clementine ~day 1

After one day the dress is coming along wonderfully!!!

peace!

Oh my darling Clementine ~

This is something that I have wanted to do FOREVER – sew orange rinds!! Today I took the Clementine rinds from my girls' lunch and brought them to the studio and VOILA!!! I patched the different pieces together adding buttons on the straps using needle & thread. Now I have placed it in the window so that the rinds will dry – I am very curious to see how it will dry out. As I was sewing the pieces were starting to dry already. I have dried rinds in my studio before and they get very tough so if the dress survives it could be very awe-inspiring and strong. I will try to document the process. Peace ~

Our deepest fear.... & insomnia

This weekend I had a conversation with a friend that challenged me! Noting how i tend to distrust the positive and blindly accept the negative. The question of confidence and honesty was raised which then lead to my most true expression of myself in my work. This conversation has made a tossed salad of my brain and has introduced me a new level of insomnia.
So as i knocked all this around in my head, I remembered a quote by Marianne Williamson that I included on my poetry dress. I feel it is time to reread and reabsorb the essence of these words. I also feel these are good words to share!! peace ~

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

by Marianne Williamson

the fermentation of an idea ~ 2 years

Today I installed a dress in the

windows of Studio one80 in downtown Natick. They have started a tradition of holiday windows and i was lucky enough to be ask to do a window. It was a quick turn around so I wasn't able to take a picture of the dress before it was in the window - so the photos are not great - but when the dress comes out I will have a better shot.

The cool thing about this dress is how it fell in place ~ I was asked late Wed. evening. Immediately i remembered a dress that i had sketched 2 years ago - one dealing with the surreal~ness of the consumerism and festivities of the holiday month while men and women were fighting & dying in Iraq. This dress has an evergreen skirt with dog tags as ornaments and the bodice is a wrapped ace bandage. It was wonderful to execute this dress after it was in one of my sketch books for 2 years!! So keep the faith in those ideas yet realized and know that their time will come. peace

drum roll please....introducing the Small Art Showcase

I have the honor of being included in the Small Art Showcase ~ a web site which is a collection of fine artists who are making their work accessible and affordable to art lovers and collectors. Each artist is showing a selection of their work which is priced between $25. - $500. I am offering my 2009 Dress Project calendar which I just finished designing :-). The 2009 calendar will feature the Eggshell dress, Flower Power& the glass slipper to name a few. Along with the calendar, you can find my book about the beginning of the Dress Project as well as some woodcut prints and photographs.

But besides my wares you can see a collection of many wonderful artists’ work. Artists like Jeanne Williamson, Catherine Carter, Catherine Evans, Deborah Putnoi & Adria Arch - to name a few. So look around and enjoy!!! Peace

flower power ( from the calendar)

thinking out of the box

In conjunction with the shows at the ArtSpace and at Dana Hall I lead a 'workshop' which was called 'thinking out of the box', during which I brought in a plethora of the odd yet interesting materials that I use in my work. Below is some of the work that was created by some creative folks….. really exciting stuff!!!

from ArtSpace, Maynard ~

from Dana Hall ~

boo!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

And here are some show infor. and updates....

photos from the DanaHall opening can be found on the Dana Hall website - take a look if you want. It was fun because many people added strands of beads to my flower power dress.

Also the Long Journey show is up and open at the ArtSpace Gallery in Maynard, MA. The reception is Nov. 8th, 4-6. I will also be leading a workshop that following Sat.

This is a group show of six artists who have been working in a series ~ Catherine Carter, Catherine Evans, Jennifer Maestre, Ruth Rosner, Jeanne Williamson & me :-) . It is a wonderful collection, curated by Catherine Evans. Hope you can come by and check it out. Peace.

The God'dress' of the Harvest

Now that all my october shows are installed I can take a breathe (phew) and play Mom for awhile ~ which at this time of the year means carving pumpkins!!! The past few years I have carved a dress in a pumpkin - but this year I felt like taking a year off (call it dress overdose) ... I was just going to help my girls carve theirs. But like so many times the dress would not be ignored! As my girls and I were pulling the guts from their pumpkins I noticed a difference ~ each girl's pumpkin's inners had a different consistency and color! So I started playing with the goo and this is what I got!!

For a call to art from the Brickbottom Art Association that I am working on I have been deep into Greek Mythology, so when I was thinking of a name for this dress - Persephone came to mind. Besides being Hades' wife she is the goddess of the harvest and the embodiment of the Earth's fertility. It seemed an appropriate name for a dress made of pumpkin guts and many seeds. So here is Persephone's frock. Happy carving & peace

the Dress Project @ Dana Hall

Here is a quick tour of the show at Dana Hall. enjoy!

the story of Treacherous ( with video too)

Here is a video of one of the newer dresses that is exhibited in the Dana Hall show. This dress has been in the works for over a year. The first version was made of just skewers and masking tape and it was very strong,however ... I got greedy and wanted to have the bottom spread out. By doing that I screwed with the physics of the dress and the entire structure collapsed. When I was trying to reconstruct it a friend and fellow artist, David Lang, told me how to make really strong joints using wire, crazy glue and baking soda. So I wired each joint, did my little magic with the crazy glue and baking soda and then for the aesthetics I have wrapped all the joints with masking tape. The people climbing on it are also made out of masking tape.

With naming my pieces I try to stay pretty generic as to let the audience create their own experience about the piece. So this dress is Skewer Dress. However ever since its first creation it has been referred to as treacherous – because it is!!! If you get too close to the dress it will jump out and snag you!!

For the Dana show I have displayed the dress on a piece of broken mirror which is hovering above the ground. All adding to the illusion. peace!!

the Dress Project @ Dana Hall

the show is installed and ready for the opening tomorrow.

With a good night sleep the artist may be ready for the opening as well. :-)


come by and you can add a strand of beads to the Flower Power dress!!

here is the show information~
The Dana Art Gallery is proud to present
Virginia Fitzgerald: The Dress Project
October 20 th-November 21 th, 2008
OPENING RECEPTION
Tuesday, October 21st, 5:00-7:30 pm
Gallery information: (781) 235-3010 or gallery@danahall.org
Dana Art Gallery, Dana Hall School 45 Dana Road, Wellesley MA 02482

peace!

the glory of fall!!!

New England is famous for its spectacular fall colors and this fall has been amazingly beautiful! So even though this month has been a bit of a crazy for me I had to stop and make a dress.

It started as I was running some errands in downtown Natick and I came across these stunning red maple leaves with these distinct yellow veins. I couldn’t pass them up! So I gathered them up to make a red dress. I asked my oldest to help me collect some more red leaves and she became enamored with these striking yellow leaves. To compliment the palette I added the spectacular red leaves of the burning bush. As the dress emerged it felt like a flirty party dress so I kept it strapless.


In creating this dress, I realized one of the delights of the Dress Project for me is having a vehicle with which I can highlight different details of everyday life that maybe overlooked. I can draw attention to the beauty of the fall foliage or the exquisiteness of VCR tape or the elegance of broken eggshells. Some of these details will be on display at the show at the Dana Hall School, Wellesley. The opening of that show is this Tuesday, Oct. 21st, 5:00-7:30. More details below or on Dana Hall's web page. Peace!

Hello October!!!!!

October is a FULL month for me -

hope you can come by one of these events!!!

peace!!!

October 20 ~ November 21, 2008
Dana Art Gallery
presents

VIRGINIA FITZGERALD
THE DRESS PROJECT
Artist’s Reception
Tuesday, October 21st , 5:00-7:30 pm
Dana Hall School
Gallery hours : Wed and Friday: 9:00 am to 2:00 pm Closed Weekends & School holidays.

Dana Hall School . 45 Dana Road, Wellesley MA 02482

Galleryinformation:( gallery@danahall.org) (781) 235-3010

October 29 ~ November 21, 2008
ArtSpace presents
LONG JOURNEY into a Series

Catherine Carter, Catherine Evans, Virginia Fitzgerald,
Jennifer Maestre, Ruth Rosner & Jeanne Williamson
Reception ~ Sat. Nov. 8th, 4:00 - 6:00pm
ArtSpace ~
63 Summer St.
Maynard, MA. 01754
Hours: Wed.-Sat: 11-3pm

Natick Artists Open Studios
October 4 & 5, 2008 . noon-5 pm
I’ll be in my studio:3 Pond St. Natick, MA, across from Bakery on the Common

Reception @ Gallery 55, Natick Friday Oct. 3rd ~ 7:30-10pm 55 Main St. Natick, MA

Bunker Hill Community College Art Gallery

Presents

REUSED . REPURPOSED . REINVENTED

An exhibit that explores the art of recycling

September 29 ~ November 8, 2008

Artists’ Reception Thurs., October 2, 2008, 6:00 – 8:00pm

Gallery Talk Thurs., October 16, 2008, 1:00 – 2:30pm 250

New Rutherford Avenue • Boston, Massachusetts617-228-2093 • www.bhcc.mass.edu Gallery Hours:M/W/F: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., T/Th: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sa: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., S: closed The Bunker Hill Community College Art Gallery is free and open to the public.for more information : 617-228-2093artgallery@bhcc.mass.edu Gallery Web page atVisit: http://www.bhcc.mass.edu/
more info. ~
email me~ dressproject@virginiafitzgerald.com

Finally I found a uses for lipstick...

Today ~ I finally tried working with lipstick!!! First I drew a dress on an old window. The lipstick went on very smooth and I could also clean up the dress shape by wiping off the lipstick. The exciting discovery was the shadow that the lipstick casted on the wall (see the above photo).

Then I tried the lipstick on paper. Below is the result ~
'Retro Red & Blossom'

Tomorrow I will see how they dry and how to deal with them. But I am very excited about my discovery of how I like to use lipstick and I am excited about working with more colors. peace!

REUSED, REPURPOSED, REINVENTED

Two of my pieces that got accepted in an exciting show at the Bunker Hill Community College Art Gallery... all the info is below. The theme of the show - recycling, reusing - is one that is important to me as an artist, mother and citizen of this planet. It has been an element of my work for a long time - going back to when I had a business making jewelry out of bottle caps ~

S.C.R.A.P.s ~ Seriously Creative Recycled Art Projects!!!

Bunker Hill Community College
Art Gallery Presents

REUSED
REPURPOSED
REINVENTED

Works in various media that address this theme are assembled in this exhibit by: Jessica Burko Bobby Busnack Ian Churchill Rebecca Davidson Catherine Evans Virginia Fitzgerald Melissa Hanes Mark Hartshorn Anne Kirchheimer Peter Madden Charles Mathis Veronica Morgan Marianne Ramos Ken Reker A.E. Ryan David Sholl Ed Tekeian Ann Torke Martin Ulman Michael Ulman Molly Van Nice

An exhibit that explores the art of recycling
September 29 through November 8, 2008
Artists’ Reception
Thursday, October 2, 2008, 6:00 – 8:00pm
Gallery Talk
Thursday, October 16, 2008, 1:00 – 2:30pm

250 New Rutherford Avenue • Boston, Massachusetts
617-228-2093 • www.bhcc.mass.edu
Gallery Hours:
M/W/F: 10 a.m. - 5 p.m., T/Th: 10 a.m. - 7 p.m. Sa: 10 a.m. - 2 p.m., S: closed
The Bunker Hill Community College Art Gallery is free and open to the public.
We are located at the Community College stop on the MBTA Orange Line.


For more information contact:
Ms. Laura L. Montgomery, M.F.A.
Director,
BHCC Art Gallery
Adjunct Professor, Visual and Media Arts Department
Bunker Hill Community College
Office of the President
250 New Rutherford Avenue
Boston, MA 02129
617-228-2093
lmontgomery@bhcc.mass.edu
artgallery@bhcc.mass.edu
Visit our Gallery Web page at: www.bhcc.mass.edu

"Art has continuously broadened our horizons, increasing our awareness and our tolerance of the world as it is".

back to the beach....

As summer was ending and the hustle~bustle of the school year was upon me I had to escape to the ocean one last time. So my family and I headed to the beautiful Duxbury beach for a relaxing day in the sun – or so I thought.

When my youngest wanted to beach~comb I was eager to join her & we started off in search of ‘bird’ stones. But no sooner had I started to scan the beach helping her in her quest, than I experienced the burning desire to make a dress. So as my daughter was off in one pile finding the perfect rock to be a bird, I was off in another pile finding the perfect rocks to create my dress. It was a much needed project – back where the Dress Project started ~ on the beach, feeling the same authentic impulses and desires that I had on Wells Beach in Maine over two years ago. It was a validating feeling – there is something about the dress form which touches a deep place in me. I love to figure out what material will make the dress. At Duxbury I was first attracted to the different shades of green rocks. Then I love to see how the form takes shape, what special object will be over the belly or over the heart.

I am entering the third year of working with the dress form & I see myself expanding the idea…I see the dress more as a vessel, a container, a receptacle. Just this week I dreamt that the dress is a doorway!! A doorway to where I wonder??? I am excited about the journey that lays ahead of me and curious about where the work will go. But I was so happy to be back on the beach, working with my old faithful dress form again on a beautiful late summer day!! Peace~

if the shoe fits????

In many fairytales shoes represent a vehicle of escapism. One of the best known fairytale where this is true is Cinderella. Even though many cultures and countries have different versions of this story, the most famous one is from France, and the ‘vehicle of escapism’ is a glass slipper. In fact, Cinderella does not actually escape her life of servitude via the glass slipper; she is rescued from her life. Once Cinderella slides her small foot into the petite glass slipper Prince Charming recognizes her as his true love and they live happily ever after!!!
The idea of the glass slipper has always bothered me. Of course it would be beautiful but how would it feel – definitely no give. But then I wonder about the different forms of torture to which many women subject their feet – be it for beauty, conformity, style. I always wonder, in action movies how the woman was supposed to out run the bad guys in their 4 inch high heels.
Don’t get me wrong – shoes are lovely and they can be so fun. And who didn’t root for Carrie Bradshaw when she coveted another pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes? But how is it to have women always negotiating in these ‘escape vehicles’…be it high heels, pinched toes or a wrong size? In a world where woman are striving to be equal shouldn’t they have equal footing too?? And what about the glass slipper – what many little girls dream of having the glass slipper presented to them someday by their prince charming???

This glass slipper is on display at the Morse Institute in Natick. It is part of the Shoe Project which is in conjunction with the Natick Open Studios (Oct. 4-5). This shoe is made out of broken glass and even though it is pretty to look at I don’t think I would put my foot in there.