The Leaf Dress wins an award!

Last Wednesday I went to the award's presentation and reception for Art From Trash, a juried show at Picture This Gallery on Hilton Head Island.  All three juror's were present.  Mira Scott, gallery owner and also a talented artist, had a full house that evening.  My Leaf Dress won second place!  I also attended wearing one of the two flower dresses, a walking work of art!  It was so much fun.  The photo above includes me, Mira Scott, and Kristie Duncan.  Kristie is an MFA candidate in fibers at the Savannah College of Art and Design.  Her Search Party, a mixed media piece including tree branches, is hanging behind us.

Above is another view of the gallery space.  The Leaf Dress looked great hanging on the wall.  Mira displayed the matching shoes on an empty shoe box underneath.  PERFECT!  My statement for the piece was:

Every leaf, every petal, and every artificial flower that makes up “The Leaf Dress” came from cemetery dumpsters.  Each had been brought to the cemetery as a token of love and a symbol of memory.  Each was headed for a landfill.  Now a wash-and-wear dress carries a fashion statement of unique remembrance and hope:  “Earth to earth; ashes to ashes; dust to dust…. in sure and certain hope of RECYCLING”.

One of the highlights to the evening was making a purchase from "The Yarn Girls".  They custom created a "green" pompom hair barrette for me!  Including children in art activities is obviously important to Mira and the gallery.  There was a youth's division to the juried show and an educational component focusing on recycling for area school groups.  The gallery is very small, but one corner was reserved for these two cute girls who were learning both retail and charity lessons.  Some of the money they raised went to "green" causes!