'this comes from within' photos

'this comes from within' is complete and open ~ now my job is to document it and get the word out about it before it comes DOWN (in two weeks). As I worked diligently on this all summer i knew it was an installation - with a break-down date & i was ok with that. But true confessions - October 16th is coming much faster than I want!!! The the opening was wonderful and i got in there with a tripod and got some good pictures ~ so things are good. And I am set up some extra gallery hours (*see note below) and there will be a party on October 16th!!!! (mark your calendars).

Here is a link to an album of some photos of the installation~

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=115839&id=127363913633&l=208e0e8cb8

and I hope to have a video soon!!!

**** EXTRA GALLERY HOURS THIS WEEKEND!!!! ~ Sunday 2:30~5:30

i hope to have something yummy - brownies and cider!!

peace

Introducing 'fecund'

Another venue where you can find a dress ~

NAOS Group Show:"Doors & Windows"

Morse Institute Library ~ 14 East Central Street, Natick

September 1 - October 31, 2009

This is 'fecund' ~ it is enamel paint on an old window ~ wooden frame and all.

I used many different reds.

I love the pattern, and especially the shadow that it makes on the wall!!

There are many interpretations of windows and doors to be found in the show - worth a stop if you are in the neighborhood!!!

Also I finally figured out how to put a link to my fan page on this blog - check out the side bar :)

peace

Another opening, another party... or two!!!

First the opening on Friday night was wonderful - thank you to all who came. Also the installation is up for about a month so please stop by if you can - people have been having quite the experience. Medicine Wheel is open m-f and plan to have the installation ready from 10-4pm. I also can arrange to meet anyone there and have access to the gallery - so please contact me if you are interested in viewing 'this comes from within'.

Next ~

You are invited to attend the Artists’ Reception for
EAT the ART

Thursday, September 24, 2009,

6:00 – 8:00p.m.
BHCC ART GALLERY
EAT THE ART
A group exhibition showcasing works in varied media on the theme of food as art
September 14 – October 31, 2009

Including work by:
Alice Abrams Laraine Armenti Mara Aspinall June August Martha Bedrosian Alex Campbell Catherine Davis Ernie D’elia Pauline Delin Mary Dunn Lisa Fay Virginia Fitzgerald

Michael Guadagno Joe Greene Elisa Hamilton Jennifer Hill Leise Jones Pam Jorgensen

Christiane Corcelle-Lippeveld Jeannette Martin Heidi Mayo Laura Miner Monica Mitchell Farnaz Mobayyen Karen Moss Kate Moss Maureen O'Connor Paul Osborne

Vicki Kocher Paret Cortney Provini Amy McGregor-Radin Ken Reker

Irena Roman Roberta Towel Lisa Sears
Maria-Amaryllis Siniossoglou Christina Spangler Stephanie Mahan Stigliano

Vanessa St. Laurent Lisa Thompson Roberta Towel Jeff Warmouth

the show runs from Sept. 14- Oct. 31, 2009

Gallery talk : tues., Oct 13th, 2009 1-2:30p.m.

New Perspectives/Now Perspectives:

Tues, Oct 6, 2009 6:30-8:30p.m.

featuring local writers and poets, with introductory remarks and information on local hunger concerns by the Greater Boston Food Bank

gallery hours M/W/F : 10am-5pm, T/Th: 10am-7pm, Sa: 10am-2pm

the gallery is free and open to the public.

it is located @ the Community College stop on the MBTA orange line.

AND finally ......

WAR and PEACE:
Images of Conflict and Resolution in the 21st Century show at Lynn Arts, Inc. will have a closing party from 6-8pm on Tuesday, October 13th. The juror, Ken Hruby will be there from 7-8pm if you would like to meet him.

If you are interested i plan to attend both these functions!!! The BHCC gallery throws a pretty nice party!!! hope to see you there!!!

peace

I got a feeling that tonight is going to be a good night!!!

there is nothing like a song that totally fits the feeling of the moment ~ thank you Black Eyed Peas & itunes!!!

So tonight is the night ~ and 'this comes from within' is actually, mostly, basically, for the most part finished. After logging in an 11 hours day yesterday I turned the lights out on the gallery feeling good!! Of course there are a thousand different things that i want to change, remake or tweak but for tonight the piece is ready!!!! And surprising I am ready!!! One might think that i would be in a deep sleep coma but there is NOTHING like adrenaline and the high one gets from watching people respond to your work. The past few days people have wandering in to see how the installation is coming along and I have been blessed to witness how they are moved. It has been such a long, amazing journey ~ starting in February when I was offered this tremendous opportunity, and then since June 1st basically living @ Medicine Wheel, physically creating the space. There is so much I would love to share about the process however today I need to take care all those wonderful details needed for an opening - food, business cards... and then take a breathe & tried to be present for the opening. I feel so blessed to be able to follow this overwhelming passion and to have so many people around me who cheer me on - thank you!!! & peace!!!
p.s. it is nearly impossible to capture the installation ~ but here is a attempt, but if you can come see it!!! it is an experience!!! :)

Finally.....

Michael Dowling & Medicine Wheel Productions
present
‘this comes from within’
an installation by
Virginia Fitzgerald

September 18th ~ October 16th, 2009

opening Reception~
Friday, September 18th, 5-8pm

Medicine Wheel Productions
110 K St.
South Boston, MA
Gallery hours: M~F 10-4
or by appt.

further info.
call (617)596-5179 or (617)268-6700
~
virginia fitzgerald fan page
on facebook
~
www.virginiafitzgerald.com
www.medicinewheelproductions.org

peace





(for some reason it took me FOREVER to get this postcard together. nothing like placing the order for your show's invitation less than 2 weeks from the opening -- nothing like last minute promotion :) if you want to have a postcard sent to you please sent me your address!!!)

Yeah for the world wide web!!!!!

Isn't the Internet amazing???? It is always interesting to me to see what information gets where and how. I just goggled myself to see if my facebook fan page comes up and low and behold I found my Dress of Etiquette on the web site Emily Post’s Etiquette Daily ~
http://www.etiquettedaily.com/2009/07/summer-fashion-the-etiquette-dress/.

Now sadly my facebook fan page did NOT come up - I still need to work on that. But I have set up a fan page!!! (Yeah - after many frustrating hours of my computer freezing up) And so there is another site about my work out in cyberspace. Now I am not completely sure the difference between a fan page and a blog because everyone can view the fan page -you don't need to be a member. However with the fan page i was able to create a photo album which chronicles the construction of 'this comes from within'. Also I have been able to post the information about the opening which is helpful ~ since I still don’t have the official postcard invite and the opening is only 15 days away. But my mantra lately has been – it will all work out!!!!

Now back to the fan page …. To view my new fan page with the photo album …here is the address.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Virginia-Fitzgerald/127363913633?ref=search&sid=690681189.2554966880..1

Lastly, today this quote was emailed to me and I am amazed on how timely this delivery was. As I am finishing this installation, I have been working hard on my artist's statement about it & this quote had given me another perspective. Many who see the eggshell dress immediately think wedding dress and even though it is a white dress I was not going for wedding dress, per say. However this quote put a different spin on the idea of being a bride, giving me an entirely new thought process. So I say again ~ isn’t the Internet amazing????

“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.” Mary Oliver

So once again, thank you Mary Oliver & peace

last day of summer as we know it....

Well the summer may not be officially over by the calendar, but for this family it is over for school starts tomorrow. It is bittersweet ~ excitement about the new adventures ahead but sadness for the loss of carefree days and late nights. So today was a day I firmly put on my mom hat ~ locating school bags, securing bus passes, getting lots of unsolicited hugs, & trying to put the eggshell installation out of my mind (easier said then done). However the weather assisted by handing us one of those magnificent late summer days - cool, fresh, crisp air; warm, soothing sun; the buzzing of crickets; the whirl of dragonflies and and one last adventure. A writer friend and I, along with our girls, have embarked on the one card library tour. We started in the spring with the goal to visit all our local libraries that accept our particular library card and there are about 50 ~ it is a great system. So today I believe we visited our 6th (this is going to take us awhile). So we drove to Stow where they have a sweet library and spent an hour or so perusing the shelves. When we came out the morning chill was gone and the sun beckoned us to the grassy knoll across from the library. There my friend and I soaked up the sun as our girls scrambled around the bayberry bushes trying to get the dragonflies to land on them (& they did!!!). And there as I breathed in the last day of vacation and the air was filled with the song of the cicadas which is so familiar this time of year, the last line of Mary Oliver's The Summer Day rushed into my brain. At the time I had forgotten the title of this particular poem... but how appropriate. So I had to share because it is a wonderful poem & I cherish the last lines, and it truly captured the spirit of this day. Thank you Mary Oliver & peace ~

The Summer Day

Who made the world?

Who made the swan, and the black bear?

Who made the grasshopper?

This grasshopper, I mean--

the one who has flung herself out of the grass,

the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,

who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down,

who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.

Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.

Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.

I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down

into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,

how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,

which is what I have been doing all day.

Tell me, what else should I have done?

Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do

with your one wild and precious life?

~ Mary Oliver ~
(New and Selected Poems, Volume I)

Dresses on the move!!!

Well besides working frantically to finish and promote 'this comes from within' I am needing to shuffle around some dresses!!! First, some dresses are coming home from the ALL Gallery in Lowell and from the Bromfield Gallery, Boston. It is amazing how fast August went this year!!! It was a pleasure to be included in both of these shows and I am sorry that they are ending. But as some dresses come back others are going out ~ In Memory of.... was juried into War & Peace: Images of Conflict and Resolution in the 21st Century at LynnArts Inc., Lynn MA. The juror was Ken Hruby, West Point Graduate, Visual Artist and Associate Professor of Sculpture, School of the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. The show will run from September 4-October 9, opening Reception: Saturday, September 12, 2-4pm (galleries open M, T, W, F 10 am- 4pm, and Thursday 10 am- 7pm)

I am very glad to have this dress back out in the world and especially in this themed show. David Lang also got a piece in show, Extraordinary Rendition, which LynnArts has featured on their calendar page.

So things are happening here. The anticipation for 'this comes from within' is building. It is exciting to see it coming together but also nerve-wrecking to see all that still needs to be done. I am having the toughest time finding the right fabrics because everything needs to be fire retardant and nailing the right stuff down has been a major struggle!!

Also last week I had one of those 'creativity lessons' when i realized that the two pieces of the installation (the front room and the back room) don't exactly work together as I have planned. I had been creating them each individually and hadn't really step back to see if they work together and they don't. So it is back to the drawing board for the backroom. The lesson here is to not get too attached to one idea and to keep looking to the piece for direction. My only problem is right now I am feeling a little frantic about the time so it is hard to sit back and be quiet and listen to the piece ~ one of my life lessons :) So I am off to do some yoga before bed and practice my breathing!! Peace, good night & namaste!

We have a DATE!!!!

The date has been set for the opening reception of my installation at Medicine Wheel ~

drum roll please.......

Friday, September 18th 5~8pm.

So mark your calendars, plan your evening, get a babysitter... it should be worth it!!

Of course I still need to finish it but all in good time. Right now i am trying to create the invite and I am struggling with my photo decision. Since the space is not finished I am going for a detail, a close-up, kind of a teaser ~ here are some that i am thinking about ..... any suggestions???

bachelor #1 ~

bachelor #2 ~

bachelor #3 ~

bachelor #4 ~

bachelor #5 ~

Also Medicine Wheel got a great article in the Herald this Sunday ~ http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20090823reclaiming_no_mans_land/srvc=home&position=7

Lots going on ~ very exciting!! So spread the word because this installtion, my entire summer of work, is only going to be there for a few weeks!!! the fun of an installation!!! Peace!!!

inspiring New Hampshire

This week as the summer heat was showing its prowess I headed north with my family~... to one of my favorite spots - New London, NH. Although i was technically on vacation - I lasted only two days before I had to make dresses. The first two were made while visiting the Fells in Newbury, New Hampshire. It is an old summer estate that they have opened to the public and the grounds are breath-taking. Beside just the natural beauty of the gardens, this year there is a contemporary sculpture exhibit called Animal Attractions (very interesting), an area set up with rocks for anyone to create a sculpture if so inspired & a FAIRY VILLAGE where anyone can make their own fairy house (you can only imagine the excitement). My girls and i were happy building and creating until hunger overtook us. As everyone else was making fairy houses ~ I, of course, made dresses.

Then after the Fells we headed to the beach where I had to make a dress. This certain beach is one of my favorite places in the world so I had to "mark' it with a dress. While walking the shore looking for materials I began to notice these small, brightly colored leaves floating in the water ~ a sign of summer's end and fall's arrival. This time of this month does tend to make one think of fall ~ even with the unbearable heat, the light is warmer and the shadows are longer & you know autumn is just around the corner. So I gathered this small collection of leaves and created this petite dress right at the water line. I like the combination of the turning leaves and the bright summer flower ~ summer and fall. It was wonderful to be making dresses outside with natural materials but now it is back to eggshells......

Happy summer all & peace!!!!

Eggshell installation update

The installation @ Medicine Wheel is coming along!!!! Here is a view of the gallery ~ showing the door cutout and most of the mural. In the middle of the floor is an 8 ft circle of sheet metal.

Below are some close up of the mural (the white lines are chalk lines)

It has been an adventure to see where the mural goes - it just grows and grows....
After the mural reached a certain stage it was time to focus on the main point of this installation...the eggshell dressafter collecting mirrors we started breaking them ~ a popular job among my helpers. I told all who asked ~ that if you break a mirror in the name of creativity you get 7 years GOOD LUCK!!! There is a lot of good luck at Medicine Wheel :)

Once broken then we pasted the pieces on to the metal circle. I wanted to do the mosaic before the dress so that the dress would sit on the mirrors. I have now come to reconsider this order of process because as i am building the dress I hear the mirror pieces readjusting below my knees.

But once the mirror mosaic was complete ~ the dress was begun!!!! eggshell by eggshell.....

There is still much to be done and time is running short. The official opening reception date has not been finalized although i believe it will be in the second week of September as there will be a new show in the gallery at the end of September.

It has been such a wonderful experience working with the Medicine Wheel crew ~ we have realized that almost everyone of the fifty some students that are working there this summer has worked on this installation in some capacity.

This summer the students are also working hard on a park in the community called No Man's Land. The Medicine Wheel youth group began reclaiming this area of South Boston in 1998 ~ this summer they are selling bricks which will be used to make a path which they call 'Our Common Path'. If interested you can buy an engraved brick which will sponsor their Youth Employment Program - all funds go directly to employ the Medicine Wheel youths. If you are interested email medicine wheel or go to their website http://www.medicinewheelproductions.org/. I was able to go to a hot dog social this week at No Man's Land and I found it a very inspiring oasis!!

So there is the update .. now back to the eggshells!!!! peace!!!

Big weekend coming up!!!!

Here is official information about the two show that I am participating in during the month of August. The opening are both this weekend - so get those party shoes on!!

WOMEN'S CAUCUS FOR ART
From Aug 5 - 27, Bromfield presents two exhibitions by the Boston chapter of Women's Caucus for Art.
"Sense (of Humor)"
Who says feminists don't have a sense of humor! Juried by Carolyn Muskat of Muskat Studios, this group show includes work by the Boston chapter of the WCA, dedicated to creating opportunities for and expanding recognition of women in the arts.

"Heat Wave"
"Heat Wave." Hot color, hot vibes, hot flashes. In the spirit of the season, this sizzling group show features members of the WCA, Boston.
Opening Reception***: Friday, Aug 7, 5:30-7:30 pm.

** during the SOWA first friday celebration which is lots of fun on a hot summer night.
Closing Reception: Saturday, Aug 29, 3-5 pm.

BROMFIELD GALLERY is located at 450 Harrison Ave., Boston, MA,

across the Mass Pike from Chinatown. Parking is available at 500 Harrison Ave.
Gallery Hours: Wed-Sat, 12-5
Wheelchair accessibleMember, Boston Art Dealers Association
BROMFIELD GALLERY
voice: (617) 451-3605web: http://www.bromfieldgallery.com

Fabrication of Imagination

August 1 -- August 30
Reception at the gallery on August 8 ~ 2~4

The ALL Arts Gallery presents two demonstrations in fiber art technique.

Linda Dunn will demonstrate Improvisational Printing on August 6th from 1:30 - 4:30 PM.

Susan Webber will demonstrate Free Form Free Motion Stitch on August 8th from 10:00 AM - 1:00 PM.

Please drop by to watch and talk to the artists about their technique.

Expanded Gallery Hours: Thurs. 8/6 10:00 AM - 8:30 PM - (Museum night 5:30 - 8:30) Fri. 8/7 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM Sat. 8/8 10:00 AM - 6:00 PM - (Artists Reception 2:00 - 4:00) Sun. 8/9 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Curator: Gwen Stith

I am going to be gallery sitting Aug. 8th from 12~2 if you happen to come by early. When I dropped off the dresses for this show was the first time I was in Lowell and I thought it had an palpatable art buzz. This month there are many exciting art events ~ there is Quiltscapes at the Whistler Gallery, A Sense of Balance at the Boot Cotton Mills, and What Followed Me Home at the American Textile History Museum, all running in tandem with the Lowell Quilt Festival .

Also there is a nice write up of Fabrication of Imagination by Jeanne Williamson in the Boston Artisans Examiner ~ take a look if you have a moment.

hope to see you ~ peace

under the full moon light we dance.....

I am blessed to be part of an amazing all women African drumming circle which met last night to celebrate the full moon, the hot summer and Lammas. Besides the wonderful experience of drumming with women this group has reconnected me to the natural rhythm of the seasons - highlighting olden traditions & rituals from times when we were more in tune and connected to nature. Last night I learned about Lammas and I wanted to share. Lammas, in the Celtic tradition, is the time to celebrate the "first fruit", a time of the initial sheaves and gratitude for the harvest at hand, and those to come. Last night we celebrated our own harvests - taking time to note a personal journey that we may just be seeing the first fruits of. I found this to be an empowering experience, taking the time to reflect. In these past three years I have experienced an amazing growth spurt ~ personally and artistically, and last night i was given the space to breathe and acknowledge my journey so far. It was powerful!

So I want to encourage you to go out and look at the amazing moon during these hot summer nights and, if you want, think about your own personal 'harvest', the 'first fruits' and celebrate ~ peace

the newest creation....

Well here is the newest addition to the Dress Project!!!

She was delivered yesterday to the ALL Gallery in Lowell to be part of the Fabrication of Imagination Fiber Invitational show. I am truly ecstatic with the way she turned out, yet I am also sad not to be working on her anymore. I loved the meditation of weaving the fabric strips into the bottom and thoroughly loved creating the top!! The top is not what i had planned but I am really pleased with the way that it turned out – a homage to crazy quilts. I covered the top with an old velvet curtain that a friend gave me and then appliquéd and embroidered all over it. I could have gone on for days and days however the dress needed to be delivered yesterday. I did take advantage of all the time I had – thanks to my buddy, David Lang, I was able to sew up to the last minute. David offered to drive me so I could sew. It was also a good thing because I was VERY tired – I had not slept much for the few days leading up to the delivery date. Now the only thing is I need to decide on a title. I just need to get a little more sleep.

The show runs Aug.1st – Aug.30th with the opening reception on August 8th 2-4pm.

peace

in the News & upcoming Exhibits

This week started out nicely ~ with a picture of my Dress of Etiquette in the Metrowest Daily News' Sunday's Art section, accompanying an article about the Danforth Member Shows. Kristine Diederich reviews a few of the pieces in the exhibit and gives a nice reminder that the shows run through Aug 2nd. here is the link to the article ~ http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/arts/x1443001385/Danforth-Museum-hosts-annual-exhibit-of-members-artworks

Also, in August the Dress Project will be in a few shows around the Boston area.... First, from Aug.5th - Aug 29th the photo, A Little Jam Please, will be exhibited at the Bromfield Gallery as part of the WCA's juried show, sense of Humor. the opening reception is during the August first Friday ~ August 7th, 5-7:30 and a closing reception is Aug. 29th, 3-5.

Secondly ~ at the Arts League of Lowell (ALL) three dresses will be part of the show, Fabrication of Imagination ~ running August 1, 2009 ~ August 30, 2009. The Lowell Quilt Festival is also going on during this time.




Lastly - thank you to all who came to David & my open studio party last thurs. It was a wonderful evening and the music of David Williams was magical.
thanks & peace

Come play!!! Summer is here!!!!!

VIRGINIA FITZGERALD AND DAVID LANG

ARE HAVING AN OPEN STUDIO PARTY ON THURSDAY

7:00 – 9:00 PM JULY 16TH

in conjunction with Natick July ARTWALK

Joining us will be Flute Maker and Composer
DAVID WILLIAMS

25 WASHINGTON AVENUE, at the corner of COCHITUATE STREET

Hope to see you there ~

peace

heard it's your birthday.....

...so I made a pie!!!!

It is blueberry season around here - or at least at the grocery stores ... $.99/pint. So I have been baking up many blueberries pies!!! And today is my dear friend & fellow artist, David Lang's birthday... Happy Birthday David!!! So I had to make him a pie and i knew he'd appreciate a dress pie!! Also this is my 100th blog post ~a kind of 'birthday'~ so this seemed like the appropriate dress to post!!!
Happy summer (it had finally arrived here in the Boston area) & peace!!!!

Dresses hit Wellesley!!!

The dresses are on the move, making the scene!!! the Red Alert Cocktail dress along with the Black Widow (VCR tape) dress are being featured at Shafer O’Neil Interior Design ~ 544 Washington Street, Wellesley, MA, a wonderful interior design store. They are also showing exhibiting some of the dress photographs. We installed the Red Alert dress in a window which is always fun - people stop, point and come in & comment. It is quite an attention getter.

peace