PM and runs through June 28.

Carver Hill Gallery

Jana Halwick

338 Main Street

Rockland, ME 04841

Phone207-594-7745

Email
carverhillgallerymaine@yahoo.com

Gallery Hours

MAY 27 through the summer

Mon through Sat ~ 10:30 - 5

Sun ~ 11 - 3

 'follow your art!'

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