daily dress project

Creative Every Day Challenge #9

2012-02-14T20:32:00.003-05:00

Creative Every Day Challenge #8

2012-01-22T23:33:00.002-05:00

my cedc from yesterday ~ an anniversary present for Marie Craig and Cheri Clinton!! What a spectacular first year at Fountain Street Fine Art!!! super job!!! xxxx

Creative Every Day Challenge #7 - in the kitchen

2012-01-17T19:43:00.000-05:00

today's creative every day challenge revolved around food. maybe it was the first real snow, or the delicious cookie hang-over i had from my cousin's super size dark chocolate chip cookies or maybe the leftover rotisserie chickens times two in the refrigerator but today i had the cooking bug ~ & it all turned out pretty yummy if i say so myself (the girls agree too!!! :) peace

homemade chicken potpie ~ first ever made

homemade carrot chips (like potato chips)

dark chocolate chip cookies ~ extra big

Creative Every Day Challenge #6 (a little out of focus)

2012-01-13T14:29:00.000-05:00

a dresscard for a birthday girl!

I love the quote, not sure who Stephanie Piro is??? but I love the idea being a coffee lover myself ~ and for the dress I used a paper decorated with coffee beans. part of my desire to try and design my own papers or find papers that work well with the quote ~ instead of just relying on origami papers.

peace

Creative Every Day Challenge #5

2012-01-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

this piece was made tuesday when i had a moment in the studio!!

my studio is in such a state - the visual equivalent to how my head and heart feel ~ so scattered, so tuesday i had sometime in which i basically 'organized'. and while coming across endless bits of paper saved and cherished i made this little card for a fellow artist :)

lately i have been adding sewing to many of my works ~ especially the subscription card pieces that i am doing so i wanted to put this piece under the needle too!!

this is what i call productive procrastination!!! but also good for the soul! peace

Creative Every Day Challenge #4

2012-01-08T18:14:00.000-05:00

may this dress bring you clarity

Creative Every Day Challenge #3

2012-01-07T19:16:00.000-05:00

creative act from yesterday - dresstagging while waiting for my RX.

'may this dress bring you good health'.

I also left one at Whole Foods, but I just dropped it & bolted, no time for a picture :)

peace

Creative Every Day Challenge #2

2012-01-05T22:38:00.005-05:00

Homage to Lisa Barthelson

For today's creative challenge I did a page i my 'current' daily dress journal. this project is where I try to create a daily collage out of the flotsam & jetsam that I come across during the day. I started my first journal in february 2011 and I absolutely LOVE working in it, however the time/days get away from me. So I now have 4 different journal in different states of completion.

This page was done in my most newest book which is smaller (3.5 x 5.5) than the original books. I bought a smaller size hoping that I could get back to making these collages daily - but alas.

Today's page basically created itself. The dress is out of old polka-dotted wrapping paper that I was throwing out, the background is pattern made out of the rubbing of a wine cap ~ HobNob and the tag is from timberland which had the circle logo of a tree. Suddenly there was a circle thing happening.

The circle theme is so serendipitous because today I was thinking of my dear artist friend, Lisa Barthelson, who is getting ready for a group show ('Illuminations' work of Lisa Barthelson, Carrie Crane, Nina Fletcher and Rose Lebeau, Opening Reception: Thursday Jan. 12, 2012, 5 to 7:30 pm

Artists' Talk: Thursday January 26, 5:30, The Krikorian Gallery, The Worcester Center for Crafts

25 Sagamore Road, Worcester MA.)

In fact today I even sent her supportive thoughts, because we all know how crazy one can get right before a show!! And Lisa LOVES circles, even has a photo blog dedicated to circles & she is the person who introduced me to HobNob wine.

But I had not made any of these connections until the collage was finished! WOW!!! But here it is ~ a circle piece when Lisa was so much on my mind. And in fact she and the others from the show were interviewed on NPR and the links hit the internet today ~ http://www.wicn.org/podcasts/audio/barthelson-lebeau-and-crane-illuminations

Kind of cool how that all worked out!!

Well I definitely didn't stick to my intention of brief entries for this Creative Every Day Challenge (CEDC) - but this project is supposed to be just what it is - no rules, no stress, just creativity!!! :) (saying that for myself).

peace

Creative Every Day Challenge #1

2012-01-04T00:11:00.000-05:00

today I finally put together an idea that I have been wrestling with for the past few weeks. It is taking the idea of the dresscards and putting it in a mat. this is a 5x7 image in a 8x10 mat. this will fit easily into an 8x10 frame for wall or desk - your choice.

I am thinking that this may be a nice item for Etsy, though I have yet to wade into those waters :) any suggestions fellow artists???

peace to all and happy creating!!xx

love Harriet!!!!

2011-03-23T17:27:00.000-04:00

dress# 32

This page is based around the letter that I got from my youngest daughter, Harriet, while I was at VSC!! She wrote out the address and it is the sweetest thing is the WORLD!!

Both my girls were very patient when I was at VSC ~ it was hard for them I was gone for 2 weeks. As my oldest pointed out, 2 weeks is a LONG time for a twelve year old!! :)

wild sweet me

2011-03-22T17:15:00.000-04:00

dress# 31

as I mentioned before - I drank A LOT of tea!!

The dress is made out of the paper from a teabag & I particularly like how it is still attached

to the tea bag tag!

peace

'studies'

2011-03-21T15:36:00.000-04:00

dress#30

more sketching to figure out what animal, position that I want to include in my painting.

peace

riding the rapids

2011-03-20T15:22:00.000-04:00

dress #29

The next few daily dress pages come from working on my large wall painting that I undertook during my stay at VSC. this page came from sketching the rapids of the Gihon River that runs thru the VSC. I was planning to include them in my painting so I sketched them a few times & figured I would sketch them in my Daily Dress journal. The dress is from a tea bag ( I drank a lot of tea, which u will see more evidence of later) and the frog on the tea wrapper gave me the idea of populating the rapids with wildlife, especially since I had seen some mink scampering along the frozen banks. peace

color may vary due to lighting conditions , sheen and surface

2011-03-19T04:47:00.000-04:00

dress #28

the work i was doing at VSC used A LOT of red!!! I had taken many paint samples to decide which red was the one to use.

this page shows what state my studio was in :).

To create this page I rubbed my book on the floor where there was much red pastel dust. this created a wonderful surface but also ripped the page so there is an extensive collage on the back.

The woman's face came from packaging that I found in the trash at the house where I was staying ~ couldn't pass up the color or the face. But the really interesting story about this piece of trash was that it came from a hair piece that one of my housemates, Elizabeth Hall, had used in a performances months ago, and the packaging had been traveling around in her car until she decided to clean out her car @ VSC, where I found it and have used it in my art!!! serendipitous, yes?!?!

All at Sea

2011-03-17T13:15:00.002-04:00

dress #27

At least once a month I feel pretty out of sort, thanks to hormones, and this month was no different, in fact it compounded my insecurities that I had when i first got to VSC, oh yeah! This page is made from the myriad of different packaging that I came across on this day. I was surprized to see how the page was looking like a raging sea ~ but realized that was so appropo!! I only wish that i had attached the dress at even a greater angle

(maybe I was not as lost at sea as I felt)

As the pages got more elaborate the back side of the pages became interesting.....

Hob Nob

2011-03-16T07:15:00.001-04:00

dress #26

now that i was at the Vermont Studio Center i was able to put a bit more time and energy into each 'day,' and i think this piece shows it. for this page I painted it with gesso, collaged pieces of material from my studio and then embroidered on it. The dress is made out of the label for the Typar, the material I used for my wall painting. The 'hob nob' cap came from a gift bottle of wine given to me by Lisa Barthelson for my stay at VSC. Since VSC it has become my wine of empowerment, a symbol of my independence & my artistic pursuits. It is also a good wine. Thank you Lisa!!

indoor use only

2011-03-15T11:31:00.003-04:00

dress #25

this page comes from the many new materials that i was using @ VSC. The dress is out of the typar material that i was using for my wall painting ~ it was hard to keep it folded so I used staples. I also used staples to attached the dress to the page ~ using the metal to create a pattern. the other labels comes from vine charcoal, a sponge paint roller for priming my typar, some yarn and other fun stuff!

for more indulgence...

2011-03-14T11:27:00.001-04:00

dress #24

It was cold up in Vermont in March!! So I drank a goodly amount of Hot Cocoa. This was also the day I set up my carbon foot print dress (click here for blog entry) outside my studio - hence the blue tape.

arrival

2011-03-13T21:09:00.003-04:00

dress #23

This was the day that I arrived at Vermont Studio Center ~ yahoo!!!

This is the envelope in which I got my keys and the wrapper from the yummy tea that I drank a lot of during my residency ~ Wild Sweet Orange!

This page is interactive - the key can go in & out of the envelope!!

There is also a plastic cover that came from the protective sheet for my itouch with an arrow pointing up at the dress saying' align here' :)

head games

2011-03-12T23:19:00.005-05:00

dress #22

this page really represents 2 days ~ the Saturday that I prepared for my residency at the Vermont Studio Center & the Sunday that I arrived. The page was inspired by the packaging from a photo memory card that I bought for the trip!! I thought it was a perfect showcase for a dress.

I also wanted to play with the transparency

of the packaging ~ so I used a different pen for the drawing under the plastic than on the rest of the page. Since I was working on this one at VSC I was able to put more time into it ~ so a sewed around the packaging with beads ~ also put a few beads in with the dress, reminiscent of those small toys where you need to roll the balls into the holes.

The title comes from the head games that I was experiencing while packing and arriving at VSC ~ here I had an amazing opportunity, but I was leaving my family (one child with strep) and I was exhausted so I was battling some serious self doubt ~ but with help from good friends,

I slayed those demons and stayed!!

strep, fever, can't sleep ~ crazy

2011-03-11T19:41:00.003-05:00

dress#21

this daily dress comes from the day that the middle school nurse called me at work to tell me that my daughter was in the office with a fever, swollen glands and a nasty red throat and I should get her a throat culture ASAP. So I ran to get her between teaching my classes and got her in to see the doctor, to find out that she indeed had strep throat. Then that night I sat up with her for most of the night as her fever shot up to around 102. Oh, and did I mention that I was supposed to leave for the Vermont Studio Center in two days .... just a wee bit crazy?!?!?

lose your blues

2011-03-10T18:16:00.002-05:00

dress #20

this day was inspired by the musical 'foot loose' at Dana Hall. The dress is from the program and I drew the back ground during the show. I wanted to do something different for the background ~ I felt like I hadn't used pencil much in this book. What i didn't realize, as I was drawing, that I was drawing dress forms among my pencil lines!!

you need to feed them

2011-03-10T02:35:00.001-05:00

dress #19

This page took a little while to complete. I wanted to use this amazingly pink, shiny cookie packaging, but like many of the wrappers that I have used in this book, no glue would hold the wrapper on the paper, so I sewed it in. Ran the wrapper and the book thru my sewing machine.

This was the day that i realized that bringing in snacks made my 11:35 class run much more smoothly. This class was a large class and we were having some issues, but I recognized that these girls were hungry; their class was right before lunch. So for most of the rest of the year I always had a little something to tie them over.

half pint

2011-03-07T10:38:00.000-05:00

dress #18

this page came from my last performance at the 'insatiable' show at the Kniznick Gallery @ Brandeis University. My performances turned into such a beautiful experience as people would come and learn how to crochet and talk with me and add different materials to my piece.

This day was a half day for my girls so they took a 'mental health' day and came and helped me so the page is filled with yarn wrappers and water bottle labels. I also created a netting with embroidery floss over

the entire page ~ and the strands hang out the bottom!!

'c'est una robe'

2011-03-07T10:35:00.000-05:00

dress #17

a nod to Magritte and the Surrealists. the dress is made out of a coffee filter that was printed with a linocut. One of my students is using these filters to make a full-sized wearable dress :)

"edify me!"

2011-03-06T10:20:00.001-05:00

dress #16

I love this page for many reasons ~ 1. crossword puzzles (i love crossword puzzles) 2. my name :) in the puzzle, 3. the wine top ~ which came from a bottle of wine that a friend brought to my opening @ Fountain Street Fine Art, which was on this day & 4. i REALLY went wild with the sewing on this page!!!

I called it 'edify me' because at this point in my life I am so hungry for growth ~ artistically, spiritually, emotionally and intellectually!!

But this easily could have been called 'let's dance!!'

ed·i·fy/ˈedəˌfī/

Verb: Instruct or improve (someone) morally or intellectually.

walked on

2011-03-05T09:18:00.000-05:00

dress #15

this was the day that I laid down my first carbon footprint dress. So I mimicked the process with masking tape and scuffed it up - see detail,

there is a worn hole. The dress came from a page of a dictionary that had been ripped out but not used for another project - amazing on this page was the definition for Saturday!!! I love how this stuff just falls into place!

this page

also has an interesting transparency aspect.

i like art because.....

2011-03-04T09:02:00.000-05:00

dress #14

this drew was made out of a square of b/w paper found in the trash and a collage of strips of phrases from the questionaire that I asked my students to fill out when I took over the class. I asked what they like about art, what their favorite sketchbook assignment was, among other questions ~ I love the last line 'fill page w/ doodles :)' ~ a personal favorite of mine. (see rt.)

Lastly I felt the fortune cookie fortune was appropiate ~ ' the world is always ready to receive talent with open arms.' A thought always good to keep in mind!!

happy birthday Lisa!

2011-03-03T08:59:00.000-05:00

dress #13

made from an excusal form from the health center, for a Lisa, written by a Lisa, on my student, Lisa's birthday. The kite and butterflies are made from scraps found in the art studio :)

panicked, starved & exhausted...

2011-03-02T22:02:00.000-05:00

dress #12

this day was the day I delivered and installed the work for Upon Further Consideration at the South Shore Art Center ( click here to see photos of the opening and show). It was in the middle of an intense and demanding week, and there was a lot of work to set-up. So in the morning before going south I went to Michael's to get those last minute supplies & bought almost everything that I might/could need - this is the panic.

Then, as the case when I am work crazed, lunch went missing so I lived

off a cereal bar and cup of tea until we were done installing, and had time for some real food - this is the starved.

And the exhausted just goes without saying.

This page has been in progress for many moons ~ I knew what I wanted to do just needed the time. To create the backdrop for the dress I hand-copied the Michael's receipt ~ inspired by the work of artists whose works comment on our consumerism, such as Kate Bingaman Burt and Danica Phelps. Both of these artist's work inspires me. Then I photo~copied the wrapper from the cereal bar onto a more translucent paper to represent how I felt like a shell of a human being by the end of the day! Now all I need to do is find that receipt so I can return some of the stuff that I overbought in my panic :).

food should taste good

2011-03-02T00:06:00.000-05:00

dress #11

'calm down, everything will be ok...'

2011-02-27T22:58:00.000-05:00

dress #10

this day began with a note that I found on my classroom floor which read "CALM DOWN". Though it was not written for me I cherished it because this day was the beginning of a astronomically challenging week ~ installing two shows & writing grades and comments, to name a few things. I decided to make a pattern out of written words for the background. As I wrote 'calm down' it started to morph to 'calm down, don't worry, everything will be ok' .... I appreciate that was a manifestation of my desire to convince myself that everything would be ok! and everything turned out ok!!

the checkered dress

2011-02-27T22:54:00.000-05:00

dress #9

the wrappings from a reuben sandwich in Cohasset, after delivery of most of the pieces for "Upon Further Consideration @ the South Shore Art Center

best cookie EVER!!!

2011-02-26T19:46:00.000-05:00

dress #8

this dress came after a day in the studio. a friend brought me some sustenance which included a most delicious Oatmeal Raisin cookie!!! man it was yummy!!! I started the page by painting it since I was painting with blue in the studio and then played with the remaining graphics from a page of postal stamps. But after I ate the cookie I knew the cookie had to be the star/dress of the day!! Mmmmmm, good!!!

Peace Man

2011-02-25T19:33:00.000-05:00

dress #7

entered

2011-02-24T19:19:00.000-05:00

dress #6

again I found this image after one of my art classes ~ i was intrigued by the expression of the geisha so I worked from that. The dress is made from a listing from the Friday New York Times about an exhibit of Japanese Erotica.

spent!

2011-02-23T19:13:00.000-05:00

dress #5

this dress/collage was made from the scraps left behind by my studio art class. For this day I felt so exhausted and spent that I felt that my 'daily dress' was going to be a shadow or the void. And then with some white Letraset letters (that I snatched up at a garage sale).

I wrote some of the words that described how I felt. I liked how the words were there but not there. And then a good friend realized that if you put the page up to the light the words become apparent ~ love that!!!

a gem of a dress

2011-02-22T19:07:00.000-05:00

dress #4

these wrappers were from the Godiva Gem candies that a student gave me as a thank you gift and that my family inhaled on this day.

the candy's wrapper would not stick no matter what glue I used ~ so I ended up running my BOOK thru my sewing machine - here is a pic. of the back of that page.

I have sewn on the previous daily dresses but this is the first time I ran it thru the sewing machine (but not the last).

we're not in Kansas anymore

2011-02-21T19:01:00.000-05:00

dress #3

this came from the mapquest map that I needed to get out of Manhattan to the Merrick Parkway, and even with the map I had a few wrong turns. And the title/caption came from how I felt when i was in New York and when I was leaving NYC (sad to go).

perfect sweetness

2011-02-21T00:24:00.000-05:00

dress #2

favorite cafe in chelsea, new york city

& so it begins

2011-02-20T00:01:00.000-05:00

dress #1

en route to brooklyn, ny