take a number ....

The creation of this dress was , as it usually is, a journey for me ~ starting off with one idea but the dress taking me in an entirely different direction. I have used these deli tickets before & I love them~ their color, the graphics and what they stand for .... waiting to be served. I have used these tickets for a 'thank you for waiting' theme, but this time the phrase 'take a number' echoed loudly in my head. For me, this dress is a little commentary about how I have been feeling in the last weeks of summer vacation. Now don't get me wrong - there are many, MANY things I love about summer vacation. I especially love having long days with my girls to explore, play, veg out!! However ~ there are times that being mom, artist, daughter, wife, cook, waitress, taxi driver, referee, cleaner, dog walker,... for 24/7 can take its toll ~ I feel frayed, at my wits end. This dress came from that place.

I created the top with pink tissue as a base that I would cover with some bright patterned paper. But as it was drying I saw the translucence of the tissue & I decided to leave it ~ it created a feeling of softness and vulnerability. Then i felt that this dress needed to have a heart, an anatomically correct heart, as I have been feeling that my heart is on the outside for all to see. From this heart I sewed onto the paper top many lines, in reds and pinks, creating a pattern but also suggesting veins. I am VERY interested in the anatomy of the body lately, especially the heart. Many pieces that I am working on now have a heart in or on them. However once the lines were sewn onto the bodice my anatomically correct heart got lost in the fray....so I placed the gem over the heart. Now the heart is quietly peaking out from behind the gem, maybe the gem is protecting it, keeping it safe.

I am always amazed at how my work unfolds before me .... I can struggle with it and fight my internal critics, but if I quiet my mind, and really listen & follow that still quiet voice without doubt, amazing results happen. And sometimes I don't even recognize it until I sit here and blog about the process. After writing this post I feel that this dress is not only about feeling pulled in many directions, waiting on many people ~ it is about heartstrings! It is how it can feel when you put your heart out there and love and care for people ... it can being scary, tiring, painful but also wonderful!!!

peace

the end of a crazy, but great, week!!!

This week I spent dotting my i's and crossing my t's ~ getting many pieces ready for either submissions or for shows!!! It has been at least 4 solid days of dawn to dusk(midnight) working and I wonder how I get myself into these situations ... i had known about these deadlines and have been working on the pieces. But then I realized that the looming, larger than life due dates give me boundaries. A reason to tell my family and friends no, I am sorry, I REALLY have to work! I could honestly work in my studio 24/7 ~ well I think I could, that theory has never been tested. When my husband takes the girls for an overnight or weekend away - when I am not sleeping I am in the studio! but those are short periods ~ only a few days. Maybe i would get tired of 'work' but i think not ~ there is just too many wonderful things out there to do, to make, to construct, to read about, to learn, to photograph, to collage, to blog :) ~ I could go on & on. So due dates do help me to focus, to finish a project and for that i am thankful. I need the boundaries - it is a hard line to walk yet a tremendous blessing~ how much time can i work, how much time to spend with my girls, friends and family. I believe I am extremely fortunate to want my days to be at least 48 hours long!! or that i didn't need as much sleep :).


So I am coming off an intense few studio days and I know i will (most likely) hit a wall, but for now I am still buzzing!! I hope to post most of the work that I finished this week, in the coming few days. Above is a personal favorite of mine ~ called 'all is well' . It is part of a collection of small dresses that i created for the eta8 show at Nachotta Gallery in Portsmouth NH. The Enormous Tiny Art Show 8 opens on Friday, September 3rd, 5-8pm & features only original art that is 10' x 10" or smaller ~ so enter Virginia's small sculptural dress and wall dresses.

This one is a particular favorite of mine ~ it's skirt consists of many fortune cookie fortunes and one in the front reads "The stars appear every night in the sky. All is well." So this dress is called 'all is well' ~ I love that sentiment!! And i am very happy with the way the dress turned out. It is an interesting experience making these little guys - never an easy task!!! but what fun would that be?!? :)

Hope to post more but I have kind of lost my 'boundaries'. In fact at this moment their is a dog continually knocking my elbow saying 'time for my walk!!!!'. So time for my walk!! Much love to all & peace!!!

Wow ~ where has the time gone?!?

We are in the warped speed part of the summer .... the tick-tock until the school bells rings, all of us anticipating it with both excitement and sadness. For me it does mean a bit more of a regular work schedule ~ which i always welcome. But I have not been totally slacking off....yesterday David Lang and I delivered our respective pieces to The Gallery at Worcester State College for their show In-Between.Their call for submissions was intriguing, asking for art that combines one or more media or conceptually imagines in-between spaces, time, or identity. Artworks that think about space, time, or in-between sites may also reflect states of in-between. I submitted three pieces ~

1.'spirit' acrylic and stain on wood

2. in and out ~ a more conceptual piece with an interesting story of coming into being!!!
Made with these 'dolls' that i have been sewing for a year or so, in a jumble of pink and red remnant fabrics. My initial idea was to make a huge dress with all these 'people'~ a celebration of humanity ... a mass of these generic gingerbread figures. But I was a bit put off by the scope of this desired dress so these guys have been hanging around my studio - literally hanging on the wall. Now the interesting part ~ when I was cleaning up for my studio party I was looking for a place to stow this wooden frame and suddenly saw my 'dolls' thru the frame so I hung the frame around the dolls. This looked interesting and I lived with it for awhile. Then this in-between call came and I saw this piece through different eyes. I moved the frame so some of my dolls were contained and some were outside the frame. I loved it - it spoke to the same idea that made me want to create a dress out of these dolls - the idea of being included or not, the idea of community, fitting in or being an outsider. I also loved how the dolls were pinned to the wall, not the inside of the frame ~ emphasizing the idea of belonging, these piece is attached to the wall of the studio! For a person who really doesn't like cleaning it was a boondoggle to discover this piece.

3. Treacherous - this dress is made out of cooking skewers glued together, with 3 figures made out of masking tape climbing over it and one figure hanging/falling/suspended in the middle. the dress rest over a sea of broken mirror pieces. I love this piece. It was in the works for many years!! The first version i just connected the joints with masking tape ... sadly that did not hold up so in version #2 the joints are wired and super glued and then taped - quite sturdy.

I am happy to announce that Treacherous made the cut!! I am so glad that she is getting out in the world because for those who have seen her she is quite compelling. She is the classic 'dress project' story ~ i strongly needed to build this dress for my reasons yet many people have had their own personal reactions to it. I am writing this a bit vaguely because I don't want to tell people what to think, what the piece 'means' ~ there is no wrong interpretation. I just love that when I express something personal to me it can be read on an universal level.

So Treacherous is now residing in Worcester. The show runs from Sept. 11th thru Dec. 2nd with the opening reception: Sept. 11th 6-8 pm. I think it will be an interesting show!!

Enjoy these glorious days of late summer & peace!!!

Beach inspiration strikes again!!

Today I took a break from putting together a grant application (ugh), and took my girls down to the cape to visit their grandparents (yea!!). It was a perfect day to get out of Dodge as the temperature was again in the 90's ~ so why not hit the beach!!! And when i am on the beach it is very hard for me NOT to make a dress!! Today the many variations of little green rocks and pebbles caught my fancy!!! In fact this is a pretty small dress. And I made it right on the edge of the tide so that the rocks would stay wet and in all their colorful glory. This did presented me with a bit of a challenge ~ since I was using pebbles, the occassional wave would rearrange the dress. It made it feel a bit like a preformance piece :). But then by the time I finished making the dress, the tide had receded and I had to sprinkle the rocks before taking the picture. This picture shows my studio assistant protecting the finished dress while I fetched my camera (just in case the big wave struck !!)
So once again I was on the beach, listening to my muses and feeling in my element. It was almost 4 years ago that I started 'the Dress Project' on Wells Beach, ME ~ nice way to celebrate an anniversary!! I am always amazed how these beach dresses almost make themselves ~ how the idea that an artist acts as a contuit rings so true to me. I just knew which rock went where. And again, making this dress was good therapy for me ~ an outlet for the many emotions of this summer!! This dress just needed the heart on the outside!! And even though I was inspired to use the green stones ~ it seemed appropiate to be making a green dress ~ because one of my favorite dresses is my gress dress. I wore it to my latest studio party and felt good in it (more pictures from that party to come!!)


So thank you beach muses!!

But now i must return to finishing my grant application - it needs to be in the mail TODAY!!!
wish me luck!!
~ peace

in the press!!!

My piece Frida was mentioned in Chris Bergeron's article about the Danforth Museum's 'Community of Artists' in the MetroWest Daily News ~ click below to read!!

peace!!

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/arts/x550419494/Join-the-Danforths-journey-through-the-local-arts-scene?img=8

illustration friday ~ breakfast

I was thinking that I was going to have to pass up this illustration friday, which had made me so sad.... I LOVE breakfast!!! These past few weeks have been crazy and trying to find the time to create new illustrations has been taxing on different fronts:( However a friend reminded me of this illustration and I thought ... 'BREAKFAST' (yea! I hate to miss an illustration friday!!!).

This is one of my favorite illustrations. It is done in a technique where i tried to create a batik affect on paper ~ I was very happy with the outcome. I also love the image ~ I can just feel the warmth of this busy kitchen and the smells of the cinnamon rolls, frsh from the oven!! yum, yum. now off to have my breakfast!!

wishing all a great day (the heat has broken for a bit here!! finally) & peace!!

so much to post, so little time....

there is a back~log of things I want to share, but as the clock nears 1am I am going for the most recent and most exciting to me now ~ my intuitive painting/drawings. I have mentioned this before - but today I just bathed in the XCT of doing this work. I try to get out of my head and just put down the marks, images that speak to me. Maybe it is so heady because I need to be truly present!!! As the clock ticks I don't want to get too wordy ~ but suffice to say I am hooked!!!
I have posted 2 pieces that I put in this category~

< first, this is a page out of a small notebook ( 7.5 x 12 cm/ 48 pages) that I am planning to fill up completely ~ covering each page with this work. I am using different writing instruments ~ some pages are done in pencil or pen or marker. I am trying to keep track of the days that I work on each page. With this book I incorporate words as well as images ~ what ever word comes to mind, trying not to edit, judge ~ just let it flow!!!
> Secondly, this painting is red enamel paint and light pink latex on wood. The combination of these paints gives some of the painting a crackled look. The piece of wood is the cut out from the doorway in my installation, 'this comes from within'. The painting is about 7ft tall. I hope to do more of these shaped paintings ~ using different color combinations, a possibly different shapes of wood :).

well good night, sweet dreams & peace!!

seeing double & being inspired

I am still trying to wind down after going to the wonderful & inspiring opening reception of the Attleboro Arts Museum's show 'seeing double'. I did not get a piece in this show :(, however i did have many friends who did & I always try to get to my friend's openings, because I know how nice it is to see a friendly face at these events. So off I went to Attleboro tonight and what a treat it was. The museum's space is quite lovely ~ open and light, and the theme was open to any and every interpretation. There was a myriad of media represented, each speaking to the theme of seeing double. Friend and colleague, David Lang, has his piece, 'The Philosophers', in the show. This piece is interactive ~ when activated by the viewer the light bulbs start to flicker as if they are speaking, or heatedly discussing an issue. Jodi Colella's piece, Undercurrent (cutwork embroidery with aluminum window screen and steel wire 6 ft x 8 ft 6 in x 7 in) graced one of the gallery's wall creating a world of shadows and double visions. There were MANY diptychs, as you may have guessed. My friend and fellow artist, Jane McKinnon Johnstone, has a lovely trace monoprint in the show. I was also taken by two embroidery pieces, one by Jan Johnson and the other by Leslie Schomp. But that is just a sampling, I believe there are over 90 some pieces so if you are in the area it is definitely worth a stop.
Now besides just being wowed by seeing this wonderful exhibition, my inspiration buzz continued even as I returned home. Since everyone at my house had gone to bed I thought I'd look at some of these artists work on line ~ basically surf the web. (not really a good thing to do if you want to go to bed soon ~ but alas) I found many interesting sites and one in particular that i wanted to share ~ Little Yellow Birds, the blog by Joetta Maue. She is an artist and yoga teacher in Brooklyn, NY and I really loved seeing her work and reading her blog so I wanted to share. I love when artists that i like and admire share blogs, articles, etc... that they find interesting. In fact one of my fav.s, Mandy Greer, has an entire blog, a quickening...(totally love the name), devoted to things that inspire her. As she explains on the blog "things that get my heart rate going, a way for me to keep things organized and share with others." Now I know I couldn't maintain another blog, however I do hope to put more inspiring links on this blog, to aid us insomniacs surf the creative and inspiring web!! and now off to bed @ 2AM!!

sweet dreams to all and peace!!!

the ripple continues....

My second donation to Kelly Light's Ripple Blog has found a home!!!! This little creature is on its way to Georgia!! And the site is doing GREAT! As of July 5th Kelly Light has raised over $7,400. And for the month of July she is offering "GREAT AMERICAN ILLUSTRATOR" CARDs which are illustrations by well known names ~ the 'cards' are a bit more money ($50) but worth it ~ great art, great cause!!!

Check out the schedule:

(note: all times EST!)

July 7th Mo Willems @ 6:30 pm - 8:30pm 4 cards available: 1@ each half hour.

Friday July 9th Stephen Silver @ 7:30 pm

Monday July 12th Stephen Marchesi @ 6:30pm

Wed July 14th Mo Willems Strikes Back @ 6:30pm - 8:00pm 4 cards:1 @ each half hour

Other artists to come: Dan Santat, Jarrett Krosoczka, Jeff Newman, Pascal Campion, Corey Godbey, Don Tate and many more surprises...

So check out the site - there is still many wonderful pieces for $10 and it is all going straight to the organizations that are cleaning up this mess!! ( I bought piece #695 by Stephanie Ruble).

peace

Dresses at the Danforth

I am happy to announce that the Danforth Museum's gift shop, the Shop at the Danforth, is now selling a selection of my smaller dresses ~ my 'mini' dresses and my small dress canvases.

I was also featured in the museum's June news letter ~ see the write~up below!

Celebrate Summer with an Elegant Dress

At center stage of June's special occasions and rites of passage is often a memorable dress. For artist, Virginia Fitzgerald, the dress form represents an integration of the complex identities of wife, mother, artist and woman in today's society. However, it was the carefree act of drawing a dress shape in the sand during a beach vacation and filling in the outline with rocks and beach debris that inspired The Dress Project, a collection now numbering in the hundreds. Virginia's captivating dresses have graced many solo and group exhibitions including the Danforth Museum of Art. Her interpretations are often paradoxical; proposing an ideal female form yet calling into question stereotypes, even in the dress's composition, which consists of recycled material. The artist addresses this subject matter adeptly with tongue-in-cheek titles of her creations. Virginia's miniature 3-dimensional and mixed media collage dresses are now available for purchase at The Shop at the Danforth.

Happy Fourth, all!!! & PEACE!!!

Images: HomeImprovement~Honeycomb & Precious

and the ripple continues......

Here is another contribution illustration for the ripple blog ~ it is a pen and ink, roughly 4x6. Also here is an update from the blog's creator, Kelly Light, about how helpful the site has been so far. I posted this write up as a comment on an earlier post, but I think it is important enough to have its own post! Just think ~ this site has raised over $5000. at $10 a pop!!! pretty cool, huh??

Hi Everyone at Illustration Friday! It's Kelly Light from the "Ripple" blog. I wanted to stop back and say a huge "THANKS!" to all of the Illustration Friday contributors who came to Ripple and donated their talent and time to help the Gulf Oil Spill animal victims. In one week Ripple went from having 100 cards to having 600 cards. We went from raising $1,000.00 to help clean oiled animals to more than $5,500.00 (as of 6/25). That figure keeps growing and the art keeps coming everyday. Artist from all over the globe showed up to throw their pebbles in. The messages they shared were of care and concern, anger and frustration and even hope for an end to this catastrophe. From across the United States the message was clear -- whether near a beach or not -- we need to do what we can to help. Small sketches, small donations that add up not only in dollars but in heart.
As a result of Ripple, I get personal updates from a woman cleaning birds in Florida with the IBRRC (one of the non profits Ripple helps). She said it takes 3 bottles of Dawn Dish Detergent to wash one bird. One $10 sketch card buys three bottles. So we have raised enough money to clean roughly 570 birds. I made a deal with myself to run this blog as long as the oil spills. I want the oil to stop now. But as long as it's flowing I'll be here and will welcome any new art submissions.
Thanks again to penelope and Brianna for the support, the huge hook up -- and the inspiration! ~Kelly

inspiration and trust

Besides the weekly creative challenge that Illustration Friday offers me, I love visiting the sites of the multitude of creative souls that also participate. Besides seeing how they have interpreted the topic, I am privy to their words of wisdom, their successes and their struggles. This is so nice because the world of the artist has its solitary moments~ many times we are out there slaying demons all by ourselves. But blogs, facebook and other electronic outlets has given us ways of creating communities and places of support. I mention this because last night I came across a post from a fellow illustrator that rang so true that i needed to share.

The site is Dream & Vision by Susan Sorrell Hill, an artist and illustrator living in Northern California. I have enjoyed her illustrations and her posts many times but yesterday she wrote about her "conscience .... that ubiquitous back-seat driver who is rarely content, and when she is, it’s only for the brief moment before something else is unsatisfactory" ~ WOW, I know that voice! I refer it it as my monkey and moments before reading Susan's post I had been talking with a good friend about how I am SOOOO tired of this voice ~ the guilt, the self doubt, BLAH!! For whatever reason this voice has increased in volume and intensity, seeping into all aspects of my life!! I feel like i am constantly engaged in a sumo wrestling match in my head ~ between what i feel in my heart and what my monkey says I 'should' do. I have been told it is part of the creative process, but I feel this struggle uses so much energy and strength that i would rather be putting into my art and my family.


So I was heartened to read Susan's post (I am not alone) and to hear about her approach to quiet the voices. I haven't tried flower essence therapy but want to. I am working on being more positive and trusting myself through mediation and in my studio work. Just this week I started a series of artist trading cards and my first one was a 'trust' dress!! Also, in my studio, I have been working on a series what I refer to as 'intuitive painting' ~ the same approach that I took with the walls of my installation, 'this comes from within' ~ just paint and don't think, listen to my heart and not my head. I am painting on canvases and on shaped pieces of wood ~ and I am very excited about this work!! But I have been so surprised on how mentally hard this has been?!?!? I am painting away & my monkey is basically screaming at me that I am wasting my time, this is just doodling, playing it safe... but if i try and do other work I soon find myself back at my canvas....go figure. So I recognize that the need to create this work & I want to honor that need, so I will try to quiet the monkey.

So if any one has any suggestions about how to quiet those annoying voices ...PLEASE share!! I would be love to hear them. I am feeling that itis time to shake this monkey (or at least quiet him). I was watching Ella Enchanted with my daughter this week and in this movie the main character, Ella, needs to overcome her 'gift' of obedience. I have watched this movie a bunch of times but this time I watched it with new eyes ~ I need overcome my 'gift' of self doubt, overwhelming sense of guilt and lack of confidence. wish me luck!!!

Hope all have a good weekend. & my illustration friday piece will be coming later!!! peace!!

Ripple dress in going to Montana!!

I am so happy to announce that my contribution to the Ripple Sketch site was bought and on its way to Montana. I am also happy to say that the drawing was purchased by an another ceative soul, Tammie - 'a nature photographer and writer of poetry'. She has two inspiring blogs ~
beauty flows ~ http://beautyflows.blogspot.com/

&

spirithelpers ~ http://miztlee.blogspot.com/
Today's post on spirithelpers has some beautiful photos and poems ~ check out the strawberry!!

This has been quite a rewarding experience and I hope to contribute some more to the ripple site. As of 6/22 they have raised over $5000!!

I just returned from spending a day on the New Hampshire coast, soaking up the infinite beauty of the ocean. As I put my feet into the refreshingly cool, clean ocean water the enormity of the disaster in the gulf really hit me!!!! I am totally frustrated by the situation but by donating my drawing to the ripple site I don't feel totally helpless!! what is the saying, every little bit helps?!? So thank you Kelly Light for putting this site together and thank you all who have purchased artwork!!

I just hope that one thing that can come out of this crisis is a greater respect for mother nature and how we treat her!!

Also maybe we will think about riding our bikes more.....

thx & peace

the girls are out and about...

Last Friday I had the honor of installing Provocative (the Rope Dress) in the window of Shafer O'Neil Interior Design in Wellesley, MA. Last summer Red Alert Cocktail dress and the VCR tape dress graced their window. This summer along with the earthy, organic Provocative, Judy O'Neil Labins and I have filled the window with many of the photos of the beach dresses. During the installation we decided to hang 'Beach Warrior' next to Provocative and I was amazed on how these pieces complimented each other! I am very happy with the way this window has come together.
After installing these pieces in Wellesley I returned to my oddly empty studio. It was then that I realized that many of my girls are out ~ besides Provocative, I have 7 large sculptures out in the world at this time. This will be ending tomorrow, but for now 8 of my babes are out of the nest.

Two of my girls are coming home tomorrow ~ Flower Power and In Memory of... have been residing at the Cultural Arts Alliance of Hopkinton since my lecture. I am hoping that there have been many strings of beads made so that i can continue to add to Flower Power. :)

Another dress returning home this week is the Dress of Etiquette (Emily) because the Cambridge Art Association's Northeast Prize Show is ending on June 23rd.

The Poetry Dress, the VCR tape dress and Packing Tape Party Dress have been part of Bead & Fiber's The Practical, Impractical & Artrageous: 2nd annual wearable art show which will be ending June 26nd.



Lastly Treacherous is making her window debut in downtown Natick in the windows of One80 Visual, 19 south Main St. The folks at One80 have been so generous with their windows since I left my store front studio. It is always nice to have a place to showcase different pieces & their windows are always a feast for the eyes. Besides my pieces they are featuring the wood working of Carl Staley and the work of Karin Stanley ~ definitely worth a look!!!


So it has been an exciting few months for my girls but it time to gather my brood and get them ready for the nest things to come!!!!

Happy Solstice to all & peace!!!

illustration friday ~ paisley

Ok - I am playing catch~up here ....

since I posted LAST week's topic illustration yesterday I am going to post THIS week's illustration Friday's illustration today!! This week the topic is Paisley ~ what a wonderful topic, my head is basically bursting with ideas!! However, I have noticed that whenever I make a new illustration for IF I am always racing to submit it and I remembered I made this illustration as a thank you to a friend who offered me a place to stay in NYC. So, I figured in the interest of sanity, I would post this one now & if the time gods allow, I will post another later this week ~ because paisley is such a inspiring word!!

As I said, this drawing was made as a thank you card. My friend is from India and had 'henna'ed my hand during my visit so I felt this was a good way to say thanks. I love heena ~ the idea of body painting. I have started buying heena and painting it on myself and my family - it is loads of fun. Of course this can cause some problems. Once I had painted my daughter's hands and didn't think too much about it. But then she went off to her middle school & she was questioned about it ~ they wanted to make sure she wasn't cheating on her quiz :)....

wishing all a happy weekend and a Happy Father's Day!!
especially to my DAD ~ 'thank you' for being a super dad!!!

peace

illustration friday ~ ripple special

Ok - I am a week late ~ here is my illustration for last week's topic 'ripple'. But this was a special 'assignment' and I wanted to do something special ~ this illustration will be offered for sale for $10.00 on

http://ripplesketches.blogspot.com/.

This site has been set-up to raise money to help the wildlife affected by the BP oil spill. It is a way for a group of creative people to make a difference. There are many wonderful pieces of art offered on this site & all money raised will go to two charities benefiting the wildlife ~ here is the description from the site ~

Each sketchcard on this blog is $10.00. The $10.00 is a donation to help the animal victims of the Deep Water Horizon Gulf Oil Spill. Every penny is donated. The two Non-Profits that are benefiting are The Institute for Marine Mammal Studies and The International Bird Rescue Research Center. You can purchase a card if you donate directly to one of the non-profits and email me the confirmation and your address to ripplesketches@verizon.net. The artist will mail you the signed card.
We don't have to feel helpless. We can help. Our small actions together will ripple outward.

After playing around with some different ideas I realized I wanted to make a dress out of the affected animals because many times my dresses represent for me my heart felt emotions, opinions and heart aches and this oil spill falls in the heart ache category. I love the idea of being able to contribute artwork that might raise some money to help in this disaster.

This piece is not a card but a pen and ink drawing, with watercolor accents.

It is 11 1/2 x 6 1/2 in. on smooth bristol paper.

Please go to the web site and check out all the many wonderful, creative and inspiring illustrations, and if you want maybe buy mine!!!

peace

Enough already!!!

“Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end.” Scott Adams

a story ~ Last Friday, Illustration Friday’s topic was 'trail' (I was very excited about the topic, had many ideas but alas never executed them, but that another story). I was reviewing some of the others entries and came across an illustrator who made a trail of dead fish and wrote in her comment ‘enough already!’ ~ I could not agree more (I can’t find the link to the illustration but I will post it asap when I find it). Then the same day I saw one of those heart wrenching images of a bird covered with oil with only his open, sad eye showing through. The next day I read an editorial about how there should be criminal charges brought against BP because this disaster came from cost cutting and neglect, but once again it sounds like the real guilty are protected by the structure of big corporation. Grrrr….

For a few days this all percolated until I decided that I was pissed and wanted to make a dress about the oil spill…. That day my mind was on fire – I was sketching, pondering, playing with different materials. However the next morning I found my critic talking me out of this dress ~ ‘a cliché, what am I going to do with another large sculpture, I should focus on the projects I have going on in my studio, blah, blah’. So I put that dress idea aside, trying to ignore this quiet ache in my heart. Now it was Friday again and Illustration Friday presented a special topic ~ Ripple!! The special part is that all entries can be posted for sale on this new website which was started by a community of artists trying to make a difference and raising money for the relief efforts in the gulf!!! (Click here to get the full story) It is inspiring and wonderful and ignited my oil spill passion again!! So I am back thinking about a possible ‘oil’ dress but this also reconnected me with my installation ‘this comes from within’.

As I figured out what my donation illustration would be, my mind went back to walls of ‘this comes from within’ ~ my installation that I created last summer. This piece has been heavily on my mind!!! It was a year ago that I started working on transforming the gallery at Medicine Wheel. I miss that project!!! ~ the scope of it, the intensity, the focus, how it challenged me in so many ways and I pulled it off!!. In my studio I have started painting shaped pieces of wood in a similar style to the walls of the installation – limited color palette and that intuitive approach to the painting – 'what does my gut say to paint here'. I am excited about this work ~ creating those walls last year was a magical experience for me. So with my ‘ripple’ illustration in mind I reviewed some of my photos from ‘this comes from within’ and was surprised by how they felt timely and appropriate for a cry of outrage for this disaster. So many marine and marsh animals were represented on those walls – sea turtles, crabs, nesting birds, lizards, some much more & I am sure there was even a mermaid or two looking out. Now I am not sure what my 'ripple' illustration will be but I wanted to share some of my creatures with you today and to encourage you to check out the 'ripple' site and purchase some original art and support the cause to help the animal victims of the Deep Water Horizon Gulf Oil Spill.

it has a great sound track too!!!! peace all!!!

http://ripplesketches.blogspot.com/

illustration friday ~ slither (in under the wire)

when i saw the topic for illustration friday (last friday) I was inspired to make an illustration because I didn't have one in my portfolio that I thought would work.... hence why I am posting this on thursday night!!!! I still wantto tweak it but... tick, tick, tick.

So, here is SLITHER (what an awesome word)

peace all!!!!

I 'heart' publicity

Here is the article from the Hopkinton Crier about my talk to the Women's Cultural Art Forum, written by Helen Prunty Krispien. I must confess, it is always fun for me to read about how people interpret my work!!! thank you Helen!! peace

new york diner dress (2006)

Hopkinton Crier ~ May 14, 2010

Drowning ladybugs lead to fascinating art project

Helen Prunty Krispien; Crier Correspondent

Virginia Fitzgerald has an artist's soul. She finds creative expression and inspiration through everyday life experiences that can be seen in her current endeavor, "The Dress Project."

Fitzgerald, who lives in Natick, gave a lively, self-narrated slide presentation with over 300 of her dresses at the Women's Cultural Art Forum at the Cultural Arts Alliance on May 6. With such a dynamic embrace for creativity, Fitzgerald's quaint stories that accompanied each colorful slide made the two hour presentation fly by.

The simple, sleeveless dress form that is a signature of all her dress creations had its initial inspiration, although she was not quite aware of its implication, on an outing with her then 4-year-old daughter who wanted to learn how to blow bubbles with chewing gum. Fitzgerald was taken aback at her daughter's disgust at her mother putting gum on a stick and just playing around with it.

The "Dress Project" challenges a lot of preconceived rules, says Fitzgerald, as she passed around a 2 by 3 inch white tile that had a hardened, chewed stick of gum with a tiny dress form on it. 

Another design, "Dress of Etiquette" is created from pages torn from the book "Emily Post's Etiquette" and pasted on a mannequin. This dress will be part of the Cambridge Art Association's Northeast Prize Show juried by Cheryl Brutvan, curator of Contemporary Art at the Norton Museum of Art. The show runs from May 14-June 23.

But the actual "dress project" began on a family summer vacation in Wells, Maine. "We had rented a little house on the beach. On the first day, my girls and I were beach combing and came upon wave upon wave of drowning ladybugs. Of course, we had to save the ladybugs," she said.

"In the process of taking the ladybugs out of the ocean and up to the warm sand, we noticed that some were dead and my girls asked what would we do with the dead ladybugs? My immediate response was to make art out of them. The idea blasted open my brain. That night I sat up filling my sketch book with the different materials I could make a dress out of.

"The next morning, after a night of sleepless inspiration, I headed out to the beach. While walking, I wondered what would this dress look like? So, I grabbed a stick and drew this life sized outline of a simple, sleeveless dress. Once, I saw the outline, I knew I would fill it with the beautiful beach rocks that surrounded me and voila. the dress project began."

A self-proclaimed peacenik, one of Fitzgerald's dresses currently on display at the CAA, entitled "In Memory Of" serves as a protest against the U. S. involvement in Iraq. The top of the child's dress is made of a plaster cast that is abstractly painted with a map of the Middle East. The bottom consists of strands of dog tags from fallen soldiers that were reprinted from the New York Times which publishes the names and photos of deceased soldiers every time the death toll hits 1,000. "It was at 4,000, and that was like 3 1/2 ago," she said.

"The bottom is a mess; such a quagmire," she said.

"I bought miniature dog tags, cut and attached the picture and put polyurethane on which gave it gave an antique look. And that's part of the dress project - the learning process. I start with one idea, and one direction, and it unfolds."

Another dress on display is the "Flower Power Dress" that has the 60s flower motif printed on the top and strands of colorful beads as the skirt. This is an interactive display in that it encourages people to make a string of beads for the skirt.

For Fitzgerald, who admits she loves being an artist, the best part about it is being in the moment of creating. "It is like a drug," she says. "To get an idea or see an inspirational sight, figure out how I can recreate that idea or emotion or vision, then dive into the materials and process and just being there," she said. "It is meditative and exhilarating. It is a creative problem, and I love a puzzle. And this carries over to sharing the piece with others - seeing how my recreation is interpreted by those who witness it. And I especially enjoy inspiring others."

illustration friday ~ early

the theme of illustration friday is 'early' and this illustration popped into my mind ~ 'the early bird gets the worm'. Of course i wish this illustration had a worm but at alas....
hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!! peace

Fun and fashion in SOWA

What a glorious spring day it was today and a great day for the opening of the The SoWa Open Market!!

The streets of Harrison and Thayer were bursting with art, creativity and people!!!!

An added bonus for me was to see my Poetry Dress modeled in the Practical, Impractical & Artrageous: 2nd annual wearable art fashion show. The fashion show is part of the 'gallery' show going on at Bead & Fiber (April 30th 2010 thru June 26th). 'On behalf of Bead+Fiber (http://www.beadandfiber.net/), and Artists for Humanity (www.afhboston.com), Barbara Poole - (www.bfelt.com) and Rachel Worrall (www.rachelworrall.com)organised this charity fashion show for today and tomorrow in aid of Artists for Humanity in Thayer Street, Boston 02118. The pedestrianised street was the runway. It started @ 2pm And as you can see there was some amazing fashions!!

It was great to see my dress out & about with these wild fashions.

Also it was great to see it flowing in the wind!!

So if you are free tomorrow & live around Boston I would highly recommend you should go check out the SOWA opening weekend!!! Besides the Practical, Impractical & Artrageous: 2nd annual wearable art fashion show (which will start tomorrow @2) there is a plethora of wonderful artisans and artists. I got myself I crazy awesome dress from Grace Napolean which i am planning to wear to the opening of the Northeast Prize Show (May 14 - June 23, 2010) Opening reception: Thursday May 20, 6-8pm.

So lots o'fun to be had around Boston this weekend and this week ~ hope to see you out there!! peace

over 300 slides....

Last week the Women's Art Forum of Hopkinton invited me to speak to their group about the Dress Project, and it was a terrific experience! ~ the group was so generous and appreciative. Of course, getting prepped for the talk was a bit challenging ~ I found myself an LCD projector (thanks Tom) and put together a slide show of the Dress Project. After a few hours of combing thru files of photos I realized that I had over 300 slides and I had not even included all of the dresses that i have made. I was a bit awe~struck!! A few friends baulked at the quantity thinking there was no way for me to cover that much work in 2 hours ...well I got thru all of the slides in an hour and a half :). I was amazed how easy it was to speak about the Dress Project with the slides ~ I had my girls with me!!! As the dresses appeared across the screen the stories and inspirations just poured out of me.

At the talk there was a reporter from the local paper ~ the Hopkinton Crier, who sent me some follow questions. As I was answering them for her I thought the answers maybe interesting for my blog readers....so in their rough form, here are my answers, a little background of the Dress Project.

1. I understand, you started out as a sculptor. How did you segue into this contemporary art form?

'Started out' is a hard to answer since i have been doing something creative since i can remember. At Kenyon College I studied Studio Art with a concentration in Printmaking. I don't know if you were there when Cheryl and I were talking about my beginnings.... I was saying how I was intimidated by sculpture in college but if you step back and look at my work before the Dress Project there are many sculptural aspects to it. In Printmaking I was drawn to relief printmaking - woodcuts, where i was carving the wood plates. After college I supported myself with different creative business ~ i sold my hand painted furniture and for 7 years I ran a business based on bottle cap jewelry that i made. All these buz. had sculptural elements. But, do i think i started out as a sculptor - not exactly.... I thought of myself as a painter and when the Dress Project started I was just coming off a successful painting gallery show. But I was craving something more in my work. I am drawn to much contemporary art ~ i study it and go see it, I try to get to NY as much as possible. So I feel that I 'segued' into this contemporary art form because I had the exposure of current contemporary work, the openness to receive it and the hunger to keep pushing myself.


2. What's the best part about being an artist for you?

Another toughie ~ because I love so much of being an artist!!! But if I had to narrow it down, I believe the best part is being in the moment of creating!! it is like a drug. To get an idea or see an inspirational sight, figure out how i could recreate that idea or emotion or vision, then dive into the materials and process and just being there. It is meditative and exhilarating!!! It is creative problem solving and I love a puzzle!! And this carries over to sharing the piece with others ~ seeing how my recreation is interrupted by those who witness it. And I especially enjoy inspiring others.

3. How many dresses are in the Dress Project?

I wish I had an exact number!!! The slide show had over 300 slides ~ and even though many of the slides were different views of the same dress I realize that there were many dresses that didn't make the slide show!!! Also there are the ephemeral dresses, the mini dresses, the dresses that were supposedly finished then I cut them, or started to rework them and they're not finished ( like my large dog tag dress). I counted up the large, still intact sculptures and came up with 20 over the part 3 1/2 yrs. I can't even guess on how many ephemeral dresses there have been - sometimes they are not even documented, i just needed to make a dress then and there. There are about 10 or more mini 3d dress sculpture then a good number of high relief dresses on canvas or board (like the strata series). Sorry i can't be more exact at this point.

4. How was the Dress Project idea started?

It started on a family vacation in Wells Beach, ME. We had rented a little house on the beach. On the first day my girls and i were beach combing and came upon wave upon wave of drowning ladybugs ...so , of course, we had to save the ladybugs. In the process of taking the ladybugs out of the ocean and up to the warm sand we noticed that some were dead & my girls ask me what would we do with the dead ladybugs - my immediate answer was to make art out of them. As I said this i thought wouldn't it be interesting to make a dress out of dead ladybugs - the symbolism alone was intriguing. Well, I do have the ladybugs, but I never made that dress, however the idea blasted open my brain. That night I sat up filling my sketch book with the different materials I could make a dress out of. The next morning, after a night of sleepless inspiration I headed out to the beach. While walking, I wondered what would this dress would look like - so I grabbed a stick and drew this life sized outline of a simple, sleeveless dress. Once I saw the outline I knew I would fill it with the beautiful beach rocks that surrounded me and voila - the Dress Project began. This was right after having a successful painting show of still life's and I had been wanted to get more personal in my work. The dress form spoke to that need - I was dealing with the female body, the idea of appearance & dress, the feminine psyche. The first day when i was collecting beach rocks i had an innate knowledge of what rock would go where and why. It was liberating and addicting. For the rest of the vacation I went to the beach to make a dress with whatever materials were offered to me that day.

5. Where can people catch a glimpse of your work?

At the present I have three dress on exhibit at Bead & Fiber ~ 460 Harrison Avenue Boston MA (617) 426-2323 ~ in their The Practical, Impractical & Artrageous: 2nd annual wearable art show. running April 30th 2010 thru June 26th - with a charity fashion show on May 15th & 16th 2010 in aid of Artists for Humanity in Thayer Street, Boston 02118. The pedestrianised street will be our runway. Inclement weather will result in cancellation of the show. The start time each day will be 2pm and the show will end each day around 4pm. Come and see some amazing art in motion from some truly amazing designers!
http://www.beadandfiber.net/gallery.html

Also my Dress of Etiquette will be part of the Cambridge Art Assoc.'s Northeast Prize Show juried by Cheryl Brutvan, Curator of Contemporary Art, Norton Museum of Art . The show runs from May 14 - June 23, 2010. Reception: Thursday, May 20, 6-8pm in both galleries.

http://www.cambridgeart.org/

Also the two dresses that I brought for my talk are still at the CAA for viewing. Cheryl and the women there felt it would be nice to have them for awhile, and with the Flower Power dress, everyone and anyone can make a bead strand to add to the skirt.

I am working on redesigning my website ~ http://www.virginiafitzgerald.com/, but there are many dresses shown there. Also I post up coming news and events on my blog ~ http://www.virginiafitzgerald.blogspot.com/ & facebook fan page. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Virginia-Fitzgerald/127363913633?ref=ts#!/pages/Virginia-Fitzgerald/127363913633?ref=ts

peace