Style Imitating Art | “Blush & Bloom” by Laura Fox-Wallis

About Style Imitating Art

Style Imitating Art is hosted by Salazar of 14 Shades of Grey, Shelbee of Shelbee on the Edge, and Marsha of Marsha in the Middle. Style Imitating Art challenges us to draw style inspiration from pieces of art. Every other Monday, one of the hosts, acting as presenter, selects an inspiration image that they will each post on their blogs. The following Monday, each host shares her art inspired outfit. Participants are invited to submit their art inspired outfits to the presenter by 10:00 p.m. EST on the Tuesday following the hosts’ art inspired outfit posts. The following day, Wednesday, the presenter will share all of the submissions on her blog.

You don’t have to be a blogger to join either! In fact, you don’t even have to join but you can still use the art to inspire an outfit just for the sake of trying something different. If you want to share your inspired outfit, we invite you do so on Instagram or any other social media platform that you prefer. Just be sure to tag Salazar, Shelbee, or Marsha or use #TeamLOTSStyle and #StyleImitatingArt so the hosts know you have joined. Go have some fun in your closets and join the SIA challenge next week!

This Week’s Presenter

It was Marsha’s turn to choose. She just returned from a European vacation and this work is a piece created by her traveling companion’s daughter. Keep reading for more details about the art and the artist.

The Artwork

“Blush & Bloom” by Laura Fox-Wallis

About the Artist: Laura Fox-Wallis

Laura Fox-Wallis is an American fiber artist and art educator born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2004, she earned her BS in Art Education from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. In 2008, she received National Board Certification to be an art educator in North Carolina. For the next 15 years, she was a high school art teacher until transitioning to full time artist in 2023. She currently resides in Austin, Texas.

Fox-Wallis credits both of her grandmothers with planting the seeds of passion for the fiber arts beginning with a watercolor class at the age of 8. As soon as she was introduced to silk painting at the age of 24, she recognized that it was the perfect union of watercolors and fiber, her two favorite artistic mediums since childhood.

In 2020, Fox-Wallis was awarded Master Silk Painter (MSP) by Silk Painters International (SPIN), an organization of silk artists, educators, and practitioners. To earn this accolade, the artist must be considered to be outstanding in their skills while exhibiting creativity and expertise in usage of silk, dyes, design, and color. This award is considered to be lifelong with Fox-Wallis being in a class of just 35 silk painters who have been recognized by SPIN as Master Silk Painters.

About the Art: “Blush & Bloom”

“Blush & Bloom” was painted with French silk dye on 100% Habotai silk and steam-set. It measures 30 x 40 inches (76.2 x 101.6 cm). According to the artist,

“This piece symbolizes the promise of emerging from a period of difficulty or transition, with brighter times ahead. Just as water lilies bloom beautifully from the muck and mud, this artwork embodies resilience and renewal. The vibrant hues and intricate details of the bluebird, set against the tranquil backdrop of water lilies, create a sense of peace and hope. “Blush and Blue” is more than just a painting; it’s a testament to the strength and beauty that can arise from challenging circumstances.”

The links below along with Marsha’s post provide much more detailed information about the art and the artist. So I will leave it to you to read more if you are inspired or interested.

References/Resources:

• Rooted Expressions Studio
• Rooted Expressions on IG
• Canvas Rebel: Meet Laura Fox-Wallis
• Create Whimsy: Spotlight: Laura Fox-Wallis, Silk Artist
• Dharma Trading Co. Presents: Featured Artists-Laura Fox-Wallis
• Curriculum Vitae for Laura Fox-Wallis

About My Outfit

I have a closet filled with floral prints so I really thought this was going to be a super easy style challenge. It was not!

With green being the dominant color in the silk painting, I immediately focused on green floral prints in my closet. But most of the green florals were just too warm for the end of summer temperatures. My first inclination was to style this green floral duster over this bright pink maxi dress, which was to represent the pink water lilies in the painting. But I had two problems with this combination. Because the water lilies are light pink, the bright pink of my dress was really bothering me. I could have worked with it, however, except the second problem was that the two pieces looked utterly terrible together.

So I scrapped it all and started over with this thrifted light blue maxi dress with a green floral print. I wanted some blue to represent the bluebird but I didn’t really want this much blue. However, the green floral was exactly what I needed for this challenge. Given the choice between a pink that is too bright and a blue that is too much, I opted for the blue because it just looked better.

I really did not want to layer a tee underneath my dress but the square neckline was not working with any of my bras so I grabbed my handy Half Tee in black to hide my wonky bra situation.

Once I had the dress and Half Tee figured out, I needed to add some pale pink to represent those pastel water lilies. I added a pink floral lace kimono robe and my pink fedora for this purpose. To tie in the black of my Half Tee, I wore my black rope sandals and added a black and white floral scarf as a hat band. Since my dress and scarf captured the floral aspect of the painting, I stuck with an avian theme in my jewelry, wearing my favorite feather earrings and my birds on a branch necklace.

Never would I ever have paired a pink hat and pink kimono with this blue and green dress, but I absolutely loved the way these colors complimented each other. I ended up wearing this outfit two days in a row but I ditched the lacy kimono on the second day because it was much too hot for that extra layer.

I hope you have enjoyed my sartorial interpretation of this silky artwork and feel inspired to play along! Be sure to check out Marsha’s interpretation of the artwork as well as Salazar’s take on it.

If you want to participate in this challenge and create your own outfit inspired by “Blush & Bloom”, please submit your photos to Marsha (mlrbanks57@gmail.com) by 10:00 p.m. EST on Tuesday, September 10, 2024, and she will feature your outfit in her style gallery on Wednesday, September 11, 2024.

Until then, happy styling! 

Keeping it on the edge, 

Shelbee

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