In honor of National Poetry Month I share with you “Wild Geese” — written and read by Mary Oliver

This is one of my favorite poems from one of my favorite poets.  This poem reveled poetry in a whole new light and converted me to a poetry fan. For this I am incredibly thankful.  

'dress of poetry ...'

Because of this poem, and a 
poem penned by an insanely great writer and friend, inspired me to create my 'dress of poetry ...', one of the few pieces from my dressproject that can be worn.  

Click here to learn the story behind my 'dress of poetry ...'

WILD GEESE
by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting —
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

hopefully this video works, if not here is the link: 

https://youtu.be/T_nKg3TBzpU?si=MLPmx3CjLQ9SEl_u

here is the 'Wild Geese' panel in progress - on the ironing board

'dear jeff ...' has a permanent home in NYC ....

 Upon doing some research on this blog I have realized that I have fallen hopelessly behind on sharing the ebbs and flows of my creative journey ... but in lieu of explanations and apologies, I just diving in.

'dear jeff ...' had found a permanent home at the
National September 11 Memorial & Museum 9/11 MEMORIAL.

It has not been on exhibit as of yet, as the museum has so many pieces to share and exhibit.  When I delivered it to one of the warehouses in NJ, I was aghast at the shelves and shelves of items that are connected with the events of 9/11.  

At this point in time, nothing is on exhibit as the museum is temporarily closed because of the COVID virus.  But when it does reopen, the museum's administration will inform me when the piece is on view in their galleries.  And when it is I plan to have some kind of celebration gathering in that wonderful city - NEW YORK, NEW YORK (SO GOOD THEY NAMED IT TWICE).

Until then you can see the piece online as well as the many other art pieces regarding 9/11.  Also below I have added some of the notes and comments from the page.

Historical Notes
Hartford, Connecticut, native Amy Toyen lived in Newton, Massachusetts. She and her fiancé, Jeffrey, planned to marry in June 2002. Amy liked writing, drawing, and going to the theater. A marketing employee at Thomson Financial in Boston, on September 11, Amy was presenting at a technology conference on the North Tower’s 106th floor. She was 24 years old.

Curator's Comment
Amy Toyen (age 24) was engaged to be married in June 2002 to her college sweetheart, Jeff Gonski (age 26). The couple was busy planning their wedding in 2001 when Toyen’s life was cut short by her untimely death on 9/11. She had just ordered her wedding dress.

Around the time of the 10th anniversary of the attack, Gonski embarked on an artistic endeavor in honor of Toyen in what he referred to informally at the time as “The Dress Project.” Using a photograph of Toyen's wedding dress for inspiration, Gonski commissioned Virginia Fitzgerald, a Natick, Massachusetts-based artist, to design a replica of Toyen’s dress made from the newspaper clips, cards from well-wishers after 9/11, Toyen’s own letters and cards to Gonski, and other ephemera, such as announcements of Gonski and Toyen’s engagement and would-be nuptials and Missing posters. “It’s not just about Amy and myself,” Gonski told reporters, “but the support that came out of the community after it.” 

Fitzgerald titled the finished sculpture Dear Jeff . . .  . Created on a smaller-than-life-size scale, the delicate wedding dress is composed of largely handwritten notes and ephemera designed to tell a story of a courtship violently interrupted. According to Fitzgerald, “It was this outpouring of love and sympathy that Jeff really wanted to highlight with the sculpture. When we met and spoke about the commission it was clear that this wasn’t to be a memorial to Amy, but a testimony to the power of community and how Jeff would not have made it through this horrible life event without the love and support from friends, family and the community. He spoke about how not only did he survive but he wanted to celebrate the idea that even after such a hard loss, life goes on. To represent Jeff’s thoughts and emotions about survival and recovery I created branches with leave[s] and seedpods coming off the bottom of the sculpture and growing back into the piece. I wanted to capture the feeling of the phoenix, rebirth from the ashes.”


 https://collection.911memorial.org/Detail/objects/118706

for your tuesday enjoyment, a myriad of 'dailydresses'

As I am prepping for a presentation for a possible exhibit opportunity I've realized

that i don't have a good collection of my 'dailydresses' online.  I need to add these to

my website, however until I do I am sharing them here.

These selection includes ephemeral dresses that I have made during the course of my every day, with random materials and detritus that have inspired me. 

I have also included images from my 'dailydress inspirations' which consists of an origami dress with an inspirational quote.

My 'dressproject' began with an ephemeral dress on Wells Beach in Maine on a family vacation.

My first dress, 'brenda's dress ...' was made out of beach stones.  

and the beach and rocks continue to inspire ...

I also have many ephemeral dresses made out of food.  

Besides my passion for eating and good food, I believe the plethora of food related dresses comes from me being a mom and having young girls when I started my 'dressproject'. 

Other inspiration comes from nature ...

 

and art supplies ...

The following images are from the series, 'decemberdress' (2013) in which I made a 'dailydress' most days in December as a kind of therapy.  You can see more and read more about this series in my post, 

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

I tell people that I have made over one thousand dresses since I started my 'dressproject', 

and I see no end in sight. 

Thank you for your interest and peace, 

'holy trinity', juried into 'Three'

'holy trinity ...' (2010)

I am happy to announce that my fiber piece, 'holy trinity ...' was accepted into Attleboro Arts Museum's National Juried Exhibition, "Three", which opens this Thursday and runs through to July 13th.  I am honored to be included in this group of artists from all over the country.  And as always it is such a joy to participate in anything that Mim Fawcett and the incredible AAM staff are doing with their lovely museum.

'holy trinity ...' is part of my 'creatures' series.  The series consisted of fiber pieces that I crochet in an intuitive and organic manner.  I usually start with a certain color and a variety of yarn, once I begin crocheting I just follow the piece's lead.

Many of my 'creatures ...' have beads.  Each piece in 'holy trinity ...' has a word bead, 'strength', 'wisdom' and 'trust', along with other beads.  When exhibiting my 'creatures ...' I prefer to let the curator decide how to display the piece, adding another organic element to the 'creature ...' I wonder how 'holy trinity ...' will be exhibited in this exhibit?!?!

opening this thursday atthe Attleboro Arts Museum.

I am also pleased to announce that the Attleboro Arts Museum's gift shop is carrying some of my merchandise.  Last week I delivered dressproject notecards, tote bags, mugs and a wonderful collection of my mini buttons.  Below are the pictures that Attleboro posted on their Instagram account.

So if you can make a trip to Attleboro and stop by the museum.  If possible, come by this Thursday evening, June 14th, 7-9pm, and join in the fun of the opening reception.  For all information about the exhibit and reception, the details are listed below or click on this link here: the AAM's website

attleboro arts on instagram

attleboro arts on instagram

Three A National Juried Exhibition 
June 14th - July 13th, 2018Opening Reception: Thursday, June 14th, 7-9pm

Reception Includes:
Presentation of juror’s awards
The announcement of the 2019 national juried exhibition theme
Live music from Debbie Barshay, Joan Lawton and Noriko
Whitaker – a flute trio from the Lafayette Band of North Kingstown, RI

THREE Juror – Juror Alexander Castro is a writer and journalist. He regularly contributes arts reporting and criticism to Art New England, Big Red & Shiny, Mercury, and GLASS Quarterly. His writing has also appeared or is forthcoming in untethered, Don’t Take Pictures and Lost Balloon. In 2018, Castro was a runner-up for the inaugural Toni Beauchamp Prize in Critical Art Writing.
.

attleboro arts on instagram

thank you and peace,  

Tonight, some of my girls are holding court in Rockland, ME

'artist from the blue moon ...'/
'black widow ..'

'provocative ...' holding court 

review of "WHAT YOU SEE ..."

This week I took a mini road trip to deliver some of my work up north, where I had the pleasure to meet Jana Hawick and see her beautiful gallery, Carver Hill Gallery, in the artsy coastal town of Rockland, ME.  

Last month three of my 'lilith contemplating ...' photographs were part of Carver Hill's season opening exhibit, "WHAT YOU SEE".  An engaging collection of 'digital and photographic compositions from 7 artist including Sharon Arnold, Craig Becker, Nadine Boughton, Virginia Fitzgerald, Seth Lester, Elizabeth Opalenik, Agnes Riverin.' 

This show received a wonderful review by Daniel Kany for the Portland Press Herald (click here for more info). 

And this month I am so honored to be included in Carver Hill's exhibit FEMMetonymy,  which opens tonight!! and runs through June 28th.  

the catalog for the exhibit

“FEMMetonymy,” a show featuring:
Maryjean Viano Crowe, Virginia Fitzgerald and Lesia Sochor.

FEMMetonymy is a show of three women artists using clothing as a vehicle to challenge convention, tell a story, express an opinion, open a dialogue, and elicit an emotional response.

(click here to go to the gallery's blog and read more about each artist)

I am honored to be part of this provocative exhibition.  I have contributed many pieces from my 'dressproject'; sculptures, large and small, and numerous collages. 

'precious ...' and 'bird by bird ...'

  In gathering the collage pieces I realized that I have three different collage series: 'home, sweet, home?!? ' (2012), 'la petite robe ...' (2012) and the newest collage series, 'alice ...' All of the series start with images of picture perfect environments from catalogs and magazine, to which I add a surreal touch and usually a dress or two.  ' we are all mad here ...' is the first of that series and is debuting tonight.

'we are all mad here ...'

The sculptures in this exhibit are  some of the 'dressproject's stars!!! 

'provocative ...' is holding court at the front of the gallery, strong and straight.  

'black widow ...' is standing tall by the gallery's desk, accompanied by 'artist from the blue moon ...' on her right. 

'this is me, a work in progress ...'

I am so happy to be showing 'this is me, a work in progress ...' in such a lovely space, and there is the room for her to be viewed from all sides, showing off all her spots of embroidery.  

'this is me, a work in progress ...' detail

'red warrior ...' and 'precious ...' also made the trip making this a good representation of my 'dressproject'.  

Lastly Carver Hill is offering for sale my book, 'the dressproject, the beginning ...' allowing anyone to learn how my obsession with the dress began.

'red warrior ...' , 'black widow ...' (in the background)

So if you are in the area, make sure to drop by the gallery.  

And if you are not in the area, then it is time for a road trip!!!  

It is a win/win: exciting exhibit, beautiful gallery, inspiring work, adorable coastal town with many other arty attractions, the Farnsworth Art Museum and The Center for Maine Contemporary Art are both a block from Carver Hill.

'provocative ...' 

'lilith contemplates sanctuary ...'/
'lilith contemplates cutting the grass ...'

Show / gallery details:

FEMMetonymy opens on First Friday, June 3, 2016 from 5 – 8 PM and runs through June 28.

Carver Hill Gallery

Jana Halwick

338 Main Street

Rockland, ME 04841

Phone207-594-7745

Email
carverhillgallerymaine@yahoo.com

Gallery Hours

MAY 27 through the summer

Mon through Sat ~ 10:30 - 5

Sun ~ 11 - 3

 'follow your art!'

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