Friday Greeting
1: Some unrelated art sharing-After we moved to Central Virginia, sold our house back home, then moved yet again into our permanent home a year later and in between sold and emptied our place back home, my back & hips, which are not the strongest, took a beating. I find myself almost three years later, just now to a place where I am able to work on strengthening again. We’ve begun clearing the fence lines of our yard and dammit, that is tough work! Plus my husband turns into Woody Woodchucker with his saws (aka new toys) and i am the grunt work grubb’r assistant-I drag and rake. Add to that , I’m doing a couple days a week of slow non impact aerobic classes. Perhaps by sharing this, I am making myself more accountable??
But First-(here comes the whining) Wow! Am I out of shape! Second-wow! Am I out of shape! (Worth repeating it is so bad) please forward condolences or encouragement as you will, I need both…
Art News:
2: My WIP is coming along nicely, but the process is slow. I’m going to talk about lace because that was my artistic focus this week. Because I have been feeling compelled to put things in my work is unexplainable, even to me, sometimes. I just feel a desire to paint it and do. Lately it has been lace. I’m not a particularly frilly, lacy sort of person, but I do appreciate the workmanship that was once a handcrafted art.
Out of curiosity I did a little “googling” to remind myself of what I knew about lace, and what it represented to society and to see if I could draw any artistic connections. Historically, lace was worn by men and women who affluent enough to afford the gossamer like hand woven pieces. Thanks to machine reproduction, lace is now widely accessible to everyone. It’s popularity changing with fashion trends.
But what comes to mind when we see lace in various applications? For example, if it is used on a white, satin wedding gown there is a traditional and implied purity, virginity, etc. Or a little girls clothing emotes a girlish, femininity. However, when added to a bustier or sexy piece of negligee our thoughts run toward risqué and raw sexuality. Quite a sliding scale!
Today with evolving societal ideals of norm, that scale is sliding again. Lace is being pushed out of it’s box again but by newer gender bending cultural movements. Changing what defines femininity and masculinity. Men and women both wear lace once again. Interestingly, some people question or react negatively. Yet, the fact remains that male society once donned lace by the yards and with great pride. No one questioned their right to do so, did they? So why now is it such a big deal?
Fashion, like art, has often blurred the lines between utilitarian concepts.
And for just a moment, I think (we) forgot, fashion is art. Change is inevitable. Evolving is crucial.
©️Valerie Dowdy Art
All Rights Reserved
While i have hopefully opened your mind a little, I am still unsure of my resent desire to create lace in my art. But as always, I keep on following the muse..
Until next time.
Peace, Valerie
Fashion is not necessarily about labels. It’s not about brands. It’s about something else that comes from within you.
Ralph Lauren