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