'the dress to the rescue' . . . a tale of loss and redemption via the dress

how, once again, 'the dress' saved me . . . .

'moss' 2dec

As I headed into the month of December

 I was plagued with uncertainty and exhaustion.  

My long term substitute job at Dana Hall had ended, and

  'breaking open' was now a thing of the past.  

I didn't have anything on the agenda. 

'ties' 3dec

 In many ways it was a needed and healthy place to be

 for someone who has been in triage mode for years, 

but it also sent me into a petite free fall 

- I was feeling lost! 

'dusting' 4dec
Then one gray and dingy December morning, 
out with my trusty companion Scruffy, 
a clump on bright green moss caught my attention. 
 I have always wanted to make a dress of moss, and since I had no where to run off to or schedule to keep, I realized that I could stop and make a dress!
And, as always happens whenever I make one of my ephemeral dress, 
I felt better. 
I was outside, in the brisk, fresh, new england winter, 
finding the best pieces of moss 
with which to create a dress. 
 I felt myself righted a bit.

'poetic' 4 dec

And then the next day Scruffy and I discovered discarded, 

old, rusty and luscious railroad ties!!! Another dress!! 

 I had a series, 

posting the dresses on Instagram, 

with 'hashtag' no less (#decemberdress ).  

I was back, baby, eager for the next day

 to see what materials would call to me.

'lichen' 5dec

my lovely assistant, scruffy

I have been intrigued how this December experience 

is strikingly similiar to 

the week in August of 2006, 

when I started my infatuation with the dress, 

aka 'the dress project'.

'ever - green???' 6dec
I was on a family vacation in Wells Beach, ME 
and feeling out of sorts then too. 
 Earlier in the summer I had a successful gallery show of acrylic still life's at Natick's Gallery55.
One might wonder, 
why out of sorts after a successful show??
Good question!

'prints' 8dec. The Porches Inn, North Adams, MA

Well, first, this exhibit showed me that art, 

no matter what kind of art, 

has a voice and I wanted to give that voice more depth, 

put more substance into my art.  As well, 

I wanted my work to be more personal, 

have more to offer the viewers.

But I was not sure how to do all that.

'lathe' 10 dec, Dana Hall School

the lathe in action at the 'Makers' exhibit at the Art Gallery at Dana Hall

$econdly, $ince my painting$ '$old', my internal voices bombarded me; 'paint more garlic$, people loved the garlic$', 'more pear$', bigger canvase$',
blah, blah, blah.
This tainted my studio practice. 
I was thinking too much, 
the work was becoming labored and looked it! So I headed off to Maine artistically struggling.

'by the tracks' 15dec

Then I 'stumbled upon' the idea of creating a dress out of materials from the beach.  

(click here for an article about the beginning of the dress project)

With the first dress, the floodgates opened and 

I was back in that most amazing place where I am just creating and NOT thinking!! Nirvana!! 

'slush' 16dec

so patient!!

And as it was in 2006, when 'the dress' guided me onto this exciting creative journey I call 'the dress project',  this month, as Scruffy and I were out and about making dresses, things started happening in other parts of my life. 

I was called to do some more substituting at Dana Hall (money is always welcomed), and I got interviewed for a 'possible' feature article in a local arts magazine?!?! (more about that later :) 

I truly feel rescued!!

'snowed in' 17dec

I was back in the wonderful state of thinking about material and dresses on a daily basis.  I found myself following familiar self-imposed guidelines.  

First and foremost, 

I will not hurt or cut down any living plant for a dress!! 

All the 'material' is found, already discarded by Mother Nature.  

'kids' menu' 18dec

Second requirement: mix up my techniques; 

if I 'dug out' the dress one day I don't want to dig out another dress.  

I like to challenge myself! I like to make each dress unique!! 

'twiggy' 19 dec

I remember this requirement was very important for my dailydress journals; if I was doing a lot of collaging then I needed to draw, paint or do a subtractive process.  

'fallen' 20 dec,  Newton Public Library, Newton, MA

There were other similarities between this series and the Wells series. 

'digging in the dirt'  21dec.

I would head out to the beach with one preconceived idea of the material that I would be using for that day's dress, and then end up using something completely different. 

These december dresses are no different.  

I would head out into the winter landscape 

thinking today I'll use 'blank',  

only to discover a much more suited material for the day!!

'ginger' 21 dec. making the famous and delicious family recipe for
Anne's Scotch Ginger bread with Maya for a cookie swap

Also once I start to focus on a certain material and 

concentrate on creating the dress,  

I find wonderful treasures.   It is as if I suddenly 

had special, X-ray finder's eyes, 

discovering the tiny starfish at the beach 

or the empty cocoon of a cicada at Wellesley College.  

'everandalways' 22dec. 
this title references how my dresses are forever and always there for me!

 So here is my #decemebrdress series so far, 

made out of snow, slush, twigs and so much more.  

I have posted the picture of the dress and 

then a picture of the location where each dress was made, 

this helps give a sense of scale and place.

'christmas' 25dec. Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA

Below is a link to an album on Facebook if you are interested.

  Also if you want to follow this series of ephemeral dresses and my other practice, dresstagging, you can follow me on twitter or on instagram at virginiafitzart.  

Out of the world of social media 

Instagram is my favorite because it is visual, a cyber picture book. 

'vinyl' 26dec, Cambridge, MA

Hope you enjoyed this tale of loss and redemption via the dress ~

peace

You can use this link to share this photo album with anyone, even if they don't have a Facebook account. Anyone with the link will be able to see your photo album.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151893758928634.1073741867.127363913633&type=1&l=6612aa2530

my long love affair with the ephemeral . . .

summertime

It was almost SEVEN years ago that I fell 

under the spell of the dress form;  

August 2006, on a family vacation at Well Beach, ME. 

It was there that I began to see the possibilities of dress in everything that I saw.

departure (2006) 

I started on the beach, creating dresses, then letting the high tide take them away, 

leaving me with a fresh canvas the next day!

Since then I have a special place in my creative soul for ephemeral dresses. 

huh??? you want to do what????

And with my current state of affairs I am not in my studio much, so I am finding my creativity seizing any opportunity to create and again I am making dresses out of anything that I can find!!! 

Such as Scruffy's fur! 

Für scruffy

What started out as a simple act of relieving Scruffy of some of his abundance of fur in this intense heat,  gave me wondrous clumps of fur (hair, really) that I immediately saw as components for a dress.

I love how the natural curls created swirls and movement in the dress.

'summertime' one day later

Another aspect that I love about process 

of the ephemeral dresses is how the dresses

 disperse back into the elements.

Some of the dresses are small, it all depends on the materials that inspire me.

Like this petite dress on the shores of Lake Sunapee, NH.

I was entranced by these fallen leaves, forecasting the upcoming autumn.

'sizzzzzzzzle'

the deconstruction of 'sizzzzzzle'

Nothing is safe - 

here I was inspired by a the leftover bacon 

grease in my beloved cast iron skillet.

I don't worry, Scruffy didn't get much of the dress ~

I was photographing it and had to run into the house.

At this point Scruffy saw his opportunity, but it was brief

(although I did need to capture the moment on film)

'Nothing is permanent but change'.HERACLITUS

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