Stiches, Needles 'n Guns, Alternative Craft Fair

HOSTED BY: Central Mass Roller Derby
WHAT: Stiches, Needles 'n Guns, Alternative Craft Fair
WHEN: February, 6, 2010 from 10 AM - 3 PM
WHERE: The Printer's Building, 44 Portland Street, 4th Flr., Worcester, MA
WHY: Join some of the finest & funkiest artisans in the area
for a craft fair with an alternative flair. It's free! YazBerry will have a booth selling handmade & vintage goodies from my store!!

COME CHECK OUT THE GOODIES TO BE HAD!

Swap 'til You Drop!

If I could describe this event in one word it would be: Brilliant!

Miss Punky of www.punkystyle.com, a style blogger and purveyor of fine vintage goodies, hosted a clothing Swap where you clean out your closet, bring a large sack of clothes you no longer love, spread them across tables sorted by type of clothing and then have free reins to rummage through all other participants clothes and find yourself some new treasures to take home! And the great part of it all is any unloved clothes leftover at the end of the Swap are donated to the Goodwill!

My roommate, Doria Grace and I did an intensive closet purge last week with the assistance of Stacy Prince (who also contributed some goodies) in preparation for this Swap. We contributed a good garbage bag each and came home with a handful of wonderful treasures (good labels and many like new and even new with tags items).

We arrived at the Lucky Dog in Worcester, MA to find tables piled high with treasures! It was like your best friend gave you free rein to dig through her closet and take anything you wanted no obligation, no need to return, no fee, just pure free clothing. You really must try this at home kids.

Here are some pictures so you can see just how cool the Swap was!
Virginia E. Berry & Doria Grace in High Swapping Action


The Whole Swap Sponsored by Punkystyle.com

Since I was selfish and didn't tell you readers about this event in advance, here are some swapping related links to make it up to you (care of Miss Punky's MySpace post). And, I strongly encourage you to organize a Swap with just your friends or in your area!
Rehash
Swaporamarama
Clothing Swap
Whats Mine Is Yours
Clothing Exchange
Swap Style

Please note: Swap image originally found on www.myspace.com/punkystylecom in her blog. Photos are courtesy of Punky's My Punch Bowl photo album.

The Depiction of Fabric in Paintings

I have come to realize that most of my all time favorite paintings in the whole world (that I have laid my eyes upon thus far)...brilliantly depict fabric in the clothing of the subjects. One such painting I discovered a couple of years ago at the Worcester Art Museum. It is in their permanent collection and quite wonderful. I have never seen such an effective portrayal of transparent lace before this picture. It looks like real lace and you can see through it as you could if you were there. Not to mention the great detail in her dressing table accessories. Woman at Her Toilette by Francois Clouet

At some point in high school I believe, I stumbled across Flaming June, as large as life on an out of the way wall in a museum whose name and location slip my mind. I don't know if it was an original or a print as I cannot seem to find any mention of whether this painting and I could possibly have been in the same museum at the same time in the last 5-10 years. Does anyone know how to look up the record of where paintings have been shown?

I love Flaming June because the artist captures the clingy, gauzy semi-transparent nature of her gown. He also expertly shows the natural drape of the fabric, how it pulls some at her right knee, and how it falls vertically from her extended left foot. Genius!
Flaming June by Frederick Lord Leighton

And finally I leave you with Julia, Lady Peel who I met at The Frick Collection in New York City (NYC) about a year ago while at the United Nations. The Frick Collection is a private collection in the exquisitely decorated home of the late Henry Clay Frick, a steel magnate, right next to Central Park. This collection houses numerous examples of my favorite paintings that are my favorites simply because of how the fabric is depicted. I highly suggest you visit The Frick Collection next time you are in NYC.

I have limited myself to sharing with you only Julia, Lady Peel as she is one of the finest examples of the amazing collection of paintings in The Frick Collection, and this way I won't go on for days about paintings I love. Maybe I will revisit this topic in the future with a different collection of paintings; small doses makes it easier to digest.

The color combinations in this painting are so eye catching (just had to put that out there). The artist really has made it easy for the viewer to distinguish one texture from another. You clearly see that the crimson plumes coming off the hat are light and feathery. You see that the white fur stole is just that, fur. And you see that her sleeves are sleek satin. Not to mention the detail in her jewelry! Love it!

Julia, Lady Peel by Sir Thomas Lawrence

stART on the Street was a huge success!

Be sure to visit the Worcester Telegram & Gazette today, look for the light blue box (as depicted below) and the heading "Slide Show", click on "stART on the Street '07" to view a quick slide show of the event. Be sure to click on the "captions" button so you can read about each image.


The turnout was incredible! Rumor has it that more than 20,000 people came to enjoy this years stART on the Street. I believe it! There was a river of people flowing by straight through from 11am to 6pm no joke.

Thank you to the many fantastic people that stopped by to say hello; Maria of Unique Boutik on Highland St. stopped by and really enjoyed the new YazBerry pieces. Miss Punky of www.punkystyle.com a local style maven and fashion blogger stopped by to check out the goods and snap a few photos (see above). Be sure to check out her blog. Phil Raptis of the band Gold Star Campaign came by twice with his girlfriend Lisa and they were so great to cover the YazBerry booth for a little break. Gold Star Campaign will be playing at the Hotel Vernon September 28th!

Greg Roberts a local graphic designer and his girlfriend Jenny also stopped by a couple of times. As did YazBerry's official body sculptor, I mean Pilates instructor Nina Cerviatti- who is teaching 5+ classes this season! Look her up in the Worcester Night Life classes, at the YWCA and at Eaze Fitness. The booth was even graced by my old neighbor Julian Moseley! What a great day! Thank you all for stopping by and checking out the YazBerry new releases and saying hello!

Virginia spoke with 100's of amazing people at the festival- please drop me a line if you are one of them, I'd love your feedback and to be in touch with you. Also, your comments are invited in the YazBerry Guestbook and in the YazBerry myspace!

Stay tuned to www.yazberry.com in the next few weeks as many new pieces were premiered at the Art Festival and will be up for sale on the website soon!

Thank you everyone who made it out to this year's stART on the Street for a great event and great conversations!

Love,

Virginia

Worcester MA Art Fair! Sun. Sept 16, 11am-6pm

WHO: 250+ artists of all genres, live music and theatre and food from local restaurants. YazBerry Fashion will have a booth.

WHAT: stART on the Street Art Festival

WHERE: Park Ave. Worcester, MA - between Elm Park and Pleasant St. (in front of CC Lowell's art store)

WHEN: Sunday, September 16, 11am - 6pm (rain date Sunday, September 23)

WHY: It's FREE, it's fun, good gift shopping for you and your loved ones...and Virginia will be selling YazBerry there so you can come meet me and enjoy this rare live sale opportunity! Many new designs!
Hope you can make it!

-Virginia
www.yazberry.com