Limelight.

Limelight.

My dress final is done, after many a long sleepless night of suffering.

I don't have photos of it finished, because it has been chosen for the showcase in my studio building.

(far left)

These five dresses, along with five others from the junior dresses class, will be put on display in VCU's Anderson Gallery in April.  I'm gonna be in a gallery!

InLight.

InLight.

Here they are.  Thank you to Colin Matthews for the photos and Gracie Draper for modeling.

♥

At the show...

We didn't win.  In fact, none of the fashion design girls did.  The winners were the crazy, over-the-top, taped together "audience faves".  Clearly this wasn't a fashion show, as I had hoped for.  It was a 'throw as many lights onto a body as you can' show.  I was disappointed with the low caliber of the whole event, but I'm proud as hell of what I created, and I appreciate the love and support of the people who understand what I do.

Jess, out.

Fit For A Slutty Princess.

Fit For A Slutty Princess.

A very short, very tight princess seam dress sample.

I've been wanting to set up an Etsy account, and I'm thinking I want to order either damask or printed (cheaper) woven labels for my stuff.  There's a website that does just this, and you send in an image of your label design and the size and quantity you want, and they give you an estimate.  I went to alter my little "snip.shop" logo, and ALL OF THOSE FILES ARE GONE.  Just... gone.  I don't understand why my external keeps eating not only files, but entire folders.  The blog banner, the shop banner, the scissor image, everything.  That's gonna set me back at least a day, remaking those.

Can't worry about that now, though.

I have so many things to make in the next couple weeks, oh my gods.

Art Fart.

Art Fart.

I love the graphics on these Chinese tea bags.  I think I might make a necklace out of them.

I got the conformation email last night that I got into Wearable Art.  Totally excited.  The email was all, "our esteemed panel chose from a large number of excellent proposals, blah dee blah", and I'm thinking, yeah right I just drew a lampshade hat.  In about ten minutes.  No really, this is how dumb my submission is.

Like, honestly.  But whatever, I'm proud of myself and I can't wait.

Also, I'm employed.  I'm the new dress department saleswoman and stylist at Short Pump Nordstrom.  I go in for job training Monday and Friday, and am assuming I start the following week.  

I also may or may not pledge Kappa Pi (art frat) this year, which I may or may not be qualified for (GPA, talent and such) and may or may not have time for (I have a lot of shit to do).  I don't know.

I don't know why I'm so goddamned ambitious this semester.  It's very unlike me.

I'm dying to go photo-ing, now that it's finally acting like fall and the weather is spectacular.  I think it's due time for a trip to the cemetery.

Sweater weather!  ♥

Black Bird, Fly.

Black Bird, Fly.

A new year, a new drawing.

Evening wear has never been my forte.

I learn pants and jackets this year!  Elation.  Zipper flys are on Tuesday.  My merchandising class is looking good.  The professor is hilarious, which is always nice when you're learning a subject that isn't your strength. 

Fashion design is in full swing, everything is fresh and new, and I'm off to New York in September.

Fix You.

Fix You.

The Gulf Coast fundraiser was a huge success!  We made over $3,000 from just shirts, snacks and raffle tickets.  It feels so good to know that your community cares about the outside world.

I created a bag for the fundraiser, and sold it today.  It's a hand painted (yes, it took forever) double sided cotton bag, and I couldn't be more proud.  My first customer!  Knowing that someone I don't even know is loving and wearing something that I made with my own two hands is such an incredible feeling.  I got so much adoration for my logo, and it feels so gratifying to have my work appreciated, especially when it's for a cause like this.

I'm on top of the world.

New Portfolio.

New Portfolio.

Check out the new portfolio here!

It's brand new, so the images are few, but check back often!

Plague.

Plague.

I went to... well, I'm not really sure where I was, some old water lock down Hull St, yesterday afternoon.  This is without a doubt my favorite shot of the day.

It wasn't until I converted it to black and white that I noticed the swarm of gnats looming in the sky.




Then I saw these.

Bugs have never been prettier.

Entwife.

Entwife.

I found one!

Sophomore class (plus me) tree skirt day in Maymont Park, Richmond.

Still wish I could have made her a groom, poor dear.

And the whole tree.

Special thanks to my lovely assistant for helping me take the photos and not letting me have a panic attack when the snaps on my veil popped off.  I love you.

Festival Of Fools.

Festival Of Fools.

What happened last night.

Mmm.  Needs more fail sauce.

In reality, I got a B.  I'm not sure how that happened.  Even though I was the last person in my seat, and left half the character questions blank.  Because that is what my head was.  Blank.

...The more I look at this, the more it looks like Quasimodo.

Chief Sucks-at-faces.

Chief Sucks-at-faces.

"Notes" from Physics lecture.  My faces are so freaking bad.

Heap big Chinese test tonight.  I can remember the Pinyin, it's the characters I have trouble with.

Working on a 'tree skirt'.  Yeah.  The fashion department does it every year.  Every student in the sophomore class picks a tree in Maymont Park and designs a skirt for it, so for a week, all the trees are wearing skirts.  It's pretty hilarious.  Maymont loves it.  They get news coverage and everything.  I'm making a tree bride, or, Entwife, if you prefer.  She has a big train and a veil.  Sadly, she has no groom.  It will be a very depressing wedding.  Pictures next week.



Currently:

The illustration of the Asian kids makes me laugh.

I'm Going To Hell For Sloth.

I'm Going To Hell For Sloth.

[As well as gluttony, lust and greed.]

Yes.  I'm in a funk.  And not the good, "play that funky music, white boy" kind of funk.  The bad funk.  I lost my drive somehow.  It pains me, because I was doing so well.  Like, so well.  It's not even because the work is too hard.  I just... don't feel like doing it.  Of course I want to do well, but every once in a while, I'd just rather play Sims or sit around and eat than do my work.  For instance, right now I should be applying a blind hem to a skirt that was due 2 days ago, instead of writing here.  Suddenly, I'm behind in everything, and I can't bring myself to try any harder.  Sound familiar?  This midterm slump happens every semester, like clockwork.  I'm hoping I'll find my stride again after spring break.  My body and mind can't always keep up with the life I live.  I get complacent very quickly.  Unfortunately, I think I just need more frequent breaks than college curriculum allows.

I'm not even wasting my time drawing.  I just stare into space.  Yadda yadda yadda.

I really do want to try harder.  I envy the overachievers.  My want doesn't match my effort.
I wish I weren't so ok with being average.




[Note to self:  Add envy to the sin list.]

Fallen.

Fallen.

Lee 'Alexander' McQueen

16 March 1969 – 11 February 2010

The designer was found, allegedly hanging, in his London flat yesterday morning.  His death is startling, completely tragic, and a terribly horrific waste of a great man and a brilliant talent.  What sparked the apparent suicide is unknown, though speculations point to the death of his beloved mother on February 2 of this year, and that McQueen had been deeply affected by the death of his dear friend Isabella Blow in 2007.  He was troubled, as most geniuses are, by the constant need to outdo himself with every new collection.  This need was not brought on by fame; it was a personal need to do better.  He was a quiet man who shunned the limelight and designed not for others, but for himself.  He single-handedly changed the face of fashion as we know it.  His loss is mourned by his family and by those who were, and are, inspired by his sheer talent and his eye for beauty, and the hope and illumination his creations gave us.

This news came as a crushing blow to me, as this man has been a huge part of my life, though obviously, I never had the honor of meeting him.  Still, I feel I know a small part of him, through his stunning and imaginative works of art.  It was Lee McQueen that first sparked my interest in fashion, and it was he that fanned the flames of my artistic passion all these years.  Him and his work have been an immense inspiration for me, and he will be highly praised and greatly missed.

♥

Can A Penny Be Pinched?

Can A Penny Be Pinched?

I'm saving my money for a Wacom Intuos4 tablet, preferably medium.  I have $181 so far.  I'm almost half way there.  I'm thinking of taking $20 out of my food fund per month, which I think should work out positively, because then I can't eat as much.  But I need money for stupid patternpaper... hmm.. maybe $10 a month.  I've waited 21 years, I'm in no particular hurry.  A job might help.

I need to start putting away money for a desktop computer as well.  I've had my eye on this one:

 

 Sony VAIO JS All in one PC

Abby Normal.

Abby Normal.

I'm currently working on a blouse pattern for class.  I plan to make a variation of it into an actual blouse for myself, with some lovely celadon shantung I bought last week.  So really, I'm making two patterns; a Size 10 for the dress form, and a Size Jess for moi.  It's always a little difficult to pattern something for myself, since I'm all kinds of sizes (like most normal people not created in a dress form factory).  I have a size 8ish bust, a size 12 waist, and a size god-knows-what boo-tay, and between you and me, I wouldn't change an inch of myself if I had the chance.

Je Vois La Vie En Rose.

Je Vois La Vie En Rose.

I'm learning sleeves!  This is very exciting news.  This means that I'll actually be able to make wearable shirts soon.  Very soon.  Elation.  School is going well so far.  "I see life in rose".

As much as I love fashion, I miss the hell out of drawing.  I bought myself a new Moleskine and a set of sepia Faber-Castells today to rectify this. 

I keep thinking about trying menswear.  It's so difficult, because men have been wearing variations of the same thing for, well, ever, whereas women will wear just about anything.  Pants, shirts, jackets.  That's it.  And if you put too much design into it, men won't wear it because it's too out of the ordinary or too flamboyant.  If it were up to me, men would be wearing waistcoats and ascots 24/7.  I get so sick of some of the things men wear around here.  If I see one more pair of skin tight jeans, I swear.  Yes, your ass looks good, but where do you put your penis??  Back pocket?  I just don't know.