My name is Dee Cherry I create wearable fantasy art. Imagine its eternally mid summer…my company name is Lithaworld (summer solstice). I’m a dreamer….and also a doer. I’m a big fan of the arts, bad puns, RPGs, my telescope, red wine the sciences, people watching…trying to be more than we are….and the FOREST (enchanted or otherwise) …I played there a lot as a kid. (well I thought it was enchanted). Those speckled streams of sunlight through the bough’s …making dappled pools of on the forest floor…shadowy and moody … captured and fueled my imagination. Like portals to otherworldly realms …..and OH…the mystical beings who dwelled there….they called to me….come play! My time there stuck with me…and through college and career, I made time to dream and create. My work may be extrapolated into more adult matter now….. but my original “childlike wonder” will always be the foundation for my work.
In recent years, the creative impulse has increasingly begun to overtake me…..making me forget to put the cans out on the curb and forcing me to forgo sleep. I am happiest when 7 of ten fingers are bleeding, I’m burned and covered in paint!. I have never been so sure of what I want…NEED to do. Sources of inspiration include mother nature, lore and legends, astronomy, historical events, the ancestors, Brian Froud, Srephanie Pui Mun law and even particle science… to name a few. I “go green” every chance I get and most of my work includes repurposed or recycled items. When I create a piece, I start with a concept and once it’s clearly in mind, I begin the sculptural phase. I like to think of three dimensional shapes that can form to and flatter a body, grace the head and/or frame a face. We all have different body types and sizes so I make my designs adjustable and flexible. Many of the accents like wings, horns or antennae can be staged to the wearers’ tastes. After the sculpture, I “do a coat” to the entire piece, paint it by hand and finish with any decorative design work I have envisioned and viola! Most of my pieces just slip on and are custom fit simply by pressing it to the wearer’s body. Everything is one of a kind…. I believe everyone deserves to feel special and have something completely unique! I love people and want to help them live their dreams and fantasies….how fun is that?!
I believe in imagination and creativity. I believe in doing things whole heartedly with love and passion…..the mystical, the magical and the fantastical. But… in all seriousness…I earnestly believe in an event which draws attention to, celebrates and recognizes the sci-fi fantasy culture and creative, talented people of all kinds. After all…I am in love with the whole shebang …I’m a total geek…..a big fan…and a true believer!
Credits
- Designer/ Creater: Dee Cherry
- Photography: Eric james Swearingen
- Make-up artist: Ramona potts
- Models: Jessica Franco
- Heidi Jerimiah and Kass Hallum