never lose your invaluable curiosity ...

“It is simply this: do not tire, never lose interest, 

never grow indifferent—

lose your invaluable curiosity and you let yourself die. 

It's as simple as that.” 

Tove Jansson, Fair Play

This past summer I learned more about the amazing Tove Jansson because of a  fun instagram challenge I did last summer called #cupfull2022*. 

Here is the illustration/drawing that I created inspired by Tove Jansson and the blurb that I shared about her ~

Cup full: Tove Jansson
Such a wonderful prompt!! I loved trying to recreate Jansson’s luscious creepiness & her wonderful line work 🖤

Tove Marika Jansson (9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish author, novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. Brought up by artistic parents, Jansson studied art from 1930 to 1938 in Stockholm, Helsinki and Paris. Her first solo art exhibition was in 1943. At the same time, she was writing short stories and articles for publication, as well as creating the graphics for book covers and other purposes. She continued to work as an artist and a writer for the rest of her life.
Jansson wrote the Moomin books for children, starting in 1945 with The Moomins and the Great Flood. #wikipedia 

*this challenge was hosted by these lovely artists - if you have a moment, check out their instagram feeds.

@lorisiebert.studio 

@nullsie 

@snippetsofwhimsy 

@michelleallenart 

@joturnerillustration 

be the light ...

“Light is to darkness what love is to fear; 

in the presence of one, the other disappears.

Marianne Williamson

I have posted this collage on my P.O.P. site (society6and Redbubble) and I will donate the entirety of my portion of the sale of this print, 'be the light ... ' to UNICEF to help the children in the Ukraine.

print on society 6:

https://society6.com/product/be-the-light6628744_print?sku=s6-23296111p4a1v45

Print on redbubble: 

https://www.redbubble.com/i/art-print/be-the-light-by-Virginiacreate/103391524.1G4ZT?asc=u

Click here to go directly to UNICEF's site to donate directly:

www.unicefusa.org

When I sat down yesterday to create this month's collage for my #virginiacreates monthly calendar - this collage came quite clearly to me.  I didn't struggle with it or question it, which usually happens with most of my work.  But this piece seemed to flow. 

 I was listening to an interview with the lovely and talented Anne Lamott (see link below) and she was speaking about the importance of being the light - especially for creatives - and so I named this collage, 'be the light ...'  However as I was putting together my March calendar page I started seeing that this piece speaks to the heart-breaking situation in the Ukraine.  

As I do with many of my collages I cut shapes from  pages of different foreign text.  I am always picking up foreign books when I see them!! Unknowingly I used pages from one of my book that is in a Slavic language.  This particular book seems to be about Walt Disney and is in some East Slavic language though I am not sure which language. I love to use text in my work and especially text using different alphabets.  I find lettering/text/language so inspiring and beautiful of many levels.  

Also when I first sat down to make this collage I felt the need to stamp a peace sign, something that I don't always do, but yesterday it felt important.

I mention all this because I really wasn't consciously thinking about the Ukraine crisis, but as I look at the finished collage I feel like it speaks to the crisis, peace & light with a slavic text sprinkled around.  And this is an idea that Anne Lamott talks about, that we, as creatives, need to be open so that we are receptors of the world and that it what feeds our work.

A Conversation with Anne Lamott - 2007:

Best-selling author Anne Lamott returns to San Diego with more hilarious tales of her life as a mother, daughter and writer who is drawn to the struggles of imperfect characters. The humor of host Dean Nelson puts the normally reclusive Lamott at ease and the two keep the audience laughing throughout this edition of the 2007 Writer’s Symposium by the Sea, sponsored by Point Loma Nazarene University. [4/2007] [Show ID: 12220]

https://youtu.be/PhP5GmybvPM

March's calendar is celebrating Women's History month!

And the celebration of women will continue on my dailydress blog, where I will be posting quotes by women daily, and whenever possible a bit of a bio of that day's woman.  

Some history behind Women's History Month:

Women’s History Month had its origins as a national celebration in 1981 when Congress passed Pub. L. 97-28 which authorized and requested the President to proclaim the week beginning March 7, 1982 as “Women’s History Week.” Throughout the next five years, Congress continued to pass joint resolutions designating a week in March as “Women’s History Week.” In 1987 after being petitioned by the National Women’s History Project, Congress passed Pub. L. 100-9 which designated the month of March 1987 as “Women’s History Month.” Between 1988 and 1994, Congress passed additional resolutions requesting and authorizing the President to proclaim March of each year as Women’s History Month. Since 1995, Presidents Clinton, Bush and Obama have issued a series of annual proclamations designating the month of March as “Women’s History Month.”

CLicK here to read to learn more:

https://womenshistorymonth.gov

Thank you and peace, 

virginia

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March is National Women's History Month ...

... so I am going to take this month to highlight some famous women that you may not know much about, and I am starting with Judy Chicago, artist, author, feminist, educator, and intellectual whose career now spans five decades. 

I chose Judy Chicago to be my first feature because she was a pioneer of Feminist art in the early 70's and has done extensive writing about women and feminism.  

She notes how that throughout history women have been doing amazing acts of science, arts, politics,... however there is no mention of these accomplishments because those who were writing the history books (men) felt that women's contributions were not important enough mention. 

 To give you proof of this, the text book for my college course of the Survey of Art History did NOT feature a woman artist?!?!? and I took this class int he 80's?!?!? No Georgia O'Keeffe, no Frida Kahlo, even no Mary Cassatt?!?!? This was disconcerting for a female college student that was planning to get her degree in the Arts!! 

It is this omission of women's achievements in record books, history books and in general is why having National Women's History month is SO important.  And with the current events happening in our government and in our society, celebrating the works and accomplishments of women could not be more necessary. 

So, on this blog for the month of March, I am going to share some amazing women with you, most of them artists, some very famous, some less known. I plan to post some pictures of their works and then links to sites where you can find more information about them, otherwise I would spend the entire month writing about each woman. 

but for now ... a bit about 

Judy Chicago.

Judy Chicago is the brains, the energy, the talent and the women behind the amazing 'Dinner Party', an installation celebrating the history of women. Fortunately it has found a permanent home at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art  where I was able to experience and absorb all the richness that this piece has to offer.

The Dinner Party by Judy Chicago is an icon of feminist art, which represents 1,038 women in history—39 women are represented by place settings and another 999 names are inscribed in the Heritage Floor on which the table rests. This monumental work of art is comprised of a triangular table divided by three wings, each 48 feet long.

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/eascfa/dinner_party/home/  

Besides the awesomeness of Chicago's installation, I was also moved by all the research and factual information that Chicago presented along side her 'Dinner Party'.  One of those components was the Heritage Panels.  These panels presented so many accomplished and successful women, many that i had not known of before.  

The seven Heritage Panels are large-scale hand-colored photo-and-text collages (ranging in size from 57 1/2 x 70 3/4 to 57 1/2 x 107") that portray the lives of the mythical and historical women whose names are inscribed in the Heritage Floor of The Dinner Party. Judy Chicago, with the help of a team of researchers, selected 999 women from prehistory to the 20th century, whose example impacted women's history and the improvement of women's conditions. Hand-written on porcelain tiles, these names make up the physical and symbolic foundation for The Dinner Party.

I encourage you to read more about Judy Chicago and 'The Dinner Party' because both have SO much to teach us and show us about the amazing accomplishments of the many talented, brilliant, strong, determined, political, funny, wise and nasty women that have come before us.

peace