May this dress help you to BEGIN!!!!!!

'on thin ice' 13jan14, 8:30AM, 28F, Natick

Begin doing what you want to do now. 
We are not living in eternity. 
We have only this moment, 
sparkling like a star in our hand-
and melting like a snowflake.

Francis Bacon Sr.

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May this dress help you discover who you are!!!

Life’s challenges are not 

supposed to paralyze you, 

they’re supposed to help 

you discover who you are.

Bernice Johnson Reagon

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may this dress give you a nudge . . .

"life begins at the end of your comfort zone" 

neale donald walsch

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may this dress help you to find the wonder and the marvel in the ordinary!!!

“Do not ask your children

to strive for extraordinary lives.

Such striving may seem admirable,

but it is the way of foolishness.

Help them instead to find the wonder

and the marvel of an ordinary life.

Show them the joy of tasting

tomatoes, apples and pears.

Show them how to cry

when pets and people die.

Show them the infinite pleasure

in the touch of a hand.

And make the ordinary come alive for them.

The extraordinary will take care of itself.” 

― William Martin

The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents

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may this dress help you appreciate all your blessings . . . .

Wine and cheese are ageless companions, 

like aspirin and aches, 

or June and moon, 

or good people and noble ventures.

M. F. K. Fisher

Just a few of the blessings that I appreciate from today:

a fabulous yoga class,

a good friend who saved me a trip to framingham,

 a lovely friend who treated me to lunch!!

and

a glorious neighbor who joined me as I de-iced my driveway!!

And that's on top of amazing daughters,

loving parents, amazing friends and so much more!!

what blessings do you appreciate today??? 

xxxx

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may this dress free you from all worldly engagements!!! (at least for today!)

'prints'  8dec13, the porches, north adams, ma

I think that I cannot preserve my health and spirits, 

unless I spend four hours a day at least - 

and it is commonly more than that - 

sauntering through the woods 

and over the hills and fields, 

absolutely free from all worldly engagements.  

~Henry David Thoreau

I always find that there is a lovely peace that I feel while traveling, my life has been reduced to the essentials in some way.  The white noise of the everyday troubles and demands quiet, even if I am not on a 'real vacation'. Even when there are troubles and demands on the road, I breathe easier, I feel lighter and a bit calmer.  I alway want to keep that feeling when I return.  Usually I work myself in a panic as not to lose that calm, note the irony.  

So here I am again, plopped back into my 'real life', with bills, a messy house, deadlines, digging out my car! and more.  I am aware that to fight to stay calm is an oxymoron.   This time I hope to gently hold my peaceful feeling and to be curious about how this transition will unfold.  I am learning that to be easy with an idea or desire is usually a better approach than to resist or fight or struggle.

I am sensing that a slow, quiet and mindful reentry may be the best path.  So today I may follow Thoreau's suggestion and saunter through the woods for four hours or so, doesn't that sound just lovely ?!?!?

may today you have peace ~ virginia

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may this dress bring you safe travels . .

. . .  whether they are on a plane, train, car or in your mind and heart!! 

& happy 111th birthday (a day late)

 to one of my all time heros!!! 

Happy Birthday Anais Nin!!! xxx

Anaïs Nin was an author born to Spanish-Cuban parents in France, where she was also raised. She spent some time in Spain and Cuba but lived most of her life in the United States where she became an established author.

Born: February 21, 1903, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France

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today, live with curiosity, wonder and spontaneous delight!!!

“We do not believe in ourselves 

until someone reveals that 

deep inside us something is valuable, 

worth listening to, worthy of our trust, 

sacred to our touch. 

Once we believe in ourselves 

we can risk curiosity, wonder, 

spontaneous delight or any experience 

that reveals the human spirit.” 

E.E. Cummings

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Today, go forward with great desire . . . . .

It is for us to pray not for tasks 

equal to our powers, 

but for powers equal to our tasks, 

to go forward with a great desire 

forever beating at the door of our hearts 

as we travel toward our distant goal.  

Helen Keller

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May this dress bring us some peace . . .

Letting go helps us to to live in a 

more peaceful state of mind and 

helps restore our balance. 

It allows others to be responsible 

for themselves and for us to take 

our hands off situations that do not belong to us. 

This frees us from unnecessary stress. 

Melody Beattie, The Language of Letting Go

may this dress remind you to slow down and open up to creativity!!

"For me, slowing down has been a 

tremendous source of creativity. 

It has allowed me to open up -- 

to know that there's life under the earth 

and that I have to let it come through me in a new way. 

Creativity exists in the present moment. 

You can't find it anywhere else." Natalie Goldberg

Recently, with the many changes happening in my life, I am VERY aware of my need to slow down.  It is the small quiet voice that is gently reminding me to slow down, to quiet.  

In our current state of hyper-awareness thanks to social media, I believe it is too easy to jump on this roller coaster of cyber-personas and feel that one is losing ground, that we are not adequate.  

But that is not true.  Our strengths, wisdom and essence comes from within and slowing down allows us to tap into this wealth of authenticity. peace

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May this dress grant me strength plus!

Grant me the strength 

to focus this week, 

to be mindful and present, 

to serve with excellence, 

to be a force of love.

Brendon Burchard

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may this dress help you to tap into your supreme self . . . .

“We don't realize that, somewhere within us all,

 there does exist a supreme self who is eternally at peace.” 

 Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love

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May this dress accompany you on your next crazy adventure!!!

“What is that feeling 

when you're driving away from people 

and they recede on the plain 

till you see their specks dispersing?

- it's the too-huge world vaulting us, 

and it's good-bye. 

But we lean forward 

to the next crazy venture 

beneath the skies.” 

― Jack Kerouac, On the Road

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May this dress bring you lots o'love!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

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may this dress bring you love and inspiration!!!

Just don't give up trying 

to do what you really want to do. 

Where there is love and inspiration, 

I don't think you can go wrong.

Ella Fitzgerald

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thank you & peace 

may this dress give you permission to sit awhile and think . . .

Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.  

~Lorraine Hansberry, A Raisin in the Sun

As my life has taken many twists and turns in 

the past weeks, months and years, 

I have been scrambling to stay afloat and 

to figure everything out before it all collapses. 

However recently I am aware of a deeper need to slow down 

and settle into this new phase of my journey; to listen to my heart.

I realize that racing and solving is not always the solution.  

peace

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may this dress help you know . . .

“The more you know who you are, 

and what you want, 

the less you let things upset you.”

 Stephanie Perkins, Anna and the French Kiss

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May this dress bring my mother a spectacular birthday!!! xxxx

'ode to a pixie' 2011

Mother love is the fuel

that enables a normal human being 

to do the impossible.  

~Marion C. Garretty, quoted in A Little Spoonful of Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul

happy birthday to the woman

 who gave me the love for the arts 

and the unique!!! 

LUV YA!!!

xxxxxxxx

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may this dress remind you to be non-judgemental . . . .

“Non-judgment quiets the internal dialogue, 

and this opens once again the doorway to creativity.” 

Deepak Chopra

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may this dress allow you to just go with the flow . . .

“Life is a series of natural 

and spontaneous changes. 

Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. 

Let reality be reality. 

Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” 

Laozi

the above dress is part of my 'daily dress series', dresses made during my everyday out of any material that catches my eye.  Tonight is the opening reception for the exhibit, 'daily dress series' at Baldwin Hill Art in Natick, where they will be showing a selection of photographs from the incalculable amount of daily dresses that I have made since 2006.  I am really excited as many of these dresses have never been printed before and to see them as a group is dramatic.

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may this dress make you limitless . . .

Once we accept our limits, 

we go beyond them.

Albert Einstein

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May this dress help you FLY!!!!

'flirt' installation about Mother Brook Art - see info below

“I have come to accept the feeling of not knowing 

where I am going. 

And I have trained myself to love it. 

Because it is only when we are suspended in mid-air 

with no landing in sight, 

that we force our wings to unravel and alas begin our flight. 

And as we fly, we still may not know where we are going to. 

But the miracle is in the unfolding of the wings. 

You may not know where you're going, 

but you know that so long as you spread your wings, 

the winds will carry you.” 

― C. JoyBell C.

opening reception Friday, February 7th from 7 – 9 p.m. The reception will include a meet & greet with the artists, live music, as well as wine and delicious treats from Whole Foods of Dedham. (In case of wintery weather, the storm date for the reception will be Sunday, February 9th from 4-6 p.m.)

This 6-week show features the work of 14 contemporary artists of international, national and regional renown working in a diverse mix of media and conceptual framework: Patty Chang and David Kelley, Merill Comeau, Christiane Corcelle, Virginia Fitzgerald, Elizabeth Kostojohn, Danielle LaPointe, Judith Monteferrante, Robin Reynolds, Michael Seif, Iris Sonnenschein, Martha Wakefield, Jeanne Williamson, and Wendy Young.

The exhibit will run through Friday, March 14th and viewing hours are Tuesday – Saturday, 12 – 6 p.m. The show was curated by Martha Wakefield and Jeanne Williamson.

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may this dress bring you some clarity . . . .

'snowed in' 17dec13, dana hall, wellesley, ma
#dailydressseries

“Snow falling soundlessly

in the middle of the night

will always fill my heart

with sweet clarity” ~

Novala Takemoto

'snowed in' one of the many photos that will be on exhibit @
Baldwin Hill Art, Natick

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with this dress, just say YES!!!

This quote comes from this incredible and utterly inspiring blog post, 

Just say YES!!! by Chris Assaad, that I stumbled upon yesterday!!

take a moment to read it, you won't be disappointed!!

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"Say YES.

Say YES to your innermost wishes and yearnings.

Say YES to your heart.

Say YES to love.

Say YES to passion.

Say YES to your soul.

Say YES to adventure.

Say YES to your dreams.

Say YES to new friends.

Say YES to expansive opportunities.

Say YES to creative expression.

Say YES to the little things that make you smile.

Say YES to the big things that will make a lasting difference.

Say YES to a good challenge.

Say YES to your biggest fears.

The treasure of life lives in the experiences you fear most. 

The treasure of life lives in the YES.

Just say YES!"

Chris Assaad 

Chris Assaad is a singer/songwriter and inspirational artist from Toronto who left a promising career in law several years ago to pursue his dream of a career in music. Since then, Chris has been actively using his voice to enCOURAGE others to follow their dreams, express their creativity and live life to the fullest.

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may this dress bring you courage!!

“Do one thing every day

that scares you.”

 Eleanor Roosevelt

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may this dress bring you LOVE!!!!

Love makes your soul crawl out 
from its hiding place.  
~ Zora Neale Hurston

Today's dress is part of the daily dress journal I made in 2011,

during my time at VSC.  This page is made with the envelope from a letter Harriet sent me while I was there, and just this morning, while walking my trusty hound, Scruffy,  I was thinking about how 'at home' I felt during that residency,

living and breathing art, literally. 

  

I would get up around 7am, have a quick bite for breakfast, then head off to my studio until about 1 am, with occasional breaks for lunch and dinner.  And when I was not in my studio I was surrounded by fellow artists from all over the world!! 

I did this for two weeks loving the solitude and the submersion in the creative process. I lived in my sparse collection of work clothes, just so content in my own little world . . . 

Except I missed my girls SOOOOOO!! 

I know they feed my creative soul, 

they give me so much of what I use to make my art.  

They pull me out of my hiding place every day and for this I am endlessly grateful!!! 

xxxx

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may this dress bring you a little extra time . . . .

Time is but the stream 

I go a-fishing in.

Henry David Thoreau 

This has been a week of racing here and racing there.  Then add to that the few extra days it took me to install my pieces in the inaugural exhibit' "Flirt" at the Mother Brook Arts & Community Center (MBACC) ~ I definitely could use a smidgen of extra time :) as I am posting today's daily dress inspiration at 7PM!?!? 

'flirt' at mother brook art center

But now all the work is installed!!! My new piece called 'flirt' is successfully installed on the landing of the stairwell, with the help of scaffolding no less.  More pictures to come but here is a quick shot with my phone.  I am thinking that this is going to be one of those pieces that you need to experience and photos aren't going to do it justice! 

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