deadheads and skinny dipping

Last week I had the time to indulge 

my omnipresent passion

 and I made a dress!! 

'deadhead' dress

Inspiration struck during a morning dog walk, in front of the studio of the wonderful David Lang. 

Earlier in the week he proudly shared with me how our mutual friend, the lovely and talented Christina Zwart, had filled his studio's flower box and I wanted to take a peek.

Christina, who has been doing exquisite outdoor art installations in neighboring woods, made a terrific choice with marigolds, complimenting the 

existing yellow of the parking lines. 

And as I big fan of these hardy and colorful flowers I began 

to clean up the box a bit, breaking off the dead flowers.  It was then, surrounded by the pungent fragrance of broken marigolds and with my hand full of dead yet still bright and sturdy blossoms, I knew would make a dress.

And as it always happens when I am out making an ephemeral dress, I entered a dream like state, 

where the critics were quiet 

and I was present in the act of creating ~ 

pure heaven.

This state is truly rare for me, especially recently, as my days are filled with many different jobs and single parenting. My time in the studio is non-existant.  And when I do have a moment 

or two to create, I am inundated by the critics and doubters,

"is this the best uses of your time, Virginia??"  

But that didn't happen outside David's studio door, why?

I believe the freedom comes from being outside and that these dresses are ephemeral, they are here and  then they go.  They are exempt from me taking their existence too seriously, free from the paralyzing state of becoming 'precious', when suddenly everything comes under intense internal scrutiny; will this piece be worth the time I am putting into it? will I be able to put the piece in a gallery? will it appeal to anyone else?? 

my faithful and patient assistant

But when I am working outside, in the elements, with just the materials at hand to work with, my thinking brain steps back; I relax and listen to my muse.

The feeling is similiar to the feeling I get when I skinny-dip, 

just me in the cool and refreshing water.

I am a big fan!!

peace

Going out with a BANG!!!!

As the saying goes all good things must come to an end.  And so it is for "Upon Further Consideration: what tells a story", my exhibition with David Lang at the Carney Gallery, Regis College, Weston, MA.  But we are not going quietly :) 

Tomorrow afternoon David and I will be conducting a gallery talk which will then lead to a closing reception.  So we would love to have all come and help us toast out our latest creative endeavor!! 

artists' talk ~ 4:00pm

reception to follow

Also some pieces have been added since the opening AND some pieces will be going back to their private homes.  'dear jeff', which is the commissioned by a man who lost his fiance in 9/11, is now part of the exhibit at Regis, for all those who could not make it down to Attleboro Arts Museum.  Another new piece that was in Attleboro's 8 Vision is 'kid gloves'.  And 'in memory of . . .' will be heading back to her owners, who kindly let me show her for this exhibition, thank you Bill and Joe!! 

peace

Traveling dresses and dates to SAVE!!!

Just to keep everyone up to date 

(there seems to be  A LOT going on right now!!! :)

~ here are a few announcements from the studio ~ 

Persephone's dress

don't slip

eat your vegetables

clementine dress

 Just sent these pieces off to the Ann Street Gallery in Newburgh, NY for their Yumilicious! exhibit. 

 This was the first time that I printed 'don't slip' and 'Persephone's dress' as large photographs which is always exciting.  And while placing my printing order I decided to throw in 'sizzzzle' which I will be showing this weekend at Open studios!!

Yes, save the date, mark your calendar ~ 

this weekend is Natick Artist's Open Studios!!! 

The excitement and craziness is growing in the Natick Artist community 

as we all dig out our studios, trying to make it navigable for our visitors.

I will be camped out in my wonderful studio at 

25 Washington Ave, second floor, on the left.  

There hopefully will be many balloons guiding the way. 

 Click here for the full web site and the map.  

I am planning to have dresscards, dressmats, dresstags and 

my new series of collages, as well as other interesting artistic adventures.  

  

And remember you can ALWAYS bring some green/brownish fiber like material to add to 'insatiable'  When I was performing her at JP Knits for their Yarn Crawl people came in with lots of items.  One family came in with old soccer socks which we cut into strips and added to the beast.  It was such fun ~ all three siblings, ranging ages 4 -10, were nestled in to the couch, crocheting and NOT wanting to go :) 

And lastly ~ 

SAVE THE DATE 

for 'Upon Further Consideration' at Regis College, 

on Friday, October 26th, 

David Lang and I will be hosting a closing reception.  

There is also supposed to be a gallery talk that afternoon so the finer details will be coming.  So if you have not seen the show and needed an extra reason to go - you now have a the reason ~ a party!!

  

Hope to see you at one of these arty occasions!!!

peace

Laboring on Labor Day

This Labor Day weekend I was working hard with fellow artist David Lang to install our current two person exhibit at Regis College's Carney Gallery ~ 

"Upon Further Consideration: what tells a story"

Opening Reception is this Saturday, Sept. 8th, 4-7pm

'continuum . . .' (detail) David A. Lang

This is an exciting show who both of us for so many reasons.   

First, it is such an honor to be working with Steve Hall at Carney Gallery, and to be exhibiting in this lovely gallery space. 

Also David and I are also so pleased to be revisiting our two person show from last year at the South Shore Art Center in Cohasset, MA. It was during the SSAC exhibit that we witnessed how our pieces speak to each other.  

'raw' (2011-2012) organic crochet

And lastly, we are both debuting new pieces (especially David) which always adds an extra pinch of exhilaration to an opening. Here are some installation shots ~ 

The show runs from now until October 27th, with the opening reception this Saturday, September 8, 4-7pm. And for you who are keeping track, Saturday is also the Gallery talk for the 8 Visions exhibit at the Attleboro Arts Museum ~  

Saturday, Sept 8th: Gallery Talk, 2-4pm.  Free and open 

Hope to see you at one of these exciting venues - it all promises to be inspiring and entertaining!! 

peace

No moss on this stone ~

Now that 8 Visions is up and running I had a moment to look at my calendar and gadzooks ~ 

there is still a lot to be done!! 

what fun!!! 

So to be a little more proactive on announcing up-coming events . . . .

Up-coming show with David Lang at Regis College's Carney Gallery ~ 

Upon Further Consideration

Sept. 1- Oct. 27th

opening reception: Sept. 8th, 4-7pm**

(**this is also the date of the artist's talk at 8 Visions - :)

my contribution to NAOS 2012 Community Art Project/Art on the Common

Natick Artists Open Studios

October 20 & 21, 2012

noon - 5 pm

I will be 'holding court' in my studio at 25 Washington Ave.

an example of my organic crocheting

Jamaica Plains Open Studios

Sept. 22-23, 2012

11 - 6 pm

I am honored to be performing 'insatiable' at JP Knit & Stitch during this open studios.  I will also be leading a workshop on 'organic crocheting' later in the fall at this luscious knit shop - more info to come on the workshop.

peace

back from the dead and taking 'flight'

Hello all and hope you are all well.  I don't think I have ever gone this long between blog posts but it seemed as if mother nature and life had a different plan about my past 6 weeks.

As many of you may know I am in the process of getting divorced, which is taxing on many levels in itself.  And the plan was to move into a new apartment on February 1st, but instead of packing I ended up sick in bed!! I seemed to have contracted a new, 'trendy' and wicked virus that can take people out for weeks - and that is what happened.

I was down, but not out & luckily I am slowly getting back to normal.  In the past few days I have made way too many trips to Ikea to count - but boy is that a great place to outfit an entire apartment. Last week they delivered 33 boxes to my new abode!!! allen wrench, anyone.  So hopefully before April 1st I may have my apt. assembled and my girls and me settled (fingers crossed)

I have also been trying to get back to my art. ( I don't think I have darkened my studio door in weeks, but I digress)   To help get me back into this wonderful state of mind - I had a show which opened on March 1st ~ Flight of Fancy at Amazing Things, Framingham, MA.

'insatiable'

'womb wrap' seen thru the doorway

my 'creatures' !!!

For those who follow my facebook artist page you might have seen the announcement.  For those not on facebook, I apologize. Facebook updates were about all I could do that opening week.

I have a love/hate relationship with Facebook (well I am questioning social media in general - but that may be for another post).  However it offers an easy way to announcements out there in the whole.  So if you want to, you can 'like' my artist page, and all that means that you will get my art news, but no pressure!

The opening of Flight of Fancy was well attended, even with the snow storm!!! And the show looks great!! It is a three person show ~ David Lang, Carl Staley and moi! and all of our pieces compliment each other's wonderfully.

When we were granted this exhibit opportunity we decided to have our theme be play!!! We all recognize the importance of the journey and the process as much, if not more, than the end product.  I was pleased to exhibit mostly fiber works and I even performed 'insatiable' during the opening. And to add to the fun, some of the people who came to the opening (such loyal followers :) had come to my 2010 Open Studio when I was just introducing  'insatiable'.  At the opening they marveled at how much the piece has grown and changed!!  I hope to go to the gallery at last once more to work on the piece ~ that would be between all my box opening and furniture building.

This 'moving' has presented me with an interesting conundrum. With all this unpacking, I have been swamped with endless packing material, much that I think would be great to crochet into 'insatiable'!!!  In fact I was thinking of starting an entirely new piece, made solely from all the plastic packing material from my move ~ the plastic from the new mattresses (so wonderfully thick), the thin white plastic wrap that was protecting some of the furniture and the endless plastic bags that carried all the smaller purchases. This is a challenge as I can't throw anything out - much to the chagrin of my eldest.  But I can guarantee that at least some of these fine material will make it into 'insatiable' and hopefully during 'Flights of Fancy'!!!

So stop by if you can - the show runs thru March 29th.  If I do go 'preform' I will post it :).

Also there was a marvelous write up in the MetroWest Daily News:

March 1, 2012
'Flights of Fancy' in Framingham

Three artists making "sexy" woodworks, crocheted "creatures" and moving sculptures that broadcast old baseball games are quoting Socrates' observation "Wisdom begins in wonder" to describe their show at Amazing Things Arts Center in Framingham. Carl "Chip" Staley, Virginia Fitzgerald and David Lang are showing varied works that seem to fit together in "Flights of Fancy: The Importance of Play" which runs through March 29.

Chip off the block A cabinetmaker and artist, Staley creates sculpted woodworks shaped to suggest the flow of music and imagination. The Natick resident is showing a dozen sculptures he called "graceful, sexy 3-D doodles." A carpenter whose business is named "Wooden Wisdom," Staley said, "My work is mysterious and spiritual. It takes you places."

Tangled up in blue Departing from prior work, Fitzgerald is crocheting semi-abstract pieces she called "creatures" that seem to take on lives of their own. The work named "Medusa" might be a knit orange hula skirt for a mermaid. Beside its tactile appeal, a three-part piece, "Trinity (Trust, Strength and Wisdom)" seems to subvert the Greek myth of the Fates who measured out men's lives in yarn.
Her most ambitious piece, "Insatiable," has "grown" to be 8 feet tall like hanging moss. "It's turned into a monster that doesn't want to stop," said Fitzgerald. "It's become a performance."

Clockwork orange Part tinkerer, part conjurer, Lang transforms gears and feathers, sprockets and copper tubing into automatons that shake, rattle and roll out the whimsy. They enact mini-mechanical pantomimes that might be jokes, nostalgic skits or even moral tales. Featuring clam shells and pictures of Renaissance nudes, "The Day the Castinetti Sisters First Learned to Fly" is an elaborate sight gag. Resembling an old buggy built the Unabomber, "Play By Play" will emit radio recordings of vintage baseball games.

"This show embodies the idea the best art is serendipitous," said Lang, of Wayland. "When you work, unexpected stuff comes out."

A reception will be held Thursday, March 1 from 7 to 9 p.m.
Amazing Things is located at 160 Hollis St., Framingham. For information, call 508-405-2787 or visit www.amazingthings.org.

well, thanks for reading, happy to be 'back' & peace

Happy Birthday David Lang!!!

today is the birthday of the awesome & most creative David Lang,

Happy Birthday, David!!!

And upon arriving at my studio this morning I found a lucky penny & knew it was going to be part of David's birthday dress (as is tradition)!! Up in my studio I found some wood & my trusty, rusty dremel drill and just followed the muses!!! It was a true dress project moment ~ hardly thinking, just creating (love that). I used inks and stains on the wood in my favorite swirly motif. Then I took the drill and carved the swirly motif into the wood. Then added some rubber stamps....

In the chaos which is my studio, I found this lovingly worn fortune that seemed so appropriate for a man with more energy than a bunch of first graders after consuming much chocolate cake ~

"every moment is a golden one for him who has the vision to recognize it as such"

& for the dress I turned to one of my favorite resources ~ the order of service from the Unitarian Universalist Area Church, Sherborn. The dress "a spark of the divine" came from these pages ~ it is full of positive affirmations and poetry, and it is on a beautiful colored paper!!

The dress reads ~

"We go forth into the world in peace

To act with works of love

To affirm each person's dignity

And to cherish the living earth"

David epitomizes this sentiment so it seemed a fitting choice. And this birthday boy is in the midst of that wonderful frenzy of getting ready for a show at the Boston Sculptor's Gallery in a few weeks. To keep up with this bundle of energy check out his blog or his facebook artist's page & enjoy the wonder which is David Lang's art!!

peace

"all things are possible!!"

Wow, what a weekend, where to start....For those who have been keeping up, last week was a wonderful and wacky week; culminating with two magnificent openings this weekend. So not to make one crazy long blog post (that would never get finished until June) I am going to split up the events a bit.

First, let's start with Upon Further Consideration, David Lang and Virginia Fitzgerald at the South Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA. Here are some photos taken after one of the long day/nights of installing the pieces (note the tired artist with the eggshells).

This is the first time that David Lang and I have exhibited together and we could not have asked for a more perfect space!!! The Bancroft Gallery, designed by architect Vcevold Strekalovsky with a 'trapezoidal floor plan and soaring ceiling (which) create intriguing visual planes and sight-lines' showcased our pieces beautifully. During the day the gallery is bathed with natural light!! Between David and I we had around 38 pieces in the gallery! The opening was a wonderful event. I, of course, in a exhausted daze, forgot my camera, but there were camera's clicking and I will get some of those pic. But besides this show turning out to be more than I could have imagined, I also debuted two new pieces ~ 'puzzle:red' and 'happily ever after'.

'Puzzle:red" (shown right) is an unique woodcut print made with over 30some pieces which I inked separately and reassembled on the printing press. I am printing this dress in a multitude of different colorways, and as a result, each has a different feeling or emotion depending on where the colors sit and relate to each other. This print is close to 5ft tall so it is a good deal of work to get one good print.

The other new piece is 'happily ever after' (shown left next to 'treacherous').I am so pleased with this sculpture. The top is from the eggshell dress in my installation, 'this comes from within'. It was one of the few elements of the installation that survived.

I have always love the form and feeling of this bodice so i hung it in my studio. Seeing it suspended by itself I realized that it had a presence of its own, but I wanted to push it further. Preparing for this show I knew what to do ~ the top would have pieces of eggshell dangling from the bottom and be floating over a circle of broken egg shells. Since i was not sure how pieces of eggshell dangling from a thread would travel, I attached some at my studio and then finished the piece at the gallery. I am very please with many aspects of this piece and it was well received at the opening. Eggshells bring so many levels of interpretation to a piece,

I love working with them.

On so many levels this show has been successful. The South Shore Art Center has been so lovely to work with. And the show has gotten some nice press. Here is a picture of 'in memory of....' in South Shore Living and the blurb that went with the picture ~

"The South Shore Art Center’s Bancroft Gallery will be showing a non-traditional exhibit “Upon Further Consideration,” featuring the work of two Massachusetts sculptors, David Lang and Virginia

Fitzgerald. Known for their provocative and serious under the arch of humor or whimsy work, their art often poses questions,

considerations and alternatives to the status quo. This exhibit will show their unique vision and ability to work with a broad range of non-traditional materials. Using everything

and anything to create such a unique view, they present the idea that all things are possible."

Love that last line ~ all things are possible!!

thank you & peace

busy, busy, busy & lovin' it

this is a busy & WONDERFUL month!! this week I am setting up TWO 2 person shows & I couldn't be more thrilled (just wish I could find more hours in the day!!!) So this is going to be a brief posting since i also need to submit 50+ comments and grades this week too!! :)

First, I have the honor of showing with David Lang @ the Shore Shore Art Center, Cohasset, MA. In this show, "Upon Further Consideration - What Tells a Story?" our work will raise questions for reconsideration, sometimes about perfectly ordinary events and points of view, and at other times about far more complicated issues.

March 4–April 10

Upon Further Consideration -

Bancroft Gallery

David Lang and Virginia Fitzgerald

Opening Reception: March 4, 6–8 pm

Upon Further Consideration is sponsored by Conway Insurance Agency

& I am so excited to announce that I will be showing with Lisa Barthelson at a wonderful new gallery in Framingham, Fountain Street Fine Art ~ the opening:

Sunday, March 6th from 4-6pm

Fountain Street Fine Art hosts a site-specific print install ation, 'family debris series', by Lisa Barthelson and sculptural pieces from 'the dress project' by Virginia Fitzgerald from March 4 through March 27, 2011. Fountain Street Fine Art 59 Fountain Street - Framingham MA 01702 508.879.4200 Gallery Hours: Fri-Sun, 11AM-5PM and by appointment. hope to see you during all these festivities. i may be the one asleep in the corner with a smile on my face :) peace

Snow day!!!

I am happy to say that I have not lost that uninhibited joy of a school girl when I hear the phrase 'snow day.' Those words still hold the magic of an unexpected gift ~ a free day, a nugget of unscheduled time for me to fill. So as the Boston area prepared for the imminent blizzard, I collected a few of my projects and settled in for a cozy and creative day, watching snowflakes accumulate outside my window ~oh, what joy! However, before I installed myself in my home I headed out into the storm for an inspiring and exhilarating jaunt (with hound in tow).

My day started happily with a cold, inquisitive nose in my face, accompanied by subtle grunts saying, “The sun is up, outdoors is calling, smells to be smelled ~ time to get up!”. So Scruffy and I got ourselves suited up ~ me in a little more outerwear than the boy ~ and slipped out of our sleeping house into the prelude of the storm. It was a beautiful morning. In this early hour the snow was just dusting the earth and there was a soft brightness illuminating every branch, bud and berry. The streets were quiet, the sound of traffic nonexistent, being the Sunday morning after Christmas. Scruffy and I decided to take full advantage of the peace and headed

out or a long walk. We eventually headed toward my studio building with the thought that my buddy, David Lang, may already be at work. When I found a dark building I thought that I would leave him a little dress ~ my calling card, ‘Virginia was here.' He always gets a kick out of finding a dress at his door. So I looked around for possible materials to use and suddenly I was in heaven. I was back outside creating a dress. I felt a quickening, my mind and body were in a different place. I found a few pine cones but I realized that they vanished on the driveway in front of David’s door. So I gathered my treasures and headed to a snowy parking lot. From here Scruffy and I commuted back and forth to nearby woods to gather pine needles and pine cones, then back to my dress. Scruffy was a bit put off that we were not going further into the woods but he soon resigned himself to being my patient assistant.

So as the snowflakes fell and I made a dress. I cannot express how good it felt. With the holidays and the many other things going on in my life I have been feeling a severance from my studio and especially my dresses. So it was heartening to be back outside, foraging for the perfect shaped pine cone. And I am always amazed how focused I get when in the zone. This morning it was cold, however it was too hard to manipulate the materials with my gloves on, so off with the gloves. I hardly felt how cold my fingers were until the dress was finished. The act of creating has overrule the physical for me many times, I can’t tell you how many meals are missed if I am involved in a project.

Hence, it was great to be back creating, especially back creating outside. Where it is all about the act of creating because soon the elements will whisk my dress away, or in this instance, cover it with 16-20 inches of snow, which is what is predicted.

So if you are in the path of this blizzard I hope you are snug and warm, and have a good book or project. If you are not hope you get to have a ‘snow day’ somehow ~ they are a wonderful little get out of jail free card from one’s regularly scheduled programing!!

happy sledding & peace ~