Artist's Statement

As I walk and drive through life I am constantly thinking, constantly inspired by what I see around me and I try to jot down ideas as I go along. I'm lost without a pen and paper, a check list, a brief note. YazBerry Fashion is my outlet to bring that which inspires me to life, in a tangible, wearable, useful way. I create because whatever it is that keeps me up at night with ideas spinning through my head must be fed by putting my hands to work manifesting my visions.

I am obsessed with recycling; I think I was a first wave 'reduce, reuse, recycle' student and it stuck with me from an impressionable age. I strive to recycle as much as I possibly can; this comes through in my design work. I love working with recycled materials. I almost prefer them to new materials, though I do use a mix in my work. There is something about picking up a discarded material, taking in its limitations and characteristics and finding a way to breathe new life into it. I consider this sustainable fashion.

In the last fifteen years I have made my way around the world. I am inspired by the colors I see, vivid tropical hues, bold eastern pigments and delicious color combinations. I try to capture these colors, textures and sights in my work.

I enjoy examining everything I can with my fingers and my eyes, learning its texture, seeing its ornate details. I pay attention to these things and create with the details and hand in mind. I am inspired by vintage garments, architecture and the textiles themselves. Because I work with a lot of recycled materials, often the material tells me what it should become. I enjoy designing this way and find it more challenging to design from a drawing or a vision and find the materials that work to make this vision come to be.

My work is colorful. It has strong shapes, bold colors and patterns and subtle details reminiscent of vintage craftsmanship. I create with people that enjoy treasure hunting in mind. People that enjoy the art of dressing themselves in special items, pops of color, three or more colors at once like me. I design for people wanting something unique, one of a kind; something not available in malls or department stores. My work is wearable art.

- Virginia E. Berry

TO VIEW THE YAZBERRY PRESS KIT CLICK HERE.

#Liberateyourart Postcard Swap Art Received

It's been a fun month, this winter I participated in an art postcard swap project. Every week this month I have been getting mysterious postcards in the mail. How fun! Here is the loot:

Postcards from artists all over the US. 

I hadn't drawn much or painted in almost a decade so I used this as an excuse to force myself to do just that. Here are my contributions to the project: 

You can see more images and read more about my postcards in these blog posts: #liberateyourart

This was a fun project, I think I will use a different printing company next time. I wish more of the artists wrote notes on their postcards like Kat the organizer suggested, I wrote nice notes and was hoping for the same, some of this felt very promotional which wasn't what I was expecting. But either way. it's fun to see what people are proud of and to get surprise mail! Who doesn't love a little mail. I didn't make any new connections out of this like I thought I might but oh well, I painted! I like what I contributed, and hope it brightened someone's day!

Here is a video montage of some of the contributing artists, compiled by Kat Sloma (copyright Kat Sloma 2015) I'm sharing as one of my pieces is included at 3:00 minutes. Enjoy!

April 16-19 you can follow the "link hop" by scrolling down and clicking on any of the participating blogs to see what other participating artists have shared. 

An InLinkz Link-up

#liberateyourart Postcards Sent Today!

I've finished my postcards and after some frustrating printing mishaps from Fedex office online (BE VERY CAREFUL and put lots of info in notes in your online order because apparently simply clicking on the document type postcards does not guarantee you a postcard sized print...not a user friendly website at all...go to a retail place and pay the little extra to guarantee you get what you want...)

All images are Copyright Virginia E. Berry 2015 and are my original designs. 

Here they are!

Two lucky artists in the postcard swap #liberateyourart will get my favorite painting from this exercise.

I now have 8.5 x 11 prints of these images...that I felt compelled to purchase even though they intended to shred them due to the mistake (It just felt so wasteful and since it is my art I thought I'd take them since I NEVER reproduce my paintings...though sadly the edge of the Rat Baby Love image is slightly cut off where the text is...wanh wanh). I am happy to share with you if you want one :) I can have others printed too. Just contact me and name your price. Prints are $1.49 plus postage and envelope so you have an idea of my expense (not to mention labor and creativity but again...name your price ;) ) I may work on the scans of the images with the all white backgrounds to get the shadows out from where the page was warped from watercolors. 

Sweet handwritten messages to the unknown artist recipients.

And the envelope off to Kat Sloma the organizer and facilitator of this fun project. I hope I remember to sign up again next year. Looking forward to art in my mailbox! 

Also very excited about the vintage circus poster stamps the Post Office had! You can buy your own. I want to send more mail just so I can use these....seriously considering stock piling them since they are forever stamps now. They had me at the stripey clown tights! 

Happy Valentine's Day from the Rat Babies #liberateyourart

My husband and I both sent cute rat themed valentines to each other independently (we are in different countries at the moment). Here was my contribution.

I skype with with husband and our 3 pet rats everyday. Dumbo and Baby are cage mates and he was holding them about like this the other day and it made me think of this image. Sometimes they wrap their tails around things like little hands so the tips do curl like that (artistic liberty on the placement ;) )

All images copyright Virginia E. Berry 2015

And the Award for Artistic Insomnia Goes to Last Night and the 6:30 AM Bedtime #liberateyourart

I prefer working on creative projects at night. No pretty birds in the yard to distract me. No one to bother me. Not much of interest on TV. That warm, delightful silence that the darkness offers after everyone else is asleep. Best working hours always.

Last night apparently my sketchbook practice turned into a much more elaborate effort than I had anticipated...bedtime ended up being 6:30 AM...just before sunrise so at least it was dark when I shut my eyes.

Here is the painting that true insomnia produced. All images copyright Virginia E. Berry 2015

Again, rough images taken with my cell phone. Better images another day. My laborious, whimsical sketchbook addition:

Close up of raw crystal crown, an idea I've had for a while for a jewelry project.

Pocket pet rat baby on an arrow that reads "Big ideas constantly swarm me"

Rumination text in bird reads: "My mind is swarming with big ideas, they keep me up at night. Like a constant fight, I rarely sleep for fear of losing the good ones. The ones I ruminate on for hours on end, I try to write down, to capture, like wild creatures I hope to cultivate into remarkable contributions. My meager marks on this world. I know we race through this short life, and with that I hope to leave it better than when I entered it. Some nights my thoughts wake me in the middle of my dreams, demanding I record them. I am of simple means, extravagant dreams and humble talent. I read, study and practice constantly, seeking a way to launch my dreams into the universe."

Liberate Your Art Sketchbook Practice #liberateyourart

I'm participating in #liberateyourart this year and haven't done hardly any drawing or painting in almost 15 years (wow, shameful!). I pulled out an old sketchbook that had some blank sheets left and did some artistic explorations last night in the middle of the night. (Most creative in the silent, dark hours). All images are my original work and copyright Virginia E. Berry 2015

These are quick cell phone photos and the color/grain is not great. Another day when I decide which I will make into postcards for the Liberate Your Art project, I will take better images. For now I am practicing drawing and painting and exploring technique as it has been a looong time and my skills are rusty. I like these paintings but know there's more impressive something in there...

Text reads: "Is there a line where the soul ends and the universe begins?"

Text reads: "I ruminate my dreams away hoping not to lose my visions and ideas like petals in the wind..."

Fashion as Art

I think so. I consider myself an artist. Fashion is the medium in which I choose to express myself artistically.

art1    /ɑrt/[ahrt]
noun
1. the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
2. the class of objects subject to aesthetic criteria; works of art collectively, as paintings, sculptures, or drawings: a museum of art; an art collection.
3. a field, genre, or category of art: Dance is an art.

Today I came across a couple interesting articles addressing fashion as art. Both raise the question does fashion have a place in an art museum? "Does Fashion Deserve To Be In a Museum?" in Bust Magazine, and a New York Times article, the Bust article references: "Gone Global: Fashion as Art?" I argue that yes it does. The articles arrive at a similar conclusion while addressing some interesting issues such as what criteria is used to select designers, how some design houses are funding their own exhibits as sort of a brand marketing cum art statement, which has a number of interesting arguments along with it. I highly suggest you read these articles, excellent food for thought.

My art background is wide spanning. I have taken art classes since I was a child and have been schooled in mediums such as painting and clay. I've learned about perspective, the play of positive and negative space, the way primary, secondary and tertiary colors work. How to mix colors, how to make colors play certain tricks on your eye. I've also had the privilege of slowly meandering through some of the world's greatest art museums in Paris, Madrid, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Rome, New York, Chicago, Minneapolis. I move slow, I stare hard and my cerebral sponge soaks in as many details of the Masters as I can. I treat a clothing store and a fashion magazine the same way as I do the Louvre. I even treat people watching in this way.

My fashion design is derived from an accumulation of art education and observation. I consider each piece a wearable sculpture. A three dimensional painting. A study of positive and negative space. A play of color, texture and volume. This makes me slow, deliberate, obsessed with detail and extremely particular about the end result. Flaws? I think not, these are what gives character to my work. Enjoy!

City announces this year's picks for Artists Row - Beverly, MA - Salem Gazette

City announces this year's picks for Artists Row - Beverly, MA - Salem Gazette To view pictures visit this link.

By Lisa Guerriero/ salem@cnc.com
Salem Gazette
Posted May 27, 2010 @ 06:03 PM
Salem —

There will be some new faces as well as familiar ones when Artists Row reopens this weekend.

Competition was fiercer than ever this year to occupy one of the four small buildings at 24 Derby St., nestled between Front and Lafayette streets. The city typically gets five to seven applications each year for the seasonal artists’ enclave, but this year it received about 15.

“We had more applicants this year than in the past two years put together. The word is getting out and there’s a lot of interest,” said Frank Taormina, of the Planning Department. “We tried to accommodate as many as artists as possible.”

A collection of galleries and studios, Artists Row is sponsored by the city of Salem as a way of encouraging the arts community and also fostering retail growth in the downtown. Officials from the Planning Department and the Mayor’s Office make the choice each year as to who will occupy the spots.

The Salem Arts Association (SAA) will return to its 900-square-foot space, and Mamadou Diop’s Baobab Space again will house one of the stalls with Debra Crosby’s A Quest Actors Studio.

New this year is A Guild of Artistic Sorts — GASworks, a collaboration of about 10 local artists from varying disciplines. Also new, in the fourth stall, is potter Bradley Backer’s Impart Art, sharing space with textile artist Virginia Berry’s YazBerry Fashion.

With so many artists and groups vying this time around for just a few spots, city officials had a tough time deciding who would make the cut.

“This year, unfortunately, there had to be some clear winners and losers. This year there was so much interest. It’s a great thing, but at the same time it made it harder,” Taormina said. “Making the final decision… was quite a process.”

The organizers of Experimental Art Gallery & Studio, which occupied a stall for the last few years, did not apply this year, said Taormina, while the city did not chose to return the Theory studio, which was joined Artists Row in 2009 but won’t be back this year.

Much of the hard choices were based on the city’s desire to pack in as many artists as possible. Shared spaces and collaborative galleries won out, Taormina explained.

Artists get to use the space rent free, but throughout the season they have to maintain the stall, stay open during designated hours every week and offer special programs and performances — so the manpower offered by collaborations makes a difference when officials makes their selections.

The influx of applications is also why the choices weren’t made public until this week, shortly before Artists Row’s soft opening this weekend. The artists’ stalls were set to open Thursday, but there will be an official grand opening next weekend, which will coincide with the citywide Salem Arts Festival. (See below for details on the festival.)

The schedule for the season is the same as last year, which includes an extension of the hours on Thursdays so that Artists Row shares traffic with the Salem Farmers Market, which runs until 7 p.m. The artists and the city also work with the Lobster Shanty restaurant, next to Artists Row.

Newcomers on the Row

About 10 North Shore artists comprise A Guild of Artistic Sorts — GASworks, which formed specifically to find a home on Artists Row.

Like the SAA, GASworks’ artists represent a variety of disciplines. Salem resident Dann Maurno, who’s leading the group, said the members would display and give workshops on talents ranging from fine art and photography to leather craft and theater.

They’ll also be working with the local band Merj, which Maurno described as “violin power rock,” to teach an open-mike preparation workshop. And his wife, Sarah Maurno, an acting professor, will give a few workshops there on her own craft.

“[The city] only required we deliver 12 workshops or performances during the time, but we’re asking, can we do 20, 25?” Maurno said,

The group is excited about being chosen for the season — “It’s a gas,” Maurno quipped — although they’ve been busy getting ready to open for the first time.

“Everyday we’re down there thinking something new to do,” he said. “For us, every brick has to be painted, every display has to be put up.”

In the fourth and smallest stall will be the shared studios of Backer and Berry. A recent transplant to Salem, Backer previously owned a paint-your-own pottery studio in Quincy for seven years. Visitors will be able to watch him work with his kiln, check out the pottery he creates and try their hand at the craft during workshops.

With her YazBerry Fashion, Berry creates one-of-a-kind purses, jewelry and clothing. She uses bold colors and intricate details to create pieces with a vintage flair, inspired in part by her travels around the world. She’ll offer classes on fashion design, basic sewing and costuming — plus some musical activities, as she’s also a musician.

Artists come home again

The SAA is returning for its third season at Artists Row. With dozens of members who work in a range of media, they host rotating monthly exhibits as well as retail and gallery offerings. The group’s first show of the season, opening this weekend, is “Fresh and Fruity,” which ties into the Salem Farmers Market, which will reopen in June. A reception for the show will be held Saturday, June 12, 4-7 p.m.

In addition to the monthly, themed exhibitions, the SAA will spotlight one member artist every few weeks. The first person featured will be glassworker Gary LaParl. (Learn more about the SAA and its activities, within and outside the Row, at salemartsassociation.org.)

Diop and Crosby have also shared their space on Artists Row for several years. Their stall again will feature Diop’s African art and crafts and Crosby’s acting classes and performances.

The pair also works together on the nonprofit A3D (African Development through Drum and Dance), which hosts CultureFest in Salem every summer.

FYI:

Artists Row stalls are open Thursday, 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Some stalls may be open additional days or hours. Performances, exhibits, workshops and other events are held throughout the season, May 27 through Nov. 1. For details on programming, visit salem.com/pages/artistrow.

Many of the artists involved in the Row are participating in the Salem Arts Festival and Salem Arts Walk, June 4-6. Learn more in the Gazette’s Art News section this week, and find further details at salemartsfestival.com.

For more about the Salem Farmers’ Market, visit salemfarmersmarket.org.
Copyright 2010 Salem Gazette. Some rights reserved

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

Boston Handmade Art Fair in Union Square

This past weekend I stumbled upon a wonderful Art Fair in Union Square which I found by way of the events page on www.Etsy.com. It was held by Boston Handmade "a collection of Boston area artists, artisans, & craftspeople with shops on etsy.com ~ all handmade all the time". What talented artists. I can honestly say I liked something at every booth. And the ATM was so close by...don't worry, I was good and only treated myself to some earrings by Glamourpuss!

Please check out these great Etsy.com artists, they are very skilled at what they do and many have very unique products and styles I haven't seen before (so I can guess you too may not have seen before). To view the list of participating artists and links to their stores visit: Boston Handmade Marketplace Exhibitors