tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-335681482024-02-19T10:34:26.158-05:00Denishé HatsStuff that's going on with Denise Shea in the Denishé studioDenishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.comBlogger173125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-15357785624568761782013-10-03T21:09:00.000-04:002013-10-03T21:09:00.273-04:00This Little Hat Stayed Local<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I sold some hats at Open Studios this weekend. It's always nice to meet people who appreciate my work—it gives me the fuel that I need to keep making.<br />
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One hat sale this weekend was to Ania. She loved a hand-sculpted red beret that I had just made a few weeks before. And it looked so nice on her.<br />
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What was even nicer was that she liked it so much she sent me this great picture of her in the DeCordova Sculpture Park. What a great and happy shot! Thank you Ania!<br />
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If anyone else wants to send me photos of them in their Denishé hats, I'd be happy to post them.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-45647737278796125702013-10-03T16:39:00.001-04:002013-10-03T16:39:32.151-04:00The Hat that Went to France<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5HMHhelZ3weS41jKAgzv8Vim5EcUY4L7EfLFE10N056Pn8iVWbRm2jJ8uaMQQ4C4yJcDCyJt-gu_BjmQKQa3J5JTuPvbf7EFvs58_iRV-MtV752oP6Yg0KY5plnr3299Gy9b/s1600/Screen+shot+2013-10-03+at+4.34.39+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhy5HMHhelZ3weS41jKAgzv8Vim5EcUY4L7EfLFE10N056Pn8iVWbRm2jJ8uaMQQ4C4yJcDCyJt-gu_BjmQKQa3J5JTuPvbf7EFvs58_iRV-MtV752oP6Yg0KY5plnr3299Gy9b/s320/Screen+shot+2013-10-03+at+4.34.39+PM.png" width="238" /></a>Here is a lovely photo taken in France of one of my recent commissions. Doesn't she look divine? I want to go to France!<br />
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Hat: Custom straw pillbox with rooster feathers, straw curl, and handmade rosette.<br />
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<br />Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-18156832975010301022013-09-27T19:53:00.003-04:002013-09-27T19:53:46.768-04:00ArtSpace Maynard Open Studios Is This Weekend!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvvAXCKPve26H6iECHmS_fgHakI6buo0UqYXLiqce4f7OJ3uMoAbZf0sDteRQlzq29gQKRytXpbJgsTdk8resLBuvb17BL996t53U15ft6-fClOJuG8FhmdqnXQxMp3ImWH2l/s1600/ArtSpace+OS.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipvvAXCKPve26H6iECHmS_fgHakI6buo0UqYXLiqce4f7OJ3uMoAbZf0sDteRQlzq29gQKRytXpbJgsTdk8resLBuvb17BL996t53U15ft6-fClOJuG8FhmdqnXQxMp3ImWH2l/s320/ArtSpace+OS.png" width="236" /></a>Time to head to Maynard to check out Open Studios. I'll be there with my latest hats for you to try on and give me feedback.<br />
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September 28 and 29, from noon to 5:00. I hope to see you there. We're at 63 Summer St. in Maynard. My studio is 119.<br />
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As I've been recovering from major surgery that I had last November, I've been figuring out how to make getting the work done a little easier. I'm still a little clumsy, so don't trip me up!Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-55408286766770333342013-01-29T23:41:00.000-05:002013-01-29T23:41:10.692-05:00"Standing on the Edge": the processI've been working on a painting since about June. As usual, it has been a long and complicated journey. There have been various titles running around in my brain, but the piece has managed to get <i>itself </i>named. Back in the fall I was part of a storytelling event with a writers' group I belong to <a href="http://www.facebook.com/SouledOutArtists">(Souled Out Artists)</a>. They suggested using my then-incomplete collage for the graphic on the program. Since I feel like my collages are really just visual stories, I was happy to do it. And so it's called <i>Standing on the Edge</i>—which was the name of the show, which ironically got <i>its</i> name when one of the writers suggested it from looking at the collage. It's like looking in a mirror at a mirror. So thanks <a href="http://kevinconnolly.com/fr_home.cfm">Kevin</a> for the title.<br />
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"I never walked near the edge, used to feel for the ledge."<br />
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I'll restrict my comments to talking about aesthetics and not about psychology, though I love hearing the stories that people see in the work, so feel free to comment if you like.<br />
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I'm sorry that I didn't take a photo of the original piece-of-crap painting I was covering up, but it was of a bridge in a park in Worcester. I made it when was a sophomore in college. I probably didn't photograph it because it still embarrassed me.<br />
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You'll have to forgive the conditions in which the photos were taken—I wasn't always painting in the studio, so the lighting varies. Still, you get the idea of the elements that changed. In watching those elements, you can see where the the struggle kept happening—the collage seems almost unchanged but for these two or three spots on it. I wanted to pull my hair out.<br />
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These frames show the major changes in the project. They don't include the final piece. I'll put that into another post because I haven't photographed it yet.<br />
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<br />Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-77589800433609914022013-01-25T17:03:00.001-05:002013-01-25T17:03:37.425-05:00"I'll Follow You Into the Dark"Okay, I'm a bit sentimental—I'll admit it. Around here we've taken to loving Death Cab for Cutie's <i>I'll Follow You Into the Dark</i>. It's mushy, it's gushy, it reeks of sappiness. I love it. I saw on iTunes that there's a video, so I decided to check it out—it sealed the deal. I love to draw. I love drawings on impractical paper. I love stories. It's all right t here. What are these people trying to do with this heart-wrenching love song, kill me? If you've not heard it yet, <a href="http://www.popscreen.com/v/6xwpr/Death-Cab-For-Cutie-_-I-Will-Follow-You-Into-The-Dark">here's a link</a>. I think it will be on this family's playlist for a while—probably until the end. I'm such a sap. Somebody shoot me.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-39134752385069117822013-01-08T15:08:00.000-05:002013-01-08T15:08:00.890-05:00What I've been up toYou may have thought I had fallen off the planet—no hat posts, not even a painting. What happened to the milliner from Maynard, Mass?<br />
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Oh, what a year 2012 was! There was just way, too much healthcare. In fact, by the time August rolled around, I thought I might explode if I had to pay one more copay. But in the early September I had an MRI of my spine (I have some various spinal cord conditions), and that MRI made my neurologist send me to my neurosurgeon in Boston. The neurosurgeon decided that it was time to clean some things up. So I spent eight days around Thanksgiving in the hospital—it was ok. My husband brought me a latté every day, and brought his laptop so that he could work and still be nearby.<br />
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I had similar surgery as a child, but I'm far from being a child, and I forgot how much it would hurt. Still, it ended and here I am. I'm still recovering—the neurosurgeon says that it will take 12-24 months for all the nerves to heal up—but every day gets a little easier. I'm in physical therapy two times a week and am both making progress and learning a lot! While in the hospital and when I got home, many of our friends and family pitched in to help us out with childcare, meals, you name it. I am so grateful for that—I was able to rest for a good period of time.<br />
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I haven't made any new hats yet, but I did get my last shipment of ten or so out to the Peabody Essex Museum before I went into the hospital. I've gone to the studio a handful of times, and in that time I've been working on a painting. I should be finishing that one soon, and when I do, I'll post images of how it progressed.<br />
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In the meantime, here's a link to a video of coverage of the Hats exhibit at the Peabody Essex Museum. Sorry I can't embed the video—you'll have to click on this instead: <a href="http://youtu.be/GuRULTHlotE">A Party on Your Head</a> I still have to get myself out there one more time to see it again.<br />
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Linda Hartigan, the Chief Curator of the museum, who we see at the beginning of the video, bought one of my more interesting hats from the PEM boutique in the first days of the show. I felt honored to have it go to her. (The photo in this post is of the hat she bought. You may recall it from my February blog post <a href="http://denishehats.blogspot.com/2012/02/pretty-things.html">Pretty Things</a>). I love this hat.<br />
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Do yourself a favor and go see the show. You'll find my burgundy hat under glass in the American Gallery on the first floor.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-28063787000742974112012-09-14T16:15:00.001-04:002012-09-14T16:22:25.657-04:00My Hat Looks Important!Here's a picture of my hat that's being exhibited at the Peabody Essex Museum in conjunction with their <a href="http://pem.org/exhibitions/146-hats_an_anthology_by_stephen_jones">show on hats</a>. My hat is part of the local show "Contemporary New England Milliners"(CNEM). I think there were four of us chosen to have hats in the show, but I can't say for sure.<br />
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Mine is the burgundy hat on the left. The hat on the right is by Sarah Havens. You can find these and the other CNEM hats in the American gallery.<br />
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This has been a totally cool experience. Seeing my hat under glass makes it seem very important.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-19862141120447006202012-09-11T10:20:00.000-04:002012-09-11T10:27:02.741-04:00Have you not seen it?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Oh dear, you must go to the <a href="http://pem.org/exhibitions/146-hats_an_anthology_by_stephen_jones">Peabody Essex Museum to see their latest exhibit</a>—it's all about hats! Old, new, decorative, funky—it's all there. There's eve a giant body hat—it covers the head all the way down to the knees!<br />
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I'm a lucky girl because I have a hat on display in a related exhibit, their "Contemporary New England Milliners" show. So funny to see one of my hats under glass and on display in a museum. Then you can go over to the shop and try on some of the hats that they have there.<br />
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If you're into fashion, put this on you list of things to see. The show will be up until February, but you should go early because you'll probably want to go back a couple of times.<br />
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Opening night reception was on Friday, and Stephen Jones, milliner extraordinaire, was on hand to talk about this exhibit that he put together. Here are a couple of shots I took at the event.<br />
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<br />Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-32808570858536403592012-09-04T20:48:00.005-04:002012-09-04T20:48:42.043-04:00The New Studio<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;">
<span style="text-align: start;">I just realized that I never posted a photograph of what the studio looks like. Of course, you're going to want to actually come to our Open Studios event being held the last weekend of September to see it all for yourself. In the meantime, here's what the new-ish digs look like.</span></div>
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Yes, it's a little packed, but we like it and Andrew and I are getting along just fine even though the space is a lot tighter. We'll try to have it looking tidier by Open Studios!<br />
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ArtSpace Maynard</div>
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63 Summer St., Maynard. Mass.</div>
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September 29th - 30th</div>
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noon - 5p.m.</div>
Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-82528200654926312242012-07-30T22:53:00.000-04:002012-07-30T23:05:41.911-04:00Summer's OverThis is too long for a blog post, but please, just let me get it out.<br />
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Summer is already over. Yup. I hate to report that, but for me it feels pretty true. We had planned it all properly, and it was going to be a pretty good season, but life has a way of doing whatever the hell it wants.<br />
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We thought if we got an early start by doing our yearly trip to Portugal at the beginning of the summer, that there would still be plenty of summer left for us when we got home. And I'd be able to get back and finish up that lovely commission for the Peabody Essex Museum before having to have foot surgery in August.<br />
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Summer itself had gotten a leap on us and my garden blooms were going by so quickly that I couldn't remember what would be left when we got home. And I knew that, though they shouldn't be, the raspberries would have come and gone before we could taste one.<br />
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But Portugal, great, right? Three weeks in coastal Portugal with friends, family, and great food—who could ask for more. Well, the Mr. of this Milliner is in a startup and doesn't actually get vacation time, so those three weeks for him were mostly delicious meals wrapped in fourteen-hour work days. The joy of the trip was having my mom and step-dad visit from Massachusetts, bringing with them my nieces (eight and eleven). We had nearly two weeks of laughter and fun. My three-year-old daughter got really close to her cousins, while we showed them around, husband's laptop always in tow.<br />
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The plan was that we'd fly back to Massachusetts with the family when they returned, but three days before we were supposed to leave, my father (who lives in Portugal) had a heart attack and ended up in the hospital. Our visitors had to go home. The vacation collapsed. I didn't want to be there any more, but we cancelled our flights ($250 penalty for each of our tickets?!).<br />
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So I found myself in Portugal trying to negotiate a healthcare system that doesn't quite make sense to me, in a language that I had once considered myself fluent in (Side note: Fluency is like the needed coin that you suddenly drop in your car on your way to the toll booth—you feel the tip of it with your fingers, and just when you seem to be lifting it from the grimy carpet, it's gone again.). My Portuguese was not quite up to the task, or more realistically, it was making me so tired!<br />
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I spent each of the next twelve days in a hospital that a three-year-old wasn't allowed to enter. The fourteen-hour-a-day-working husband suddenly had a toddler that wanted to spend lots of time trying to get him to play and talk about stuff. My father's condition was slowly improving, and they were able to move him out of a more critical unit, but things seemed to be moving about as fast as an octogenarian driving a town car on a lovely Sunday afternoon. And then the healthcare service industry of Portugal decided that they would go on strike. I was done. My father was stable and awaiting results and there was obviously nothing more that my presence was accomplishing. We had extended our stay by nearly two stressful weeks, and it was time to go home.<br />
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So I came home to piles of mail, appointments that I needed to reschedule, blooms gone past. And I had to keep calling my father and trying to make a stubborn man follow doctor's orders with the mere power of my voice (impossible!). There was still so much that I wanted to do—trips to a nearby lake, a stay on Cape Cod with family-like friends, all the ice cream we had missed, barbecues, community gardening, and on and on.<br />
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And the trip to Portugal had been scheduled with plenty of time for me to come home, enjoy some summer, and then have surgery on a foot that's been trying kill me for a couple of years now. That surgery is just a handful of days away, and the foot won't be able to get wet for three weeks after that. So forget sand, and beach, and shoes, I won't even be getting a shower!<br />
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And the hats... Well, we'll just have to wait and see how I heal before I go finish up the commission. Surprisingly, there's a lot of standing and walking to be done.<br />
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Oh, this is not the summer I wanted to have.<br />
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Thank you so much for letting me have my little pity party. I think I'm done now.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-51261904772386002792012-05-23T15:22:00.004-04:002012-05-23T15:22:46.434-04:00Denishé at the Peabody Essex Museum Shop!I just checked my blog and realized that I hadn't posted in so long—how had I forgotten?<br />
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I have managed to land on Planet Luck. I never even asked how she heard about me, but one of the buyers from The Peabody Essex Museum boutique contacted me about making some hats for their store. The hats would be sold during their <a href="http://www.pem.org/exhibitions/146-hats_an_anthology_by_stephen_jones">upcoming show</a> about the history and marvels of millinery.<br />
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This is a great opportunity.<br />
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What's funny is that just a couple of weeks before, I was talking to my studio mate and saying, "You know, I think I'm going to do what my husband suggested—don't worry so much about selling hats, just make the stuff I want to make." I was going to slow down, maybe do some more painting, and make really fantastic, but slow-paced headwear.<br />
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How could I say no to the request from the Peabody Essex? I couldn't. Especially when she said these magic words, and I paraphrase: "I want you to make us your most-creative hats. I don't want anything that I've seen in stores. I want unique, fun, colorful. Oh, and by the way, we'll pay you for them." I looked around to see if there might be hidden cameras. Was this some kind of joke? <br />
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It was not. And now I find myself in the process of making about twenty-five hats by August first. I'm thrilled, though a little bummed about the painting. I'll get over that. It's just so exciting to think that I'll have my hats in such a lovely place, in a wonderful gift shop, and among such talented <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatmaking">milliners</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXXhYgO4IbZhhoTFXGGtKJJyHRBY3u1JzYRZKhl0Ot-DMUIPuD2SQcNUnZfcl1AJPCVdrayeFTVaq6JSL69CMk1en39puoEgWRVwKe7-G6Ki8HoD3dUUrdV8VsusKEkS_JtkM/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-05-23+at+3.08.37+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnXXhYgO4IbZhhoTFXGGtKJJyHRBY3u1JzYRZKhl0Ot-DMUIPuD2SQcNUnZfcl1AJPCVdrayeFTVaq6JSL69CMk1en39puoEgWRVwKe7-G6Ki8HoD3dUUrdV8VsusKEkS_JtkM/s320/Screen+shot+2012-05-23+at+3.08.37+PM.png" width="320" /></a><br />
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They really liked Liora's hat (that red hat there), so I'm making some like it for the museum. Liora is going to be wearing this to her son's Bar Mitzvah. Mazel Tov for both of us!<br />
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So wish me luck, as I set my head to making the absolute, most-best-beautiful-fantastic hats that I've ever made. And let's hope that lots of people get to go see this amazing show that has been traveling through Europe.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-44490542060940584662012-02-28T14:25:00.000-05:002012-02-28T14:25:18.793-05:00Pretty ThingsHere's a pretty little thing I've been working on. I'll have it with me at Paradise City Marlborough.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1StTTuqY3g7FnsmQhfsjAc-OsL3yOujuJicdT1svV3uL6tlSMOhgoMpvWG4NZfQCtcbykP8b3-Ek5TnFJnH39j2arD2ebNQzxVq0bfraLtxFHTFtSsk7PQH-a-VDWeDPfJvj_/s1600/IMG_1755.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="239" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1StTTuqY3g7FnsmQhfsjAc-OsL3yOujuJicdT1svV3uL6tlSMOhgoMpvWG4NZfQCtcbykP8b3-Ek5TnFJnH39j2arD2ebNQzxVq0bfraLtxFHTFtSsk7PQH-a-VDWeDPfJvj_/s320/IMG_1755.JPG" /></a></div>Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-22708947740879858502012-02-25T13:58:00.000-05:002012-02-25T13:58:49.454-05:00Go Make Stuff!This really resonates with me, I hope it does with you, too.<br />
<iframe width="360" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PbC4gqZGPSY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-27299288230781666052012-02-24T16:10:00.000-05:002012-02-24T16:10:47.306-05:00Got to get making!<b>Oh my!</b> I just realized that my next show isn't in a month, it's in <b>two-and-a-half weeks.</b> All this experimenting that I've been doing has to, <i>sigh,</i> stop so that I can get to making more tried-and-true wearables. That's not to say that I won't be tinkering again soon—probably after the show—that fooling-around-sort-of-thing is what makes for the new and exciting. <br />
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I've been working with a new material called <a href="http://www.dazian.com/html/fosshape.html">Fosshape</a>. It's a modern version of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckram">buckram</a>, but without all the mess. Essentially, it's a foundation material that can be molded with steam or extreme heat, that you can build upon. I bought a few yards of it with a promise to myself that I would use it. I'm doing pretty well so far, though not every hat has worked. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcD2UCvZFSh1LPP5W436h9OVzJi1SN3fNnkhy6LA9nsCw-4H61n_DgXobq8C8foqfUd7mILIWomwPaR8afdPO1dCY5eh3u6WowidBX177n97ZsgZPJZmHsDC7GjN5Nt-becOo/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-23+at+10.55.04+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="397" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfcD2UCvZFSh1LPP5W436h9OVzJi1SN3fNnkhy6LA9nsCw-4H61n_DgXobq8C8foqfUd7mILIWomwPaR8afdPO1dCY5eh3u6WowidBX177n97ZsgZPJZmHsDC7GjN5Nt-becOo/s400/Screen+shot+2012-02-23+at+10.55.04+PM.png" /></a></div><br />
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Yesterday I was working on a little number that had a Fosshape base. I decided to call an old friend that I hadn't spoken to in a while because I knew the task ahead of me was a bit tedious, and I needed a distraction. With headset on, I called my friend and set about blind stitching fabric to the base. The call was a good move. We easily spoke for nearly two hours, and the repetition of my task was like background noise. Next step is to sew a lining in. <br />
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I'll have this, and the other things that I've been working on with me when I show at <a href="http://www.paradisecityarts.com/east/homeeast.html">Paradise City Marlborough</a> March sixteenth through eighteenth. <br />
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If you're thinking of coming to me looking for something special (i.e. special color or material) give me a heads up and I'll try have something to show you.<br />
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Hope to see you in Marlborough!Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-84487083270695662352012-02-23T23:18:00.000-05:002012-02-23T23:18:08.395-05:00Once Upon a TimeI finished my painting. <i>What painting? </i>The one I started back in June or July. The one that's been like a monkey on my back—<i>Toss it? Finish it?</i> In the end I decided that I couldn't throw it away, that I really did need to see it through. I'm glad I did.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQadJbmD213jB5SScgsTEwB2hdfG18Q3zcMSmOIX9azpE5vmmaJsqJt0TjEO7VnQTyAAtg73UGkFWPfJ3LUSQ0l1N_s0Y1YWF9g2LU50x05RrKfADcqCuGntrB4JqeHiOxZrj8/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-02-23+at+11.04.30+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="307" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQadJbmD213jB5SScgsTEwB2hdfG18Q3zcMSmOIX9azpE5vmmaJsqJt0TjEO7VnQTyAAtg73UGkFWPfJ3LUSQ0l1N_s0Y1YWF9g2LU50x05RrKfADcqCuGntrB4JqeHiOxZrj8/s400/Screen+shot+2012-02-23+at+11.04.30+PM.png" /></a></div><br />
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This painting has struggled and searched to find its own meaning, and I have struggled right along with it. I've had good people in my life to help me work through it and offer advice. Now all that remains is the difficult task of mounting it and getting it framed. The brown background is not part of the piece—it's just the cork board holding it temporarily. So it's two pieces, with a 1.5" river between each side. Maybe I'll post another photo after I make the difficult framing decisions. <br />
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I wasn't sure about the title, and then one came to me. Then I forgot it. So for now, I'll just leave it with a loose title of <i>"Once Upon a Time"</i>, and you can know that it might go by a different name by time it comes back from the framers.<br />
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Please feel free to leave comments. I always find them interesting.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-19805007301540079732012-01-27T14:10:00.000-05:002012-01-27T14:10:57.989-05:00The Big Move: post 1We are now exactly one month into the new move, and I have yet to report on any of it. It seems that every day we're still looking to put a pile of things away or figure out what to do with some large container or piece of equipment.<br />
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We moved from a 1,022 s.f. space (that included a storage room and a bathroom), to a 724 s.f. space (no storage, no bathroom). Let me tell you—those three-hundred square feet made a lot of difference. We had lots we needed to get rid of, and we needed to figure out how to store the piles of ugly things that we needed but didn't want to look at. On top of that, I needed to come to terms with that fact that I would no longer have my own sink to felt at—oh, how that hurts! Still, it beats the steam pipe leaks. By the time we moved out, we had already had six or seven for the start of cold-weather season, and it wasn't even officially winter yet. Let's hope the new tenants have better mojo than we did.<br />
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It seems like it's going to take me a long time to get this post done—my time is pretty limited. So, for some perspective, let me show you what my studio setup looked like when I started at ArtSpace back in 2004.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwoWwy7_Fvn5FsAq22ezlegjTG-pqU3YrsyAIfAdCqOuYMTKn_WrM374kJ2mQ8USFDW9ZwMB3GrQqk4p6OsVdrK0yCNMbxXqq0GhW7wuckHMjyPU0V1o9MEoTjndXBtkZXp1q/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-01-27+at+1.45.03+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="302" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWwoWwy7_Fvn5FsAq22ezlegjTG-pqU3YrsyAIfAdCqOuYMTKn_WrM374kJ2mQ8USFDW9ZwMB3GrQqk4p6OsVdrK0yCNMbxXqq0GhW7wuckHMjyPU0V1o9MEoTjndXBtkZXp1q/s400/Screen+shot+2012-01-27+at+1.45.03+PM.png" /></a></div>Pretty Humble beginnings, no? It was a start.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-28836055898947447102012-01-12T16:24:00.002-05:002012-01-12T16:26:16.536-05:00A Must-ShareIt's been a long time since I posted to my blog. Things have been crazy around here—the holidays, my studio move, the normal and not-so-normal things. I'll post soon about how the changing of studios has gone, but in the meantime I wanted to share this video that a friend sent to me. <br />
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Give me another twenty to forty years and I'm going to be one of these ladies, for sure!<br />
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<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/nWKTfqivbRQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
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Many happy wishes in this brand, spanking-new year,<br />
Denise<br />
Denishé HatsDenishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-30497671021452456732011-11-30T23:32:00.000-05:002011-11-30T23:32:21.897-05:00What are you doing this weekend?Oh, the first weekend in December—always so many things to do... And I never get to go to any of them! But that's okay—it'll be better where I am. So I'm taking this moment right now to invite you personally to join me. Yes you. Please come.<br />
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This weekend is ArtSpace Maynard's annual Holiday Sale. I'm part of the organizing team, and I can tell you that we've put so much into making this event be more diverse and creative than ever before.<br />
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Forty-six artists will be showing their varied works. How varied? Well, you know I'm good for the hats, but we also have a woman who makes giant garden leaves out of cast cement, painters, book binders, jewelers, potters, enamelists, fiber artists, and some that are so cool and hard to explain that I won't even try. Suffice it to say that it's going to be a really cool show.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2meI-cQz_eABUInPi0U-clrlDvf67R_LbZVPpnX7BVbGm1XYuOpJqx8IsZo6xWlZoy9HYfvedAsuzrqKatyez0BLiXR9r7LLil3UZn-398G32NQ-AWFaoTfeRzOAUDDCK8VhJ/s1600/IMG_0968.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="140" width="140" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2meI-cQz_eABUInPi0U-clrlDvf67R_LbZVPpnX7BVbGm1XYuOpJqx8IsZo6xWlZoy9HYfvedAsuzrqKatyez0BLiXR9r7LLil3UZn-398G32NQ-AWFaoTfeRzOAUDDCK8VhJ/s400/IMG_0968.JPG" /></a></div>I've been not only working on things to keep your head warm, but also on head adornment so you can make a fantastic entrance into a holiday gathering. There's nothing like a hat to bring out a smile in people—trust me. <br />
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So pardon me for getting you such late notice—I've been so busy making things. But I do hope you'll consider a drop in. Coming the first day will get you the best selection, but there will be loads of things to take home and wrap.<br />
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The sale runs Friday–Sunday, but the hours are different each day, so pay attention. <b>Friday, December 2nd, 5-8 p.m., Saturday, December 3rd, 12–5 p.m., and Sunday, December 4th, 12–4 p.m.<br />
63 Summer St., Maynard Massachusetts.</b> There's a parking lot in the back of the building accessed by Concord St.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-57731359604273894232011-11-21T10:06:00.000-05:002011-11-21T10:06:06.439-05:00New TitleThe new/old painting I'm trying to finish has a new title—I think. I'm calling it, "I Never Smoked a Cigarette".Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-51116622182192908492011-11-20T15:23:00.002-05:002011-11-20T20:26:28.576-05:00Back to the Painting<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQsxmI5j85_gLNVvoWatNLrJx_8AVfsnIiGILFJA1LPDvXFI4p2DXRP5nl3rF8v5onxpnlSbtpROwGoY1YBmQ0gIiIR1-5lL4tOCratY5OyVm07PvsR1HXXjXvi6gfrFVBa9r/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-11-20+at+1.45.02+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="310" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghQsxmI5j85_gLNVvoWatNLrJx_8AVfsnIiGILFJA1LPDvXFI4p2DXRP5nl3rF8v5onxpnlSbtpROwGoY1YBmQ0gIiIR1-5lL4tOCratY5OyVm07PvsR1HXXjXvi6gfrFVBa9r/s400/Screen+shot+2011-11-20+at+1.45.02+PM.png" /></a></div><br />
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Some of you may have been watching as I worked my way through, into, and around a painting that I started back in June/July. I'm sure I mentioned that I get these bursts of creative energy, during which time I feel a strong urge to make something other than a hat. Usually that urge lasts four to seven days, and during that time I need to make and complete what's whirling around in my brain. For some reason, if I don't finish in that time, the piece just won't work—the story changes, the images become irrelevant to me, the whole thing just stops making sense and falls flat. And that's what happened with this piece. But I'm stubborn, and I don't like to start something new until I've finished what's already been started. So, difficult as it was, I kept banging my head against this piece trying to make it "move". <br />
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I haven't posted anything about it for a while because the struggle was too much for me to share. A couple of times I thought about throwing the whole thing in the trash—that would have forced me to let go of it—but some friends in an <a href="http://soulvomitartists.wordpress.com/">artists'salon</a> that I attend encouraged me to keep going. I'll be seeing them again tomorrow, and that, combined with the urge to create, has brought be back to the painting with more energy. I'm trying to finish it. <br />
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I'm including in this post images of how the image shifted as I worked—layers on top of layers, the "story" changing with each window of time that I was able to work on it. Things that seemed important often got covered up, other things got moved around, new images came in. <br />
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From <a href="http://soulvomitartists.wordpress.com/">the Salon</a> I got two really good ideas that helped me move forward. When the piece was over all visually too loud, <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/stevenbogart">Steve Bogart</a> suggested painting the whole thing with a thin layer of brown so that I could figure out what was really important to me. Somebody else, not sure who, asked if there were any part of the painting that I actually liked. There was a strip. It was suggested that I somehow divide it from the rest of the piece, maybe with a line or something. That made sense to me. So you'll see that at some point, I took a knife and cut a section off. <br />
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I think that's saying enough for now, but looking at all of these images, it's always a wonder to even me—how does one get from point 'a' to point 'v'? Art is a gamble, a terrifying process of fits and spurts. I never know quite where I'll end up.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMz5mLMa4oYiWJT1s91OFWM7PynFtUvx2Dat4JVNVAPpTiG9U5ZJSDRxOuUdqNTJN9s20L9nkclVq7XgkS3mrtfnat5TXU4rY-_AYPTTnJyK_Lp7asvT3nI3RKbJ2OzXtDEmj/s1600/all.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="278" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFMz5mLMa4oYiWJT1s91OFWM7PynFtUvx2Dat4JVNVAPpTiG9U5ZJSDRxOuUdqNTJN9s20L9nkclVq7XgkS3mrtfnat5TXU4rY-_AYPTTnJyK_Lp7asvT3nI3RKbJ2OzXtDEmj/s320/all.jpg" /></a></div>Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-78355454910223878632011-11-07T14:13:00.000-05:002011-11-07T14:13:27.116-05:00Two Minutes of SpittingI'm sorry, but I can't help but post this. It's about my daughter and how cute I think the now-three-year-old is—and that always seems a little cliché. Still, I'm going to post it.<br />
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At the end of the summer she was learning how to spit. If you think you want to watch two minutes of spitting, be my guest. If you want to ignore me, please do. <br />
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The next day she actually got it. Her dad told her that what she needed to do was say the word "two".<br />
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For the record, what I've asked her to say is, "I'm spitting in the sinK."<br />
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<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/O6I94bmifWc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-9454594310717202442011-10-01T19:05:00.000-04:002011-10-01T19:05:57.276-04:00Funny ExperienceI've never wanted fame, or at least, that's what I thought.<br />
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My husband and I went out on a rare date to a nice restaurant called <a href="http://www.sprigsrestaurant.com/">Sprigs</a>—eat there, it's fabulous. I wore a nice dress and topped my head with my "spider" hat—a tentacle-y thing that sits in my hair like a grip of wild dreadlocks. <br />
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A couple of women got up to leave and as they made their way toward the door, one woman started to timidly approach our table. <i>She's going to comment on my hat,</i> I thought. And she did, but the interaction that followed the comment left me laughing. Here's how it went:<br />
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"I like your hat!"<br />
"Thank you. I make hats for a living." (A phrase I'm constantly saying.)<br />
"Are you Denise?"<br />
"Yes, do I know you?"<br />
"Denise the hat maker?!"<br />
"Yes."<br />
"I saw your work at <a href="http://www.paradisecityarts.com/">Paradise City</a>." Then, leaning toward her friend, "I <i>told you</i> it was her!"<br />
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She seemed thrilled to have met me in the real world, and I had, for a moment, a very petite and humorous moment of fame. How fun. How funny. <br />
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<i>Thanks, whoever you were!</i>Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-47876869280868972742011-09-24T18:15:00.001-04:002011-09-24T18:16:53.095-04:00Day One of Open Studios<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2eeZ_pjMjm5Te6Ppte2RmUds2YJhpWqa3mFMijNnovfiflW8zhH4nOrUUz26XcW00HZKeWzF8GUJwsQAxg4zDYxlMxFvnBzsltP_a5H-Ea-1bL3jBDoRF1mHlRpuHnHI5tEm/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-09-19+at+10.11.00+AM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="175" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX2eeZ_pjMjm5Te6Ppte2RmUds2YJhpWqa3mFMijNnovfiflW8zhH4nOrUUz26XcW00HZKeWzF8GUJwsQAxg4zDYxlMxFvnBzsltP_a5H-Ea-1bL3jBDoRF1mHlRpuHnHI5tEm/s320/Screen+shot+2011-09-19+at+10.11.00+AM.png" /></a></div>Well, day one of our annual Open Studios is done. This year our studio manager made a change and decided to not have our event in conjunction with the local town festival. Not sure if it was a good or bad idea. I guess we'll know by the end of the day tomorrow. <br />
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We artists talked about how it went, how the turnout was. It seems that no matter what, I always talk a lot, so my throat is sore anyway. But I certainly didn't sell in the volume that I usually do. I could blame it on lower numbers, which I believe was the case. Or I could blame it on the economy, which most agree is in the toilet. But I think I'll blame myself—I didn't make hats to please the masses this time. It was a choice. As you may know, I've been doing other things this year—making two-dimensional art. So I'm not upset by my lack of sales. It's still fun putting stuff on peoples' heads.<br />
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Visitors who noticed, were pleasantly surprised by my mixed-media collages. Some asked me to tell them the story of this one or that. Taking my friend Paul's advice I said, "It would be so much more interesting if you told me what you see." And it was. People saw all kinds of interesting things. For a few clips, I got to be entertained. Nice.<br />
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Still one more day to go. My feet are sore and I'm beat. Time to go kick back. A chilled glass of wine would be nice. <br />
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If you're interested in coming, tomorrow's calling hours are noon to five o'clock, 63 Summer St., Maynard, Massachusetts.Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-32965000699427310642011-09-20T23:11:00.000-04:002011-09-20T23:11:22.150-04:00And the Bride Wore...She wore a hat, of course, one of mine! Oh, I was so thrilled!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Z1qTZRKoJiW3vGo16BzIjlIEt8SeG8oBa-5DpZavUEtlp1R9A3aDWRXxJGaLdjsT_XvhFQzNzakGNUVah7VqxQbyWNHzQREDThQ04KcPdDEsNkDUzHfa7fXCFhuxgRzX6fSP/s1600/IMG_7057.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3Z1qTZRKoJiW3vGo16BzIjlIEt8SeG8oBa-5DpZavUEtlp1R9A3aDWRXxJGaLdjsT_XvhFQzNzakGNUVah7VqxQbyWNHzQREDThQ04KcPdDEsNkDUzHfa7fXCFhuxgRzX6fSP/s200/IMG_7057.jpeg" /></a></div>Let me give you a little background story. Fellow artist, Lisa, was going into her second marriage—the right one—and bought a wedding hat from me last year before she had a dress. Several months later, she found the dress of her dreams... but it don't go with the hat. And now we were tight on time. I looked at a grainy picture of the dress taken with an older phone. Would I be able to get anything in time? I got her original purchase back, so I could keep in mind what looked good on her, then I thought about the graceful flow and folds of the dress—very classy. I had a straw that seemed like it might match. Little did I know it was a perfect—the exact color! I sculpted something up, hoping it was right, and bingo! We had a new hat. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaV7BRfiX9oPQXzRI3jC5JYeqCQzj7zyDG-QvFUhcVyfvoQcaBKhgqcjcJvQJ5fgK5UkjcnBkxeihNC6rgiuO8aUvvrot3p9yAf14A2DQ90AW-lMxsv-Gm7yw_rFY5A9LAerXg/s1600/IMG_6930.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="156" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaV7BRfiX9oPQXzRI3jC5JYeqCQzj7zyDG-QvFUhcVyfvoQcaBKhgqcjcJvQJ5fgK5UkjcnBkxeihNC6rgiuO8aUvvrot3p9yAf14A2DQ90AW-lMxsv-Gm7yw_rFY5A9LAerXg/s200/IMG_6930.jpeg" /></a></div>You never know how these things are going to turn out until the wedding is done and you see some pictures, and what pictures they were. <a href="http://www.susanhuszar.com/">Susan Huszar</a> is an excellent photographer. I used her myself when I needed some shots done. When I saw the pictures I was blown away. The bride looked gorgeous and the hat looked magical. Looking at the photos I can't imagine Lisa without this hat—it simply had to be this way.<br />
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I am so thrilled to have been able to be a part of this wonderful event. I'm including just two for you to see, but I may have to post more. Apparently I haven't seen all the wonderful shots that were taken. When I do, my heart will melt and I'll post again. In the meantime enjoy these. And if you're looking for a fabulous photographer check Susan Huszar out: <a href="http://www.susanhuszar.com/">http://www.susanhuszar.com/</a>Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33568148.post-84005022694234979342011-08-10T17:15:00.000-04:002011-08-10T17:15:57.694-04:00When I Grow Too OldI've always liked this song. I like to sing it around this place that I call home. I also sing it in the car. Of course, one has to be in the mood to sing something so sweet. <br />
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<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/H7p0XkQrdiA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Denishéhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11037037432524512726noreply@blogger.com0