Updates...art show at Harold's...and some angels...

So...backtracking to last weekend...I had the opening reception for my solo art show at Harold's Coffee Lounge in Northwood... It went GREAT! Thank you to everyone that came out to support me and my heART!  I can't beleive that I made a completely new body of work just for this show...in less than two weeks!  Yep, sure did.  

When Christian and I first spoke about moving the show from December to November he mentioned, 'hey, it would be great if you showed some new work that no one has seen yet'.  So...that's what I did...made a brand new series of work, specifically for this show.  The only exception was the necklace I made out of greeting cards (right), which was made within the past few months after watching the 'Unconventional Materials Challenge' on the current series of Project Runway.

My solo show got me like...
oh...and thanks for taking my new head shots, Brent!!!  You're 'da BEST!

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Mackie helped select colors. Thanks, Mack!

But it did take some planning.  I wanted it to be almost like a fashion collection, to have a real sense that everything was cohesive.  I did this in the colors and materials chosen...and if you look, all the painted pieces have the word 'fashion' scrawled on them again and again. So from the background of my head shot, which would become the 'fabric' for my paper dress, to the gowns and backgrounds of my paintings on canvas to the wall mannequins...everything was tied together.

 
​Another thing that I was focusing on...making sure I also coordinated with my show.  I found a great lavendar dress on clearance at Charming Charlie a couple of years ago, which I wore my SIL's bridesmaid luncheon.  I thought that pulling out this specific color, lavender, would be a great accent to my artwork so I hand painted portions of the dress with 'fashion' and added that to my 'opening night' secrets.

(Top Left) Close up of the hand painted fabric (Bottom Left) I don't have access to fashion guru, Tim Gunn, so I made a substitution. This is Scooter, giving me the once-over. (Right) The finished dress with some of the pieces, still in progress at that time.

After the hand painted dress...it was all about accessories!  My vision was to create upcycled Tshirt necklaces for my girlfriends to wear at my opening.  They came dressed all in black to really make the colors pop, and I just love the idea that my art was on the wall AND walking around the room!  I took the 'scraps' from their necklaces and combined it with gray T-shirt necklace to tie in everything together...and of course all the pieces has various embellishments...from hand stitched beading, to re-purposed broken jewelry pieces to small crystals.  As for my shoes...I just had to turn that into a DIY project as well!  I needed silver shoes but couldn't find any that I liked, so I finally settled on some gold wedges that I spray painted with silver glitter and then hand glue clear crystals on for extra sparkle.  (More details about all of this on Instagram, @artinw_damuse )

And...well, here it is...my show!

Main wall...paintings, painted mannequins and jewelry...

Front corner...more paintings (from my 'Poetry' series) and a dress I made out of hand painted banner paper, paint samples and bling! I burnt my fingers pretty bad making it but it was totally worth it!

And...well...that's it.  That was my show. 

Oh wait...one more thing.  Before the opening I walked about the area right around Harold's and left some #AngelDropART in pastic bags tied with purple ribbon in honor of my grandma, 'Flossie', and in honor of all those affected by Alzheimer's.  Granny really started my love of fashion and sparkly things...and I won't ever forget it, even if she can't remember.  

The gals...they are for granny, back home in NC. I hope all that found them will share some love and sparkle, like she always did, and still does!

...I love you, granny!
​#AngelDropART