The Voertman Art Show

Okay. So I woke up today knowing that I had to basically start and finish a whole project in time to submit it to the Voertman Art Show Student Competition Exhibition Fancy Art Thing With Prices by the deadline at 5pm today. I'm going to ruin the suspense and say right away that I MADE IT.
Here's my day in pictures:

This is Trans-lum. It's a translucent kind of plastic that works a bit like card stock and it is used as back drops for photography. I got 18 ft of it for about $40 on Amazon. So I have to come up with another project to use it for.

Folded by hand, tacked together by hand and sewn together by hand. Ouch.

By this point I'm surprised I have any skin left on my right index finger and thumb.

Throw some glitzy fabric over the whole thang and you got yourself a piece of art.

AND make the thing light up. BAM. So artsy.

Some close-ups. I really like the Trans-lum and the crease lines.

It is now a little before 3 pm and I'm gonna go and turn in this thing. It might not be the most legit thing I have ever made but I'm excited that I'll be able to turn in at least one thing. And working with the Trans-lum really inspired me. There you have it. One-day art project. Wish me luck!

workworkworkworkwork

My, my, my, am I being a busy bee these days?
Here are some of the things I've been working on lately.
First we have the current project in my fashion design class. Inspired by Cubism and the 1920's I'm making a pieced dress and a huge caftan slightly similar to the popular wrap coats. This dress is a real b but luckily I'm actually reaping some results from my efforts. It might actually turn out quite nice.

The Illustration in the works

I'm quite enjoying this nowadays

Finished illustrations

I hope I'm not the only person too cheap to block fuse a thing like this.

So many pieces.

BAM! Now ain't dat sum dam perty corners?

Finally I'm also trying to get together an inspiring work place going in my room. I'm very proud to present this floating clothes/pattern rack.

Yup, that's some of it! I have something going on for the Voertman's show but I'm going to have to perform quite the miracle to be able to finish that. I'll make a post about it when I have something to show. Updates will also follow about my dress and caftan. I have to say that I am quite excited to see the outcome myself.

2 Stories for 2012

Continuing my cinematic theme for these coming seasons' forecast, I threw together two story boards for Moonrise Kingdom and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo to further explain how they inspire me.

The cinematography of Moonrise Kingdom leaves the most urban hermit longing to be outside in nature and it inspired me to go out and find enchanting life forms I didn't know existed. A colorful sea snail, a lizard in mid-color change and a blue-faced monkey set the color story for this look and they are grounded in some more earthy tones of brown and tan. I kept the silhouettes mostly 50s inspired but with a playful twist that reflects the tone of the film. I included some beautiful prints that I would love to use in a design.

This board illustrates the direction I would take Lisbeth Salander in for 2012. The approach is more surreal and cerebral than the original but still maintaining her general attitude. Yet again I draw inspiration from the animal kingdom. The colors are mostly black with nice bursts of intensive purple and teal. I absolutely adore this burnt-out velvet dress and it is a technique I need to explore. It sounds like a cliche but mixing different textures of black material is very inspiring and I really enjoy working with it. Therefore I paired the velvet with sheers and leather. The Commes de Garcons conjoined twin suit is great in both material and concept.

Films that will inspire my fashion year

I might consider myself quite and old soul and when it can be quite the feat when it comes to keeping up with what is going on around me in current events. However, movies and films will always keep me inspired and kind of up to date in conversations out in the real world outside the confining walls of the fashion design building where I spend most of my time. I know I'm not the only one who finds their fashion influences in films so here comes a list of 5 films in which I believe people will find inspiration to take new turns in fashion 2012. 


The Artist
Can a silent movie really work in this day and age? I'd definitely say so, at least as long as you have all the deliciousness of the 1920s to look at. This French film is up for no less than 10 Academy Award nominations and I would not be surprised if we started to see some influences from this crazy decade pop up here and there. I believe it already has at least in the big pieces of dyed fur that have been spotted here and there on the runways for fall 2012. 

Best Supporting Actress: Berenice Bejo, for 'The Artist'

Louis Vuitton Pre-Fall 2012

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
Oh my oh my, am I being a terrible Swede for basically being in love with Rooney Mara when my own Lisbeth Salander Noomi Rapace hardly made an impression on me at all? Frankly, I don't care. Women like this affect me in a way that makes me scared of what I might do with my bangs.
The internet and blogs are completely overloaded with trend boards based on this little piece of work. Here's a slide show from refinery29.com showing H&M in true Lisbeth Salander fashion.

Moonrise Kingdom
I know myself just from looking at the stills from this coming movie that suddenly having a cub scout leading boyfriend looks very appealing.I have not been too impressed with Wes Anderson's latest movies but while watching the trailer I know that this movie will be an absolute treat even if the plot and everything else completely blows thanks to the wonderful costumes. Stealing your boyfriends' dress shirts and wearing them buttoned all the way up has been a huge trend over the fall and winter and I myself is a big fan of this preppy but still comfortable look. This will most likely continue on but for the girl who wants to look more feminine we see cute little 50s inspired dresses and blouses on runways like Christian Dior's Spring RTW show.

Re-release of Titanic
I believe that the 10 year anniversary release of Titanic will raise the waistlines. We might see fashion influenced by the nineteen-teens but furthermore I think it will continue to spark the influences in fashion from the late 1990s that keeps popping up in a truly nostalgic fashion for me and my age group. I don't know how I feel about this whole 3D business, but it will sure be nice to see some Leo on the big screen again.  

The Hunger Games

From what I've seen from the trailer it would be an understatement to say that I am just bursting in my seams to see what costume designer Judianna Makovsky dressed the inhabitants of the Capitol in. I recently read the first book and I am incredibly excited to see the colorful descriptions of the future fashion come to life. I'm down to sparkle. As a way for Lionsgate to promote the motion picture they have even released a fashion blog called Capitol Couture! Here we can see shoes by Alexander McQueen and The Hunger Games - inspired nail polish by China Glaze, along with other looks by designers like Theirry Mugler deemed appropriate to wear for the opening ceremonies. Even if people might not go to this extreme in everyday wear I know for sure what i want to be for this years Halloween.

Trend Spotting

I prefer my boys nice and nerdy.

I love the scarf pattern that has been seen on both button downs
and pants for the spring

Lace-y diy

Denim shirt and friendship bracelets, 10,000 bloggers cant be wrong

Neon lipstick and blue tips

She made her own clutch and put a pom pom on it!

I can always trust the people in out sister program
to be accountable with great style

Pretty pretty necklaces

What inspires me

Inspiration is a tricky thing for me to describe because I tend to find it in arbitrary places and because I like finding things that I didn't even know I'd like. I try to surround myself with objects that inspire me. I have a collection of things and trinkets that I find visually intriguing. Getting random knick-knacks together that don't really go with each other can open your eyes to explore new combinations of ideas and aesthetics. I would probably describe myself as quite the morbid person so having stuffed/preserved/dissected animals and parts of them on display says a lot about me. I like mysticism and even though I don't really believe in anything supernatural I find the stories and legends inspiring.
Some other general things that I always find inspiring in a visually appealing way are micrograph images, deep space phenomenons, deep sea creatures, religious iconography, and basically anything that combines colors and design elements in a new, interesting way that I didn't even see coming.