Heading South!!

I am very so excited because I am packing up to head down south to Mystic, CT to lead an all day workshop tomorrow!!! The workshop is in conjunction to the Mystic Art Center's exhibit, Form & Fantasy: A Contemporary Twist on Fiber Art, in which I have a piece ~ 'insatiable'.

The day is split into two sessions ~ organic crocheting in the morning, based on my creatures and wraps, and collaging, based on my daily dress project, in the afternoon.  The broad focus of the workshop is creating while focusing on process over product. 

Both of the bodies of work that have inspired these workshops are produced in a very organic way.  I am more interested in the process and getting my thinking-mind out of the way, than the product!!  Secondly, reusing materials is a main theme in both these works so i am planning to high light the wonders of reclaiming the materials that surrounds us ~ most of the daily dress pages are based on some piece of detritus that inspired me during that day!! 

Lastly,  both of these bodies of work thrill me ~ my creatures and daily dresses are a huge passion for me so I am hoping that it will be easy for me to share.

 

So I am filling my car with my endless collections of stuff - vcr tape, electrical cords, candy wrappers, and so much more!!! I so enjoy teaching and leading workshops as they allow allow me to share my passions, and they also give me the time and excuse to make art!  Getting the time and 'band width' to be creative during the day is usually quite difficult when trying to make a living as an artist:(  But tomorrow I will be sharing some of my skills to a group of teachers who, hopefully,  will teach to their classes, so the tradition & passion will continue!! 

 xxx & peace!!

happy to announce . . .

I am happy to announce that 'womb wrap' was accepted into

Cambridge Art Association's

RED

Its more than a color;

metaphor, feeling, idea or hue...

womb wrap - organic knitting

November 22 2011 - January 11 2012 Reception: Friday December 2, 5:30-7:30pm

Juried by Howard Yezerski Howard Yezerski Gallery

Day of the Dead dress

As so often happens with me, I started doing one thing and ended up making a dress.  Suddenly this afternoon I discovered I had a free moment so I thought I'd start to take down the Halloween decorations!?! When I was removing some of the creepy spiderwebs from one of our trees,  I found that they were quite stubbornly stuck. While wrestling with them I realized that instead of removing them (since they clearly did NOT want to come off) I should really just make a dress out of them. 

I loved this idea for many reasons ~ the first reason being that lately I have really been hankering to make a dress outside ~ it is such a joy to be creating in the elements.  Another reason is ever since my daughter had wrapped the tree with these cottony webs I wanted to make a 'webby' dress.  Lastly, this year I had yet to make a Halloween dress, so I thought this will be my Halloween dress, just one day late.  But as I pushed and pulled the strands around I realized that this was not a wispy, cobwebby dress, it had more of a ghostly feel, a spirit dress, a perfect  Day of the Dead dress. 

So here is a dress for the spirit world.  And when the wind blew, the skirt of the dress would start to float as if she had a place to go.  But then, when the breeze ceased, this dress seemed to have changed her mind and would settle back into the bark.  

I wonder if she will stay the night or if she will drift off into this clear, cold night?!? A teacher of mine pointed out, as I was saying I didn't like the shorter days, that this is the time of year when the veil between the worlds is the thinnest.  This is a time to dream, to be quiet and listen to our muses.  As the time of darkness grows we have more time for reverie (if we can walk away from our computers, TVs and other eletronics).  So on that note  . . .

Good Night, Sweet Dreams & Peace

dresscards

As I mentioned in my last post, I introduced my dresscards during my open studios and now I will officially introduce them here. My dresscards are my newest note cards, each with a hand~picked quote and a hand~folded origami dress ~ which is attached with a brad. 

With these note cards I am happy to be incorporating two of my loves ~ my origami dresses and words & quotes.  I am constantly searching for the quotes that move me. 

I hope to highlight the wise words of women (like my heroines ~ Anais Nin, Mary Oliver & so many others)  but i will mix it up (not being a big fan of any kind of discrimination :)

The cards are white and 4x6; blank inside and signed on the back.  

They can be sent or framed or both. 

 At this point you can get them at Artisans Way, 18 Walden Street, Concord, MA ~ 978-369-4400 

and in a new store in Natick, Renew!, 19 South Main St. ~ 

 

or you can order via me just email me or comment below.  

The cards are $8. ea. ~ you can request a quote but the dress paper will vary.

 So that is the story of my dresscards!!! I have also been trying to post a new quote each weekday on Twitter (@virginiafitzart) and on facebook!! so you can see new cards there!!

 Happy Halloween & Peace!!

what a month!!!!

Upon reflection , I must say that this has been quite an exciting and full month ~ 

‘insatiable’ won an award at the show Form and Fantasy, at Mystic Arts Center in Mystic, CT; I am the artist of the month at the Attleboro Arts Museum; I have a dress at the BCM (as my daughter calls it); I hosted a terrific open studios where I successfully introduced my new dress~cards (which I just dropped off at the new Artisans Way Fine Arts and Craft Gallery, Concord, MA)  & now there is a wonderful interview of ME, on the web!!! 

Lynette Haggard, artist and blogger, has this fantastic blog where she posts her interviews with artists from all over and currently you can read about my career as an artist ~ inspirations, beginnings, projects and many other interesting facts.  Here is a little peek and here is the link to the entire interview.  http://lynettehaggard.blogspot.com/2011/10/virginia-fitzgerald-natick-mass.html

I must confess it was a great experience to do this interview, her questions made me really think about the hows and why of my work.  

Also this Saturday I am going to experience another side of Lynette, as a teacher, because I am going to take her Encaustic Workshop at the Fountain Street Fine Art Gallery, Framingham, MA ( can't wait to add another technique to my repertoire!! And then I will be back at  Fountain Street Fine Art  on Sunday to gallery sit during their new show, Beyond the Surface: biological explorations in wax. This is a group show of encaustic work, stop by to say hi.  Another arty event that runs the entire weekend is the Grand Opening Celebration Events at Artisans Way, Concord, MA: October 28th: Opening Reception: (4pm-8pm), October 29th: Artist talks and demonstrations (10am-6pm), October 30th: Cake Cutting & Raffle Drawing (12pm-5pm) 

So ~ Thank you Lynette for this awesome experience and hopefully I will see some of you at one of these arty events!!! Peace!!!

  

Virginia Fitzgerald: Natick, Mass.

Virginia Fitzgerald and  Lush

2009
57 x 24 x 24"

sculpture: fabric remnants, discarded clothing,
scrap wood, chicken wire, copper spool,
buttons, beads, embroidery floss;
100% found and discarded material used in the piece 

Please share a little about yourself. Where did you grow up and what were the early influences on your work?

I was born in 1964 and grew up in Chicago, IL. When I was 11, we moved to a suburb of Chicago.  I was fortunate because my grandmother loved to take me to the Art Institute of Chicago so I was exposed to magnificent art at a young age. I remember studying the Impressionists, having their bright colors and mark making pointed out to me.  I have vivid memories of standing mystified in front of Seurat’sSunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte, and wanting to dive into Georgia O’Keeffe’s Sky Above Clouds IV; this 8ft x 24ft painting of endless clouds.  Lastly I remember searching out the plaster sculptures of George Segal.  As I got older I became a huge fan of Henri Matisse and the Fauves.  And in the past years I have become a contemporary art junkie, making many pilgrimages to NYC to see cutting edge shows in Chelsea galleries.  I have also lived in numerous cities with wonderful museums, L.A.; New York and now Boston.  I presently live in Natick, Massachusetts, with my two daughters. 

a week has past. . .

. . . since this year's Natick Artist's Open Studios, and I think I may be recovered enough to share the experience!! (if ever so briefly)

Provocative (Rope Dress) held court in the hall

After much muttering and procrastinating (anyone who reads my facebook artist's page may have seen some griping about needing to clean my studio) ~ I had a wonderful open studio!!!! Many familiar faces came by to see what I was doing and to get some peanut M&M's!! A great success even though I really didn't get my studio very clean!!! I know the chaos did 'scare'' a few folks off, but those who were brave enough to enter, LOVED what they saw ~ a real working studio!!!

creatures in their different states of display

 I had many interesting conversations and fabulous comments on my newer work - my creatures and my wall painting that I began at the Vermont Studio Center. 

I had my creatures greet visitors as they entered my studio.

Art talk by the peanut M&M's

a bit of an idea of how messy most of the studio was!!

There was much positive feedback about my wall painting that I started at VSC this past March. It was fascinating to watch visitors stand in front of this piece and just get lost in it's magical world.  there was some discussion about me painting a wall in a house like this, which I would LOVE to do!!! 

series of Carbon Footprint Dresses with Poetry Dress

And I also was able to show all my carbon footprint dresses that I have done this past year.  These too got a lot of attention.  And, of course, I created a NAOS 2011 carbon footprint dress! 

after one day

NAOS 2011 carbon footprint dress

And I also rolled out my newest greeting card to much, much success!!! Still working out all the details but I hope to be able to offer these on Etsy or my web site, soon!!

 So, all in all, it was an exhausting yet exhilarating weekend ~ full of insightful conversation ( where is the creativity in the carbon footprint dresses?), joking, 'footprint'ing, exploring the mess and lots of fun.

 I thank everyone who stopped by during such a beautiful Fall weekend & for those who didn't, there is always next year?!? :) peace

to dress tag or not to dress tag?!?!

To dress tag, or not to dress tag, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in heart & mind to endureThe slings and arrows of a run-of-the-mill life,
Or to take arms against a sea of the ordinary,
And by dress tagging, end them? To tag, to sleep ... no more;
(my apologies to Mr. Shakespeare)

Mystic, CT, after delivering 'insatiable' to the Mystic Arts Center for their Form and Fantasy show

Form and Fantasy: A Contemporary Twist on Fiber Art

 September 30 - November 12 ~ Opening Reception - Thursday, October 6^th from 5:30pm-7pm

Dress Tagging while visiting Red Alert Cocktail Dress at the Boston Children's Museum's  exhibit ~

In the Bag

September 15 - November 27, 2011

can u see the dress???

@ my favorite restaurant, flour, down the street from  the BCM

Flour Bakery, Fort Point Channel12 Farnsworth St.,a perfect place to go after a visit to the Boston Children's Museum!! thumbs up from our entire group!!!

their tag line ~ Make life sweeter, Eat dessert first!! (what do u think Mom?? :)

a little something extra @ the FPAC store

then next door to flour is the Fort Point Artist Community Store ~ 

Made in Fort Point: The FPAC Store 12 Farnsworth Street

@ the opening of Here Now at the Sprinkler Factory, Worcester, MA

Barthelson  Crane: here  now
Sprinkler Factory Gallery
Opening Reception: Saturday, October  1,  5 to 8 pm
Artists Talk: Sunday October 23,  3:00 pm
October 1 - 30, 2011

experimenting with tagging

'May this dress help you find your inner baker'

this tag may have been too suggestive?!?

this 'tag' I put in a busy JoAnn's Fabric, thinking that the creative clientele would be open to picking up a dress, but it stayed put for the hour or so that I was shopping :(?!?! I am dying to see one get picked up!!!)

this made me question my whole dress tagging endeavor ~ is this insanity??? why am I doing this?? why am I throwing one more 'thing' into my already full life?? last week, besides delivering artwork and submitting artwork, I got to deal with a dead chicken, a broken pipe, flooded house and then lost my all keys for a truly uncomfortable amount of time?!?

but even as I question this latest obsession,  I can't deny this burning desire to put these 'tags' out in the world.  Even if they are never picked up & end on in the trash ~ they might bring a smile to someone before it is thrown out.  And I have so much fun figuring out what 'intention' to put on each dress and where to put it, so I guess the dress tagging will continue!! so keep your eyes open AND if you want to be part of the fun ~ email me or comment below and I will send you some dress tags!! But beware - it is addicting :) Peace

Dress photos hit the Road

Packing up the photographs of my ephemeral dresses to take them down to Attleboro to be ...

New York Diner Dress

Artist of the month ~ Attleboro Arts Museum

2011 Community Gallery Artists

OCTOBER: VIRGINIA FITZGERALD

It all began on Wells Beach, ME. in 2006. I had an idea of an image of a dress and while walking on the beach one morning. I picked up a stick to see what this ‘dress’ would look like.  I drew a sleeveless, life sized dress and  illed it in with the beautiful beach rocks & then proceeded to let the high tide take it away ~ giving me a new, clean canvas on which to make another dress.  The process felt so right and so gratifying that for the rest of the vacation I made a dress!  & each day I would walk the beach with no preconceived idea and would just listen to which material I was to use that day…

www.virginiafitzgerald.com

______________________________________

To learn more about exhibition opportunities in the Attleboro Arts Museum’s Community Gallery contact office@attleboroartsmuseum.org or 508-222-2644 x15.

______________________________________

Back to Nature 

Beach Warrior

Back to the Sea

Wedding Dress (Brenda's Dress)

A Little Jam, Please

 I am so happy to be the Artist of the Month at Attleboro because I love this place!! wonderful people, space and exhibits!!! Definitely stop by if you are in the neighborhood!!! 

Peace!!

sizzle. . .