the model as muse- the met

"Exploring the reciprocal relationship between high fashion and evolving ideals of beauty, The Model as Muse: Embodying Fashion focuses on iconic models of the twentieth century and their roles in projecting, and sometimes inspiring, the fashion of their respective eras. The exhibition, organized by historical period from 1947 to 1997, will feature haute couture and ready-to-wear masterworks accompanied by fashion photography and video footage of models who epitomized their epochs."

Loomis Dean (American, 1917–2005)
Cabine of Christian Dior, 1957

Madame Grès (French, 1903–1993)
Evening gown, 1954

House of Dior (French, founded 1947) by John Galliano (British, b. Gibraltar, 1960)
"Lucky" Evening Gown, haute couture fall/winter 2005–2006

Bert Stern (American, b. 1929)

Twiggy in Yves Saint Laurent, Vogue, March 15, 1967

interactive art

While taking my littlest brother downtown to check out the Children's Library in Charlotte, we stumbled across an interactive art exhibit in the lobby- an extremely well thought out interactive display, I might add. Each activity was based off of an artist found in the Mint Museum. My favorite was the fiber activity below based on the artwork of John Garrett.

I couldn't help wonder how this could be incorporated into fashion. Still brainstorming on that one. The textures and colors are inspiring!

In a classical painting :)

Goofing off in the mirror

monochromatic addiction

i found this picture among my files and i LOVE it. unfortunately, i had forgotten to save any information about it.

so sorry. :(

Confession time: I've had a long-standing addiction, by long-standing I mean six months, to black and white. Knowing me and my love of color this admission would seem odd.
I have several theories as to why the love of monochromatic......
a. a grad school class a year ago, required that I must work solely in black and white (much to my dismay and frustration)

b. the set i designed and painted (see below) for the theatre at which I now work, thrived in black, white and gold.set for Clue: the Musical, fall 2008

Since then I find great excitement in graphic patterns.

Rauschenberg- my favorite artistKline- the ultimate black and white artisteven my art is being bleached of the rainbow as of late

close up of "White Words"

what a woman may be

Meet Phyllis Schlafly, most commonly known as the "anti-feminist". I don't know about you, but hearing those words makes me stop, go back and read that again. Really? There is a woman who is anti-feminist? And there is an article about her in the Times?

Lest you think me ignorant, I realize there are many anti-feminist women out there. In fact, during the late 1800s, early 1900s , when women were pushing for their freedom and the right to vote, there were a great deal of "anti-feminists" spreading as much propaganda as the side we hear so often about. And ask anyone of my mother's generation, they all know Phyllis Schlarfly. She is as iconic as feminist, Gloria Steinem.

But in today's society, feminism is just accepted. Of course, there are the "wacko feminists" out there that we all hear about, but overall, every woman is just expected to be feminist. I immediately flash back to the WWII poster of Rosie the Riveter. We grow up thinking this way. Go women.
Unfortunately, other than, "girl power" or "go women", many women my age and younger have little knowledge of the feminist movement history or how it matters to us today. And I'll be perfectly honest, I only know as much as I do considering my grad work centered on the topic.

It's not a topic we really study in school, much less hear any controversy about in the media. We always hear the feminist viewpoint and that "go women" mantra is repeated to us in commercials. Don't take me wrong here, I greatly respect the goal of those commercials....to raise self-esteem and remind girls that we can be anything we dream to be.

Suzanne Braun Levine speaks of feminism in 2009, "I have a 22-year-old daughter who cannot really comprehend that when I got married, I was unable to take out a loan without my husband's signature, or that jobs were listed [as] male and female in the paper. It's inconceivable to her. On the one hand, that's a good thing because it means that she is somewhere else, that she doesn't have to deal with those things. On the other hand, it's a bad thing because she doesn't realize what a struggle women have in most societies."

Coming from the same generation as her daughter, I'd readily agree with her two statements. Feminism has done a world of good. But one must also realize, the feminism of Susan B. Anthony and the feminism of Betty Friedan are worlds apart.

Phyllis Schlafly says of feminism in her interview, "The feminist movement is not about success for women. It is about treating women as victims and about telling women that you can't succeed because society is unfair to you, and I think that's a very unfortunate idea to put in the minds of young women because I believe women can do whatever they want. Feminists don't honor successful women. You never hear them talking about Margaret Thatcher. Take Condoleezza Rice. She's a remarkable, successful woman. You don't hear the feminists talk about her or Carly Fiorina or Jeanne Kirkpatrick. They don't talk about them because they are just determined to preach this idea that women are unfairly treated in our society and they need legislation and government and taxpayers' money in order to get them a fair break. 

"

Both sides have valid points, really. And like everything in the world, there must be a balance. In many arguments, I'd say the anti-feminists are right. The feminists from the 1970s to today have swung way past their original goal....way beyond equality. Then again, I can't imagine living in a world without the freedom that feminism has granted us. Feminists are correct on so many levels.

The key here, in my opinion is go back to the beginning.....back to the roots. Understand where we, as women, have come from, what we have fought through and who we need to idolize.
There is so much clutter in society today. Stop. Reflect. Look to the past. How can we see where we are going, if we don't know where we came from?

Labor 2008 mixed media

Labor is a piece I did about a year ago this time with the same message as the last sentence of the previous paragraph. It is primarily made with a heavy duty watercolor paper that was painted, stamped, photo-transferred and written on. Then I went back through and stitched the paper to look like a quilt.

I chose the quilt as the vehicle to convey my message because of the significant symbolism it holds in woman's history. When you look at the top of a beautiful quilt, you see the brilliant colors, patterns and shapes. But if you were to unstitch the top from the back and turn it over, you'd find loose strings, raw edges and the underside of the colorful fabric.....you'd visually see the work that went into the thing of beauty.

Labor is the backside of a quilt. So often we, as women, easily forget the long years of toil and sacrifices that went into giving us freedom....the right to vote....equality. We have a rich and beautiful heritage.

close ups of Labor
click for more detail

no worries

close up of Record
mixed media
2008

Dialects and accents have always fascinated me. And I'll be the first to admit that I am not great at imitation, but ever since meeting Dylan (pictured below) in FL, I've been inspired to learn the Australian accent.
Mid-conversation one day, I asked him to imitate an American accent. Momentarily his beautiful Australian accent was turned off and he began speaking with a Boston accent. I collapsed in laughter. Even more impressive was his feat of taking on the Southern American accent. Even funnier.
Then it was my turn to imitate his Australian and I failed miserably. Each time my accent turned British sounding, not Australian. This greatly amused him. In an effort to help, he'd slowly say a phrase and I'd repeat it. The tiny little nuances of sounds were incredibly difficult.

dylan

To my great excitement I found the Speech Accent Archive. A site full of sound recordings from people all over the world saying the same little paragraph. An accent is always a classy way to dress up your speech. :)

photo or frick collection

photographer: Joanna Kustra
Sometimes a photo, painting, or sculpture will just strike you. Same with a beautiful piece of clothing or pair of shoes. We can all understand this feeling. As I was looking through FotoDecadent, as I sometimes do, this photo above struck me. There were several others of the same fashion in the shoot, but this one in particular seemed the most "true". And by that I mean the most true to a photo realistic painting. To see the rest of the photos, go here.

My mind immediately jumped to my first visit at the Frick. Yes, go ahead, get that laugh out. I made the mistake last summer of staging a play involving a mystery theft at the mansion of Mr. Frick with my group of 8 to 12 year old budding actors . After the first day of rehearsals and non-stop snicking, I change the lead character's name.
Anyways, back on track....the first time I visited the Frick collection in NYC, I was awe-struck by the painting below. She was taller than I was in real life. Seeing her in person, instead of a textbook was breath-taking. The amazing detail in her bracelet specifically kept my attention for at least 15 minutes. I tried to memorize every detail to tuck away into my growing technique. Just beautiful.
Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres (1780 - 1867)

Comtesse d'Haussonville, 1845
oil on canvas
51 7/8 in. x 36 1/4 in. (131.76 cm x 92.08 cm)
Purchased by The Frick Collection, 1927.

Bonus painting from the Frick Collection....just because it's lovely. George Romney (1734- 1802)
Charlotte, Lady Milnes, 1788-1792
oil on canvas (lined)
95 1/8 in. x 58 3/4 in. (241.62 cm x 149.23 cm)
Henry Clay Frick Bequest.

moby-dick

beautiful illustration by Matt Verges
©2008-2009 ~scumbugg

Moby Dick

One of my bestest guy friends ever, Matt, gave me this book as a present a few years ago. Moby-Dick, his all-time favorite book. I'm ashamed to say, I never actually finished reading it. It has been sitting on that ever-growing, "must do someday" list.
But when ever I see or hear anything about Moby-Dick, I think of him.

Leviticus Jewelry

is full of beautiful pieces such as pictured above. But my excitement level jumped when I saw this moby dick necklace and bracelet. Simply perfect.

moby dick

Raw brass whale and nautical wheel hanging from a 24" raw brass chain.
(there is also a lovely matching bracelet in raw brass)

moby dick (silver)
Antique silver plated whale and nautical wheel hanging from a 24" silver cable chain.

artistic heartbeat

detail of "Onslaught"
click for closer view

Many thanks to the kind comments of Lenorenevermore and dapper kid concerning my last post! Although there seems to be quite the controversy among the public whether Dove's efforts are genuine or not, seeing as they are a beauty company, I highly respect their campaign.
And I'd say dapper kid unknowingly described my artistic mantra best with his comment,

"It is a shame that we seem to have this one ideal
of beauty pushed upon us by the media,
and when looking around that beauty is not common,
nor does one see it in most couples.
After all finding something beautiful is unique to us all,
and we all see beauty in the most remarkably different things.
That is the best part of life"

I could dedicate this entire blog to body image and the role it plays within the history of women. Much of my artwork is focused on visually portraying what is means to be a women today. I was impressed to work on such an overwhelming topic after countless talks with friends and students, all sharing their hearts....and of course, my own struggles.
Since it is my "artistic heartbeat", I'm positive this topic will creep up again.
Helping others see the beauty in life, especially in others is my passion.

labeled

I happened across a fascinating article this morning entitle Perk and Work. The feature story of Vogue.com caught my attention with the title, "The audaciously augmented American body, Sally Singer argues, is fashion's latest challenge", not to mention the picture was full of mannequins. So I clicked.
The article goes on to describe how, over the past 20 years or so, the "worked body" has become a new body type and designers are either having to work with it or ignore it. My summary does not do the article justice. It's better to read it in person. And like I first stated, I find it intriguing.

Labeled, mixed media, 8x16
click for more detail

There are several thoughts concerning the topic in my head but honestly, the first, no, third thought that came to mind was a piece I did a year ago. It is somewhat of a collage, with the antique label holders sewn on to the painting as well as a photo transfer of an antique advertisement.
This article haunts me to this day and probably always will. The picture of the stunning woman centered with the title above her head, "What makes a woman beautiful?" is burned in my memory. The question is as complex and varied in answer as the question, "What is art?". Who can really define beauty? The Greeks did but even then every culture around the world has a different standard of beauty.
And even as complex as this question is, we all have an answer to it. Be it nature or nurture, every single person breathing has an opinion on the matter.
For this piece of art, I chose not to answer it myself, but to take answers from society. You might remember, Dove's beauty campaign and the several commercials they made to promote positive body image? Most people will quickly recognize the billboards with the plethora of women...all different colors and sizes wearing white undergarments.
Well, I went to the commonplace meeting room of society, YouTube, looked up Dove's commercial and then spent a great deal of time reading the posted comments. Everyone has an opinion.
Those opinions were lifted and slipped into antique label holders to answer that burning question, What makes a woman beautiful?"
Everyone is quick to label beauty. And everyone has been labeled by society.

detail of Labeled
click to read some of the answers