Artist : Daniela Gregis

Perhaps Daniela Gregis is more of a fashion designer than an artist but as you can see, her clothing designs are pure A R T!

Image from www.firstVIEW.com

A love of natural fabrics, linens and such and a love of color and pattern play drew me in immediately when I came across her work on Pinterest.

Image from www.fasionising.com

For the Spring/Summer 2013 collection, Daniela Gregis writes this. Perfectly written.

Simply mint and lemon ... or the opposite, many times together ... as a meadow

under the sun where you look around,dreams , and you get lost,

look down and start counting: primrose, buttercup, poppy, rosemary, forget-me, sage, ...

Once I started to delve deeper into her work, I discovered just how conceptual the clothing can be. In an interview I came across online, Gregis said "My deepest desire was to recover the lost arts as crochet or embroidery. I dreamed of reviving them in a modern way, mixing ancient tradition to contemporary shapes and patterns."

Image from www.firstVIEW.com

Often, the clothing can be transformed into something like a tablecloth. She mentions how she saves every scrap of cloth from previous cuttings. "Even a square centimeter can be the starting point of a new dress."

Needless to say her clothing has inspired me like crazy this summer. It reminds me to play and have some fun with fabric. I mean it's only fabric, right?!

Image from www.firstVIEW.com

Be sure to browse Daniela Gregis's website. And Kristina Bergman has two amazing Pinterest boards here and here about the clothing. And see my little Pinterest inspiration board here.  Enjoy!

A Dream Foreclosed: Black America and the Fight for a Place to Call Home by Laura Gottesdiener

Something magical happened this year. I met an amazing author named Laura Gottesdiener. Many months ago, she contacted me to tell me she was writing a book about the Foreclosure crisis and had happened upon my Foreclosure Quilts. She wanted to find some way to include my artwork in the book she was writing entitled A Dream Foreclosed: Black America and the Fight for a Place to Call Home. I was beyond flattered and so happy to hear that there was someone out there writing the words to what I was showing visually with my quilts.  This is a story that needs to be heard and I couldn't imagine a better person to write it.

Image from www.wagingnonviolence.org

A few weeks ago, Laura let me know that the book is now available in print through Zuccotti Park Press here. It's even on Amazon where there are numerous impressive editorial reviews. The editors at Zuccotti were going to use just one quilt image at first, but eventually they decided to intersperse several of them throughout the book (I don't have my copy in hand yet but it's on its' way!)

And now you can hear Laura speak about her work, and a sweet mention about the quilts on Democracy Now! What a compelling interview. I feel so incredibly honored to have my work alongside Laura's writing. And better yet, let's hope this book really makes an impact on spreading the hidden stories behind the foreclosure crisis. Share this post and please spread the word about this book. We need more writers like Laura!