Back from the Gala…

I’m back from “Botanical Bacchanal” – this year’s fundraising gala for the Fremont Arts Council. Shown above are two of the fashions that I created for this event.

If you’ve been following me here, you know that the work at left, entitled “Dangerous Beauty” was a Victorian inspired fashion, for which I turned brocade scraps and found flora into poisonous flowers that might have been found in a medicinal specimen garden from the period. Worn in spectacular fashion by Ms. M.

I portrayed a goddess character for the Moon Garden Room, and wore a collection of things from my closet, including a kimono I hand embroidered in gold chrysanthemums, a men’s jacket and shoes from India (both thrift store finds) and a headdress crafted from a painted paper lantern supported by a pressed metal crown I brought back from Venice. A lace crown (gifted to me decades earlier) supports a beaded veil. Chinese nail covers, a cloth of silver face mask, and a leather and brass belt completed the look.

To preserve my kimono but still wear a garden, I found a lace shawl and covered it with fabric and beaded flora, much of which I painted with diluted gold paint to dull down the ‘wedding white’ and to keep the color palette more consistent. I also embedded a strand of fairy lights into the back of the shawl, and hid the battery pack amongst the foliage on my right shoulder.

The blue tunic at upper right, was a piece I made for the auction. It was a very large cut velvet scarf with an unusual two-way design that allowed me to cut a neckhole in the center and still have the pattern directionaly correct both front and back. I lined it with a soft grey silk remnant in a woven bamboo pattern, which miraculously was the same size as the scarf. The side seams are held together with Balinese silver beads, which also weight the corners of the hem. It was the only fashion piece in the live auction, and the winning bid was $650!

I also collaborated with another artist – Feej from Black Jar Follies, who asked me to clothe his MoonChild – a luminary he created for the Moon Garden Room (designed by Norma Baum). I offered to paint black stripes onto a bedsheet, but then realized it would block too much light, so I pieced linens together to make the t-shirt, and made the nightgown from a bed ruff and inset strips and sleeves from an eyelet lace shirt. We were both pretty happy with the result.

It was my first gala, and a pretty fun evening for a great cause. Thank you Fremont Arts Council for showcasing our talents and enlisting us to help raise funds to support local arts and art events!