Sharing Opportunities to Create

Saturday was a great day to be at the garden. The morning was pretty chilly, so much so that by lunch my fingers were numb! But by the afternoon the sun warmed things up and made for a beautiful day.

 Although the weather was a delight the high points of the day were sharing the opportunity to create with a diverse crowd. In the morning two mom's stopped by and worked on patches for close to an hour. We had a lovely conversation and it turns out that one of the women had studied to be a scenic designer years ago, but went in a different direction career wise, and hasn't had much time since to spend creating and working with her hands. Then in the afternoon a daughter and her elderly mother came to the table to work for a bit. The daughter mentioned that her mom grew up in China and was from a generation that didn't participate in art-making. She said her mom was going to be talking about this opportunity and remembering it for a long time. Plus, today, Sunday is her 89th birthday- congratulations! It's those kinds of moments that make the long hours of preparation 100% worth it.


This Wednesday, October 6 from 3-5pm is my last community workshop. Come on out if you haven't already done so. And, just a reminder, Sunday October 17 from 3-5pm is the opening reception.

The second piece. She'll be sitting on this bench for the installation.

The dress is made from fir branches; another tree that was damaged in the recent storm.

Fox tail (the plant)  is added to the jacket to make it a faux fur coat.

A mom and daughter come by. Today, 10/3/10 is the mom's 89th birthday!

1 Done, 2 to Go

After a few solo hours at the garden I finished the first piece. The theme ended up changing along the way due to the materials available. What was first to be a Han dynasty inspired garment ended up closer to an Emilie Floge, Schwestern Floge, dress. You'll notice I also took the grass off the sleeves. It just wasn't working.

The final materials were willow branches and amaranth.

Day 2 at the Garden

We had a great day at the Garden on Sunday. Comfortable temperatures and clear skies made it good day to be outside. Here are a few shots from the day... more to come later.

It's Done!

I've been working my fingers to the bone- more literally into needle jams and wire knots, trying to get this last piece finished in time to send it out for a competition. Today WAS the deadline, until I checked the website today and found that they had extended the deadline. Which means, I could have had at least 10 extra hours of sleep last week, one movie fun night and one slouch around the house night! Alas, it's finished and I'm glad. Now.... onto the next piece?

The finished dress (minus a zipper) brought to you by Spic and Span reusable cleaning cloths with a fresh lemon clean scent guaranteed to make you remember zebra stripe gum!

"A Good Clean Education"

The subject of this piece dons a frock of reusable Spic and Span cleaning cloths featuring a clean lemon scent. She has been practicing being a good student but has been caught in the act of writing her own thoughts and is vigorously attempting to wipe them away.

www.susanspringeranderson.com

The Paper Bride is Here!

About a year and a half ago Esther K. Smith contacted me through a friend of a friend of someone I was in a show with a few years ago. Esther was going to be writing a book about wedding crafts made completely out of paper and she was looking for someone who could make a paper wedding dress. She inquired if I had one, indeed I did, but as we talked it became obvious that a new dress would need to be made. Jump forward a few months later, countless different designs, at least 12 glue sticks and multiple months of the New York Times Magazine and voilà the paper wedding gown! The dress is made completely out of magazine and newspaper and is secured with glue and a velcro fastener. No sewing machine required! The book is now on sale through Esther's website, Amazon, the publisher's site and I'm sure various other book sites. You can see the full gown on page 82 and a write up on page 91.