#tbt: the story of 'sky warrior ... ' (the first)

Since 'skywarrior ll ...' is flying high in all her glory at the

ART IN COMMON (in Natick through November 15th)

at the Common Street Spiritual Center, 

I figured it would be a good time to tell the story behind the original 'skywarrior ...' .

'skywarrior ...' (2006) and artist/warrior

'skywarrior ...' was the first commissioned dress sculpture of the dressproject,

and she was created within weeks of the creation of the first dressproject dress,

'wedding dress...'
(brenda's dress) 2006

'wedding dress ...' (brenda's dress) on Wells Beach, ME. 

'skywarrior ...' was made and resides outside Chicago, IL. 

 My girls and I were visiting my parents when one of my mother's friends, artist  Lorna Marsh, inquired about these dresses that she was hearing about, dresses that I made

on a beach?!?!

Fortunately I had developed my pictures (it was pre-online everything),

and I could show her the collection of 5 dresses that I had made in Wells, ME. 

 She was intrigued and loved the idea of the creation and then the destruction of the dresses, thanks to the ocean and the high tide. She asked if I would like to make a dress in her garden, she would cover my costs. I jumped at the opportunity. 

I admire Lorna Marsh as an artist, and she and her husband have a extensive art collection. 

I was also still riding the high of pure inspiration and eager for any opportunity to create another dress. 

I was invited over to the Marsh's exquisite garden and found myself a bit intimidated. Not only is Lorna Marsh an internationally known artist, she is also recognized for her gardens, which are beautiful. As I wandered around the ground Lorna joined me, pointing out areas that I may have missed. Then she suggested that I look up to the trees, which were magnificent! She told me that I could think high because she has access to a cherrypicker!!!

A cherrypicker ?!?! 

How many times does one have access to a cherrypicker, I asked myself??! 

Not many, so I decided that I was going to take advantage of 

this cherrypicker opportunity and make a dress in the trees!! 

And once I found the perfect spot,  the dress started to form in my head, 

and I was off!!

 I used polyester ribbons to create designs on the hardware cloth,

 as I figured the polyester would withstand the weather.

I knew that I needed to work with materials that would withstand the elements.  

Even though Lorna said that she loved the decaying and disappearing aspects of the beach dresses,

 I wanted to make something that would last a little longer than a day or so.  

So it was off to Home Depot (one of my favorite art supply stores :) 

I got hardware cloth, solder and other wires.

Then to Jo-Anne's for glass beads, because the spot that I planned to put the dress

 got the long rays of the setting sun, so I wanted the parts of the dress to catch the light. 

'skywarrior ...' detail of the skirt, created with soldering wire
and a variety of glass beads

With supplies in hand and the clock ticking I headed into my parents' garage. 

I cut the hardware cloth and sewed it together with wire.

 The name of this piece came about because of tensions 

in world affairs and closer to home.  

While I was constructing of this piece the infamous 2006 transatlantic aircraft plot was uncovered.  I had just flown with my two daughters, 8 and 5 years old, when suddenly the country was on 'red alert'.  All liquids were banned from planes and I watched as millions of dollars of make-up was being confiscated from carry-on bags.  

my mother helping weave in the
metallic ribbon

As a mother flying with young children I was very aware of how important it was to have a juice box or sip cup with you when flying, especially during take-off.  And as I watched the media and country work themselves into a panic I felt that women were feeling the affects of the red alert more than men and I was getting angry.

Also some issues arose closer to home.  Suddenly there were questions about how I was using my time during my trip, and wasn't the purpose of my trip to Chicago to visit and not work?!?!?  There was a sense that as daughter and mother of my girls I was expected to be attending many functions, and even though I was doing all the meeting and greeting that was asked of me, I was still getting negative feedback.  Finally, I asked if my brother was visiting and he had been offered a wonderful opportunity to showcase his talents (he is a writer) would everyone be upset with him stealing away to work?!?! I think not!!! 

'skywarrior ...' picture taken standing under dress,
looking up

That argument gave me a bit of breathing room, but I still felt under attack. And as I furtively  worked to finished the piece before I was to return to MA, I felt like a warrior! 

And I realized that this sculpture was a warrior too.  

She was going to be standing tall and strong in the elements.  

And she has.  

In fact she has survived for many years, though she comes down for the winters.  

'skywarrior ...' (2006) installed outside Chicago, IL

I visit her when I am in the area and Lorna once mentioned to me that she was very happy with sculpture, however she had hoped it would have deteriorated more ... we both had imagined birds nesting in the decaying dress shell, 

but alas she is a warrior!!

'skywarrior ll ...' (2015) currently hanging at
the Common Street Spiritual Center, Natick

and now there are two!! 

peace, va

it all started seven years ago . . . .

wedding dress (brenda's dress) 

the beginning of the dress project

it all began on wells beach, me. in 2006. i had an idea of an image of a dress and while walking on the beach one morning i picked up a stick to see what this 'dress' would look like.  i drew a sleeveless, life sized dress and  filled it in with the beautiful beach rocks & then proceeded to let the high tide take it away ~ giving me a new, clean canvas on which to make another dress.  the process felt so right and so gratifying that for the rest of the vacation i made a dress!  & each day i would walk the beach with no preconceived idea and would just listen to which material i was to use that day... 

(from www.virginiafitzgerald.com, 

click HERE for photogallery)

It all started, innocently on 

a family vacation, 

in Wells Beach, ME.

A broken glass, 

a sea of drowning ladybugs 

and a nagging thought 

lead me to create 

the DressProject.  

Follow this link to read 

Helen Prunty Krispien's article: 

Drowning ladybugs lead to fascinating art project, 

(for more about ladybugs and dresses)

Since then I have created hundreds of dresses, 

in a myriad of media and materials.

Some in unique locales:

dress #3 from wells beach, me.

new york diner dress (2006)

I have made LARGE dressese

this installation centered around an 8 foot tall dress of eggshells 

'this comes from within' medicine wheel productions (2009)

and I have made small dresses 

abc dress (2006) about 1 inch square

some dresses have a message:

'in memory of  . . . .' (2008) in private collection

made with plaster tape, dog tags and photos of soldiers 

honoring those who died in Iraq.

'ripple' (2010)

a drawing that I contributed to a charity 

raising money to help the gulf after the BP oil spill.

I have made ephemeral dresses and dress sculptures

 which reside in public and private collections.

'lush' (2009) in private collection

And 7 years later, the desire to make dresses is just as unrelenting as it was in Wells Beach.

The dress continues to inspire me to venture into new realms of expression;  performance, installations and collaborative art.

'metamorphosis' (2013) made with the Dana Hall student body

The dress has lead me to

my dresstagging practice

the world of greeting cards and

my daily dress inspiration blog (dressblog).

one of the first dresstags, portsmouth, NH

dresscard  - soon to be for sale on Etsy

I have made dresses out of plaster, plastic bottles, VCR tape, 

fresh pasta, shells, maps, clothes pins, 

fall leaves, dog hair, ribbons, 

even nail polish . . . Nothing is safe!!!

winding roads (2011) paper-mache, paint, marker 

'cicada' (2012) mixed media painting on panel

'time to take flight' (2012) mixed media collage, part of the 'home sweet home' series

With the dress I discovered my voice,
the dress became my soapbox from 
which I could initiate a dialogue,
engage in political debate, 
question social protocol and
excavate my authentic self.

thank you

And I thank you for your continued interest 

in my dress obsession, 

your company and support has made 

this journey all the more gratifying. 

peace

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