400 followers ?!?!?!

as anyone who has read my blogs know I have a love/hate relationship with all things social media!!!  

I understand it's perks but I am very suspicious of the black hole of time is can be and how social media fans the flames of comparison and create even more internal strive.

'studio light . . . ' vlf©2015

However, that said, I love my Instagram!! (the place where #fromthelandofdragons began) ! 

and I am totally addicted to Pinterest (I swear it is my crack cocaine)!!! 

just a fraction of my boards . . .  click here to see them all

I have always LOVED blogging, this blog was my first foray into the 'social' cyber-world!!  

And now I see that my Art & Inspiration page on FaceBook has almost 400 followers!!! 

'guppy . . . ' #fromthelandofdragons ©2014

That is cool!!! 

So thank you all for the 'likes'!! That is one of the perks of social media, these venues bring like minded people together.  The people who like my FB page are interested in the going-ons of my studio and my work. That is a wonderful, wonderful gift to an artist!!! 

thank you and peace . . . .

xxx 

just another app.

With the smartphone, iphone and ipad came
an avalanche of applications, aka apps.
Many that enhance one's social media experience.
I am blessed to be living with two teens that explore,
master and critique these apps at the speed of light.
From them I am tutored, warned and encouraged.

I have been wary of any more distractions from my studio practice;
however, by and by, social media and my dressproject were merging.
Worlds collide!! in a glorious way!

The messages of my dresstags were reaching more people,
and the dresstags were getting a following!
And social media is a perfect platform for my ephemeral dresses.
Real time documentation: now you see it, now you don't.

Today I experimented with the app, flipagram, which makes
cyber flip-books of  your photos.
Head exploding with the possibilities; videos of
#dresstags, #dresstagsabroad and #dailydressinspirations.

So see what you think, would love your thoughts!!
Peace

'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

Go press some flesh!!

Nan Hass Feldman and me, @ the Danforth Museum's networking event

Last month I attended a networking event at the Danforth Museum of Art.  The evening was part of one of the Danforth's newest offerings, their Professional Artist Series.  Held on a cold, wintry February evening, I was quite aware of how lovely it was to be with a group of my peers, face to face, in a warm cozy surrounding, exchanging tales from the front.

Interestingly, most of the conversation was about social media and cyber-networking.  This is a hugely, prevailing topic amongst artists lately.  There are blogs, articles and workshops telling us of the dire need to get our work out into cyberspace.

And there are examples of artists who have been successful in the system.  One that was recently pointed out to me is, Claire Desjardins ~ she has 13,000+ likes on her FB artist page!!! as well as good sales ~ the golden goose to many of us!!

So as I delighted in the company of my peeps, it made me ponder this issue of social media. One of my many jobs to help make ends meet is to help artists and small businesses with their FB presence.  Strangely, I understand the general idea of FB and some other social media sites.  But I have a major love/hate relationship with them!?!?

One reason I don't like these sites is that they are a HUGE HUGE time suck!! So MANY of the artists that I speak with would much rather be created their art than creating a cyber-buzz.  Also I question why people, especially strangers, want to know all this information about me?!?!?

But I also see how these sites can work well for artists, especially visual artists!! I understand the perks of getting an image or idea to go viral. And I am a big surfer of the web - finding a link on a friend's Facebook feed that leads to an interesting gallery that introduces me to a new artist from Holland that I might not have known about otherwise.

Also I love my blog, another 'social media' outlet, however I blog for truly selfish reasons.  I have been blogging since 2008, and as I have noted before, my blog is my personal journal a visual record of my journey as an artist, mom, woman in this time and place, that is out there for others to read, if they are interested.

When I sit down to put my rambling thoughts into coherent prose, I find myself learning about my own work and process.  And I love to read other people's blogs, such as Joetta Maue's "little yellow birds" or Mandy Greer's blog !!! However, composing a readable blogpost is more time consuming than a quick FB post, yet are we losing content and integrity with our little tweets, posts and likes?!?!?

I don't have an answer, however on that cold evening in February it was viscerally apparent how invigorating and energizing a face to face networking event was.  I could feel the vitality of the gathering, the pleasure from an actual hug or handshake, the communal reconnections through similiar plights, or even the ah-ha of putting the 'real face' to a Facebook 'friend'.

So as I write this manifesto of sorts on my cyber-journal to put out into the world of social media one of my hopes is to remind everyone to step away from the keyboard, go for a walk, find your sketch book or paint brush and/or go meet a friend, face to face, go to an opening or a networking event.  Let's not forget the wonders of connecting with people in person!!!

The Danforth is hosting another networking event this Thursday!! I will be with my girls that evening but I am sure it will be worth the trip.

Click here to see the beautiful work of Nan Hass Feldman on her website.