#virginiacreates’ july 2026 calendar
Read Morefor your personal use
Feel free to print and use for your personal use …
In this moment, you are doing enough!
“May I meet this moment fully. May I meet it as a friend.”
Sylvia Boorstein
Yay Kenyon Class of 1986
In just a few weeks, is my 40th college reunion?!? how did that happen?! I’m incredibly honored to have been asked to design something for this special event.
As an alum of Kenyon College—a truly beautiful campus tucked into the landscape of Ohio—I wanted the design to incorporate the two of the iconic elements of the campus: Old Kenyon and Middle Path, the tree-lined walkway that so many of us traveled daily. Both hold deep meaning—markers of time, memory, and connection.
Here’s what I created, featured on the Kenyon College Reunion Weekender Bag.
This weekender Bag along with many more Kenyon products are now available on my Etsy shop - VirginiaCreates!!! I have been wanting to set up my Etsy shop fort YEARS!!! So I super excited to be able to offer our reunion merchandise on it!!
I have also created Kenyon products without the reunion dates that I have on my Redbubble shop at this time.
There are more Kenyon swag to come but I am so excited about my Etsy shop being up and running that I wanted to share the news ASAP. Thank you & peace, Virginia
free feel to print for your enjoyment
Dare to be yourself ...
“We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.”
May Sarton
We can do hard things ...
#virginiacreates monthly calendar, April 2026, featuring quote by Glennon Doyle, we can do hard things
Read MoreRevisiting my 'from the land of dragons ...' it is a magical place
I just submitted some of my ‘from the land of dragons …’ photographs to a call for art for the ‘Botanical Photography Exhibit’ by the Dusk Photo Gallery in New Mexico (fingers crossed)
The description of the call said ~ “The theme is Botanical. We’re looking for images that go beyond simple documentation. We want to see how you find character in a leaf, architecture in a seedpod, or a whole world in the curve of a petal. All styles and processes are welcome.”
It felt like my photo series, ‘from the land of dragons …’ was a perfect fit. The photos I submitted are …
dahlia from the land of dragons 2025
tiger lily, from the land of dragons, 2025
zinnia from the land of dragons, 2025
rhododendron, from the land of dragons, 2025
It all started when I was walking my beloved dog Scruffy and suddenly I was seeing the world around me with a new lens.
The land of dragons is a kingdom of magic and mystery, of hope and rebirth, of beauty and wonder, decay and reawakening. It is a sanctuary where one can wander unrecognizable landscapes and excavate solace in the enigmatic and mesmerizing. It is a realm where the overlooked is observed, contemplated and celebrated; where all are invited to travel, to peruse, to rest, to exhale and to heal their hearts and to replenish their souls.
March has been here and now, so is your #virginiacreates March calendar ...
the monthly calendar by virginia fitzgerald
Read More"tis the season for reflect and enjoyment ...
“December is a time to reflect on the past year’s blessings & embrace the opportunities of the coming one.”
for your personal enjoyment …
wishing all peace and love during this season
“Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.” ALA →
““Reading can be a road to freedom or a key to a secret garden, which, if tended, will transform all of life.” ”
In this collage I’ve included an “I Read Banned Books” bookmark alongside 2 covers of books that have been challenged - Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderlands and Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Along with the quote from Katherine Paterson,
Katherine Paterson, is an American writer best known for her children's novels. Her book, Bridge to Terabithia, won the Newbery Medal in 1978 as well as been on the top 100 banned/challenged books since it's publication in October 1977.
I feel strongly that any form of censorship undermines the very fabric of our Constitution and the safe, imaginative space that creativity depends on. Right now, as our freedoms face increasing threats, this issue feels especially urgent.
Once Upon a Time
In fact, the Natick Public Library invited me to create an installation for their October programming on banned books. The piece, Once Upon a Time, is participatory: visitors are invited to write the title of a banned book they have read, want to read, or want to reread on a tag, which is then added to the work. These tags are attached to a cape made of safety pins and beads that drapes over a tunic constructed from book covers—just a fraction of the many titles that have been challenged or banned in the U.S. Together, the piece grows as a communal celebration of literature, resilience, and freedom.
This year Banned Books Week is October 5 – 11, 2025 and the theme is “Censorship Is So 1984. Read for Your Rights.” Many libraries and organizations celebrate the right to readfor the entire month.
With the escalation in attempts to ban books in libraries, schools, and bookstores around the country, George Orwell’s cautionary tale "1984" serves a prescient warning about the dangers of censorship. This year’s theme reminds us that the right to read belongs to all of us, that censorship has no place in contemporary society, and that we must defend our rights. https://www.ala.org/bbooks/banned
free for your personal enjoyment
do what you love!!! always ...
Trust in what you love, continue to do it,
and it will take you where you need to go.
Natalie Goldberg
This month let's stand up to bullies, and sew ...
“Americans, at our best, stand up to bullies and fight those who seek to demean and degrade others.”
This month's #virginiacreates calendar reflects my renewed interest in embroidery. During these unnerving times in our country I have felt a strong pull to my needles and thread. I feel there are many reasons why I feel this need to stitch. Sewing suggests mending, pulling pieces together that have been torn apart. I feel that our country is being torn apart.
“The act of sewing is a process of emotional repair. ”
Louise Bourgeois used sewing in much of her work. She has eloquently explained what sewing meant to her and her work. Many of her words speak to my current obsession with sewing so I have sprinkled some of her quotes throughout this post.
“I always had the fear of being separated and abandoned. The sewing is my attempt to keep things together and make things whole. ”
These past months I have found myself embroidering on both fabric and paper.
I have been embroidering affirmations onto a vintage slip as part of my 'slip' series.
collage from Italy ..
“When I was growing up all the women in my house used needles. I have always had a fascination with the magic power of the needle. The needle is used to repair the damage. ”
And in my current series, a protest to what I feel is censorship
by the current
administration, I am embroidering on vintage photos words that are being removed and discouraged by the government.
There are around 196 words on that list. Unfortunately as I do more researching there seems to be more removed words in different government agencies, so I am not sure how many photos I will be embroidering.
The initial list that I am working from is from an article reposted by the New York Times, March 7, 2025.
These Words Are Disappearing
in the New Trump Administration
after much internal debate ...
There is so much information and advice about websites, blogs, social media, blah, blah … and at one point I was told to only post on my blog connected to my website - sounded like good advice. However - after much double posting and indecision - at this point I am going to focus on posting on my old blog - https://virginiafitzgerald.blogspot.com . I have numerous reasons for this but the main is that with my ‘blogger’ blog I can easily look up past work and exhibits (I have yet to figure out how to do that here!) And as I apply to more calls for art or residencies I find myself looking for information and my old blog is the best resource for information. I have even found that I can’t call up old work on instagram, even using #hashtags. So for whoever may be interested - click on that big square black button on the sidebar > to read what’s happening in the world of #virginiacreates. And thank you for your interest and support!! peace
when i can I will post the direct link to my recent post here.