Actually, there have been two. The first question came from a young woman on a mission to design the costumes for a dance that she was also choreographing. She began our session by asking if I knew where she might find some textile/art-fashion magazines. This is a perfect example of a question that is not as it seems. I told her that UCB didn’t have a fashion program so we don’t tend to collect corresponding materials, however, we had a few books in the library that explored the intersections between fashion and technology and fashion and architecture. Those were a good start. So to was the suggestion of visiting the Berkeley Public Library. Then I asked her what she was really after. “Tell me about your project?” “What do you hope to find in these magazines?” Inspiration. She wanted to find inspiration for designing the aforementioned dance costumes.
Oh, well! Have I got a quicker solution. In the next 15 minutes I introduced her to the world of fashion and art blogs, as well as Google Reader to managing her burgeoning interest. Because believe me, once you start down the track of fashion blogs, you can’t stop collecting them into Reader. Okay, maybe that’s just me. Still, the young woman was absolutely delighted. She had no idea that this virtual world existed. Fashionistas are highly visual people and litter their blogs full of images swiped from everywhere. Probably not copyright Kosher.
This brings me to today’s question, which found me sitting next to the patron with scratch paper in front of us, holding pencils at strange angles before our faces. I spent 15 minutes showing her perspective drawings and giving her some quick and dirty introductory drawing tips. Yes, she came to the desk asking for books on drawing, and that was what she was really after. And yes, I sent her out the door with an armful, but I think I addressed a more complicated problem that the books couldn’t have: the blow to her self-esteem. All of her classmates were whipping out sketches with ease and she was struggling to even decipher what the instructor was saying. Drawing has its own language and it’s both visual and linguistic. So I showed her. And then I told her to relax, draw as much as possible and let the drawings be as bad as possible. I drew very badly for her and told her it was supposed to be like that. She took it with her.
I have Brushes on my iPhone and AutoDesk paint on the iPad. I’m still learning to use both of them comfortably. AutoDesk, in my opinion, is the better program, but both are equally neat.
The below video is a speed painting of an apple. The artist should have stopped earlier than they did. But still, it’s neat to see the process.
Click the link to watch a short video I took on my iPhone of the ocean. J- narrates with a short story. Good stuff.
This weekend J- and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniv. by heading North to Orr Hot Springs. The resort lies somewhere between Ukiah and Mendocino, in the mountains. We liked the place. Our cabin was in the shade, had a small kitchen, comfortable bed and was-in all-cozy. The baths were interesting. There were private baths for pre-soaking, in old fashioned bathtubs with ever-flowing taps of spring water. Then there were the communal pools, a steam room and a sauna. We used the private baths and steam room a lot. J- gravitated towards the steam room because it was the hottest he could get. None of the baths were quite hot enough for him.
While we liked our cabin and the general atmosphere of Orr, we weren’t entirely happy with the baths. Perhaps because we are used to how Wilbur Hot Springs runs. But, like I said, none of the baths were hot enough for J-. There was a distinct lack of meditative bathing, unless you were in the private baths. And yet that after a while is isolating. There were also large groups of women staying at the resort and they were very chatty. J- and I don’t do chit chat while soaking.
We also thought Mendocino was pretentious. Sorry Mendocino.
Regardless, we had a relaxing weekend get away and a nice road trip. The No. Calif. coast was gorgeous along Hwy. 1. It was also nice to reflect on how far J- and I have come in 10 years together; from our poor art student days to our current professional lives.
The kitties stayed home and were well behaved. No plants were knocked over this time and Mau ate and bathed.
P.S. I am abbreviating certain words in hopes that I can avoid certain types of s.pa.m.
Last night J- and I went for a stroll around our part of E-ville. Within a 4-5 block radius, there were the parts we knew, and then these little unknown pockets. Bungalow houses, both cute and rundown. And then a plum tree. (Peabody and Vallejo) The plums were not quite ripe, but tasty. All of this got us back to the question: do we want a loft or a little house?
Friday evening, we were in the Mission having sushi with one of J-’s friends, BB. Just before the end of dinner, BB started talking about this ice cream sorbet place around the corner that sold spicy Thai lime sorbet, but they were closing in two minutes. So J- and I shooed him out the door (BB was dithering about the check). The waiter(s) thought this was hilarious. Later BB said that when he got to the ice cream shop, they were closed, but he stood outside the door and put his hands together as if praying. All of the people eating their ice cream outside started chanting “let him in!” Which the owner did, while scolding BB “You’re a regular. You should know better!” Thus we had spicy Thai lime sorbet.
This sorbet is a bit of a devil. It’s cold, sweet and lemony. But it’s also very spicy, which you don’t feel until your mouth starts to warm up again. That’s when it kicks you and you scramble for a glass of water.
I have one more statement to write on my e-portfolio. Once done, everything is submitted for review and if accepted, I will graduate with my Masters in Library and Information Science. I’ve done 16 statements, 3-5 pages each, over the last two months. You do the math.
So I’m tired, I’m almost there and I stalled out last night over my statement of professional philosophy. I’ve started and stopped this thing 3 times. It shouldn’t be this hard. All I have to articulate is my goals, my philosophy and how I’ve contributed to the cultural, educational and economic social well being of our communities. I know all of this. I’ve been thinking about this for over 8 months. So what the hell?
Stop motion animation short from the National Film Board of Canada. Everything about it is incredible. I’m fascinated with the eye movements of the characters, particularly Madame. Jake and I both decided that she was a life size doll, because all of her surroundings and possessions are actual found objects.
I’m working on my 3rd annual party dress for the Google holiday party. This time, owing to a hectic schedule, I am working from a pattern instead of designing my own. The pattern is Minna from BurdaStyle.com.
From the beginning, I decided to go with two layers of fabric, a black sheer over a chartreuse or some sort of similar green. I flirted with some iridescent sheers, but at $13 a yard, I would have been over my $70 budget. I’m still deciding on the shoulder/collar trim. Ideas so far have been feathers, fur, crocheted lace with iridescent jet black beads, or simply a loosely pleated collar of the same material.
Although I hope not. The last week has felt a bit more manageable. There are a few gaps opening up here and there on my calendar and my classes are more manageable than usual. So I give you images of the shirts I made for my niece and nephew in-law. Plus images of our work on our loft.
Both shirts were made from a Japanese pattern book I got in SF Japan Town. The entire text is in Japanese, but the illustrations are so good that you can puzzle out the directions.
I made Guthrie’s shirt out of an old shirt that Jake was going to send to Goodwill.
We moved our sleeping arrangements out of the upper loft down into the living space. The cats and warmer temperature of the loft made sleeping increasingly difficult. So last weekend, we took a trip to Ikea, forked over a bit of $ and transformed the space. The screen is something I redid. The iron frame had this awful discolored jute (or something) fabric. The fabric you see was something one of our designer neighbors put out into the hall one day. Serendipity, it matches my wall.
