Rain, Rain, Rain

It seems like we're never going to see the sun here in Massachusetts again. It ended up pouring on the Sunday of DeCordova's "Art in the Park," even still, people turned out—that's how good the event is. We had some times where the rain would let up a bit but it was a mostly soggy day. Still, I did well. It was so nice to be back helping people with hats. Next to making the hats it's my favorite part of the whole process. I like people. If the jury votes me in again, you'll find me at Art in the Park next year.

Here's a picture of one of my new clients. I have her mother's permission to post her photos. She ended up with the pigtail hat, but was kind enough to model a couple of others for me. Thank you little Miss T.

Denishé at Art in the Park, Lincoln, Massachusetts

This weekend you can find me at the DeCordova Museum's Art-in-the-Park event in Lincoln, Massachusetts. It looks like the weather might cooperate this year. Last year it was a sunny, breeze-less, one-hundred degree day. This is a great event with live music, loads of artists, and lots of crafts for the kiddies—all within the setting of a sculpture park.

I always give a 10% discount if you come to a show wearing one of my hats. This year I'm going to give a 10% discount to people who have read this blog posting. The secret password/phrase will be: "Denise, I'll look good in one of your hats!" This should be said with great enthusiasm, so practice before you get to me. Be warned that if you say it with honest-to-goodness, genuine enthusiasm, I might just hug you.

I've been working like mad whenever my daughter is napping, and I have to say that the pressure of time has actually been really good for me—I don't have time to fool around. I've been more focused, I'm getting much better at working on multiple hats, and I'm figuring out where I'm spending too much time dawdling unnecessarily.

I do hope you'll come out to see me this weekend. Oh, and I promise that I'll get my Web site updated before the summer is through—I probably have more than a hundred hats that haven't been posted yet. What a slacker!


I'm including a couple of photos from the collection of hats I'll be taking with me. They're hardly representative of the breadth of styles of hats that I make, but at least you get a taste.

Mother's Day Commission: Part II

Here is the finished product. This is not the kind of hat I usually make, so it was an interesting project. I can already see the influence it's having on my other work. I love that.

I hope she loves the hat and I hope she has a wonderful Mother's Day. I wish the same to all you mothers out there.

Memere's Hat

My Mother-in-law needs a hat for an event that she's attending. We're sending her this hat along with a pair of vintage gloves. My daughter was willing to be a model.

A Mother's Day Commission: part I

A past customer recently contacted me asking if I would make a hat for her mother. We had been talked about it in the past, but the time had finally come to make it happen. So here's another commission from the Denishé studio.

I was sent examples of the kind of hat Mom would want, and since she already owns a Denishé hat in a shape that she likes, we started from that point. This hat will be bucket-shaped natural/cream-colored parisisal straw and will be trimmed in light blue.

I'm including a sketch, though sketches are vague enough that it can be hard to get the idea. The embellishment is on the side of the hat, so the sketch is profile.

I find that I've been enjoying doing the commissions. I learn something new each time.

A Hat in Bloom: Part II—the finished product

Well the hat is done and has been sent off to await its debut at the garden party. Sources tell me that my client "absolutely loves it." Somehow, positive feedback is more rewarding than the paycheck at the end of the day.

I've said it before and I'll say it again—she's a dream client. They tell me what she's wearing, sometimes send me the dress, and then ask me to make something I think would be appropriate. It is so nice to be given the freedom to create. For any of you fellow artists, I wish you similar clients.

Adelaide Blossom

I made this flower hat for Adelaide back in December. It's just fitting her now, but that's fine—it was a lot of hat for her when she was smaller. And though spring is here, there's still a bit of a chill, so she'll get some good use out of it. Hopefully she'll love hats as much as I do.