Monday, June 30th, 2008
I save up piles of images and magazines and sketches and then once in awhile I sit down and go through them and paste them into my sketchbook. I really should update it regularly -it would be so much more helpful to my process and I wouldn’t have to keep sifting and searching through the piles. I always tell my students to sit down at the end of each day and reflect on their work and update their books. Time seems to get away from me though and I end up doing it in chunks.
After a week away I’m back quietly working here on my sketchbook and more wholesale orders and various other things that I will talk about soon. While it was nice to be away, it feels good to be back to work.
It felt especially good to be able to ride my bike to work downtown and back again in the beautiful (non-humid) summer weather we’re having. I hope you had a chance to get outside today too.
Wednesday, June 18th, 2008
You might be surprised to find out that I like the color pink. For awhile when I was little I had an all pink bedroom (except for white walls, which we had in every room and which I still prefer to this day). It wasn’t girly or frilly, but everything was a varying shade of pink. My favorite pinks have a lot of grey or blue in them. Right now my younger son’s favorite color is pink. I’m sure that will change as he gets older and realizes that boys aren’t supposed to like pink. I wish pink wasn’t so tied to being a girl color in our culture.
I’ve talked before about how color is very emotional for me. There are just some colors that feel right. I think many people are like that. Sometimes I’m affected by trends (anyone else jump on the brown bandwagon a few years ago?) but those likes always fade and I come back to my favorite colors. I have found in architecture that you can’t push a color on someone. If I’m using color I tend to design with an idea in mind -cool or warm, intense or subtle, and then work with the client to come up with the actual color.
I am always drawn to neutrals, probably because they stem from natural materials, but certain colors will evoke that emotional response, especially when combined with the right neutral (usually grey, my favorite).When I designed this jacket the intent was that the interior be a vibrant contrast to the grey exterior because you really only see a bit of it. I really like the grey with the magenta, which is probably my favorite shade of pink.
Friday, June 13th, 2008
glass light book
I have been blown away this week with the amazing contributions to s t i l l. I could spend hours going through all the photographs. Originally I had set up the group with the intention of closing it after one week, but with close to 500 members and such beautiful work, I am reluctant to do so. So I will leave the group open, although I won’t be contributing each day as I did this week.
I ended up focusing primarily on different light qualities. The hardest part for me is always what to photograph. I think I would rather just photograph the light itself instead of an object. My favorite photographer is Uta Barth and many of her photographs have an empty foreground. Because she has focused on the foreground which is empty, what you see is the background that is full of light and out of focus. I think this lack of subject, which brings the viewer and point of focus to the same point, is what makes these so compelling to me.
I have so much to learn.
I’ll leave you with some of my favorites from the group. Hope you have a great weekend!
ヤサシイクウキ
still.1
film.232
curtains
waiting
still
s t i l l
wall of numbers
Saturday, June 7th, 2008
cat table bowl
A current goal of mine is to learn more about my camera(s) and to experiment with taking still life shots. I would like to try taking some different types of photos of my clothing as well -less documentation like and more natural. I love this type of photo that Maria takes. I think it’s nice to have both together to describe each piece.
What I have found so far is that taking still life images is hard! At least for me. Right now I’m trying to figure out why it seems so hard and I think the main reason is that in posing objects I have a hard time figuring out what to include in the image to make it feel natural.
In experimenting I realized that seeing the image on the screen of the camera as opposed to seeing it with my eye up to the viewfinder makes it easier for me to frame. I just move the camera around until I get it framed just right. It makes me think of drawing class long ago, when the instructor gave us empty slide carriers to hold up to frame the image we wanted to draw. That means using my canon powershot instead of the D40 but I think I will try this for awhile.
So in the interest of learning I’m going to dedicate next week to taking still life photographs. You can join me here if you would like. I would love to see your photos. I’m going to focus on light (and absence of light) as well as emulating particular photographers and photographs I admire. It would be great to have a critical discussion and dialog about the photos.
added: I was just thinking….technically this photo isn’t still. Fritz jumped up just as I was snapping it. But I like it.
Wednesday, June 4th, 2008
My approach to design, whether it is architecture, clothing, or anything else, has always been to make things that work well, have a simple, timeless design and are made out of quality materials. My goal is to have things last so that we don’t have to produce as much. If things work well and are beautiful, then they can continue to be useful.
While I have always used locally sourced and sustainable products when I can in architecture, I haven’t explored this in my clothing design. For a small design company, organic fabrics are harder to find and much more expensive. In the past year though I have had this nagging feeling that I really should focus more on sourcing some eco-friendly fabrics.
Recently I’ve found a few companies that sell smaller quantities of organic cottons, linens, hemp, etc. and I am really excited to announce that soon some of my pieces will be available in these fabrics. At this time it won’t be a complete line, but the organic pieces will be under the label U N, for U N I F O R M natural.
These pieces will most likely cost a bit more, but I’m going to try to keep costs down as much as I can. I feel like most organic clothing lines are cost prohibitive for the average buyer, and if people can’t afford to buy them, what’s the point in making them?
Monday, June 2nd, 2008
