I’ve been meaning to post about this for a while now, but haven’t gotten around to it. I started cutting a new dress tonight (not telling you exactly what for, but it might have something to do with the launch of a new UP pilot this week, maybe). As I reached for one of the many pairs of crappy old jagged scissors on my desk, I realized I now have, hidden away in a drawer, a brand spanking new pair of proper tailor shears. They were a gift from my interns, presented to me last week when the last of the group finished their internship. I cried a little bit.
But the most touching part? They had the words Study Hall engraved on the side of the blade, so now every time I cut something – which is often – I’ll think of them and the project. I know they bought the scissors to spare any future interns the pain of having to work with my miserable collection of hatchets, but even that makes me happy.
So thank you Karolina, Tim and Julianne, if you’re reading this! My gift has been put to good use already.
I stopped by Smith & Butler today to drop off some new Fall 10 styles and found they had lots of love for Study already! From the little shout out on the chalk board outside, to styles hanging nicely on the racks, and even the lookbooks placed prominently at the register.
I was introduced to Heather Huey about a year ago by Graeme Mitchell, who took a portrait of her and thought we might get along. Heather studied architecture and then decided to switch gears and trained as a milliner – definitely a dying artform – but her work transcends simple hat making. She makes wearable sculptures that are equal parts couture fashion accessories and art. She first described her Cocoon series as three dimensional forms made from the felt scraps leftover from her hatmaking. Never did I imagine what I saw tonight at the show.
Okay so I’m a little late posting this event, sorry. I attended the launch this evening and can not stop thinking about the amazing work Heather put into her new work. Go see it in person, if you have a chance, it’s definitely worth a peak! This is one of the reasons I love living in New York City. There are talented people living all over this amazing city raising the bar a little higher for the rest of us every day. And you can just stumble upon their work in the middle of Chelsea (under the highline) without even realizing it.
There was a comment on yesterday’s post from an artist named Zhen (Dai Zhen Chew). Being that the comment came from someone other than my mother, brother or Timo, I was curious, so I clicked on her link and was blown away by the beauty and originality of her work. I especially love her Blind Train Drawings series, shown in the video above and described on her website as:
The following artworks were drawing as part of the blind train drawing series. I would recoded my daily train ride into uni with both drawing in a sketch book and a sound recorder. Using the recoded sound and a blind fold to help focus my memory I would create blind performance train drawings.
In fact, I was so inspired by her work that I promptly emailed her to ask whether she’d be interested in collaborating with me on textile prints for my Fall 11 collection. Yup, time to start thinking about that already! In the very embryonic stages of development, this may lead to a very exciting collaboration, from halfway around the world! If you have a second, go check out Zhen’s website, her work is creative, original and offers an entirely new perspective the art of drawing.
