Getting an EYEful

What a night at the EYE of the Beholder Wearable Art Show!

...hangover is such a harsh word when you have so much BEAUTIFUL and ARTFUL fun! The Eye of the Beholder Wearable Art Show was just FAB -almost as much fun as the pre-functioning with Ann, Daddy-O and my sweet sis!

Darl Schaaff of Art Services North transformed the Crosspoint Auditorium! Featured and displayed were the works of Featured Artist, Designer and now Costumer in California, Sean Purucker. 

Several of us that were on the committee arrived early in the afternoon to start setting up. This is one of the 10 VIP tables that were near the Runway.

My sister and I glamming it up at a VIP runway-side table.

VIP "Swag Bags" included a pair of Artisan-made wool mittens or a hand made silk scarf,  gift cards, artisan tea, Modern Dwellers chocolates, hand moisturizer, cool lite-up LED rings, hand crafted soap, Artist Trading Card kit and MORE! My friend Jana and I were the VIP Bag committee chicks and we think we ROCKED the goodie bags this year! They were SO popular that some people sitting behind us at a non-VIP table stole MY goodie bag(!)... oh well, just proves they were a hit! 

My date.
xOx
Within hours, Daddy-O went from wearing his tool belt and Carhartt's, tearing out a wall in the kitchen for our new refrigerator (this was AFTER he got home from work) to Mr. Runway, the best date a girl could have.

One of my entries "Power Suit for Casual Fridays" looked great on the model but had a few pre-show issues in the dressing room. One of the problems was that the model was too petite for the piece and didn't wear the head piece that I designed for it. Some of the metal work was also damaged after the show which I can hopefully fix BUT a buyer wanted to take it home last night arrrggh... I learned a LOT by entering this show. There is so much time and basic materials and structure knowledge needed to pull of a really great piece that planning and time are essential. Several of us also agreed that the artist needs to work closely with who will be modeling your work. Next year I won't leave it up the the Show to select my models (if my work is selected), I'll have that better planned, not only for sizing but for choreography and overall design and presentation.

One of my favorite pieces was "Queen of Caffeine"  designed by Nessa Noveau and Carly Garay. The tall, beautifully winged garment was worn by a model on stilts!! It was constructed of coffee and tea bags, dyed and embellished with  rich and warm rust-brown palette.  Just breathtaking. 

With close to 60 entries we were on sensory overload with the talent and scope of "wearable art" at the show. It was hard for the judges (Jocelyn Young, Jo Michelski, and Georgia Blue) to choose three ultimate winners because of the diversity of not only the materials used but the quality of construction on each piece.

2012 Show Winners

Best of Show and Jurors Choice

Larry Depute "Still Flying"

Theme: Elise Rose "Restrained/Gratification"

Best use of material: Lauralye Miko, "Post Poetic"

Process of Intimidation

Detail of "Power Suit for Casual Fridays" 

My entries for the EYE of the Beholder Wearable Art Show Anchorage are complete. I was feeling satisfied and even somewhat accomplished because I felt I’d fully experienced the PROCESS from idea, production, deconstruction, back to reconstruction and finally the completion of each piece. There were structural and creative challenges and frustrations. Materials were unpacked, found, sought, purchased, tried out and many cast aside –for me, all symptoms of a full-blown creative process in a new medium. Sometimes when I get caught up in the process I forget the important details like deadlines, application forms or even sending in the fees associated with a Call for Entry. While confirming the entry form details on line, I went to a link for the Juneau, AK Wearable Art Show which then lead me to the link for WOW, the World of Wearable Art. Emphasis on W-O-R-L-D, entries with global talent and even bigger ideas that seemed perfectly executed from top globally successful creative types. Sculptural forms and inventive materials were adorning the human form that seemed even too creative for the Broadway stage or the best of a Cirque show. Looking at image after image in awe and admiration is when that nasty, dark feeling of doubt seeped in to my psyche.  Suddenly, my entries seem so amateur, unpolished and not worthy of any stage. I was feeling I didn’t even want to enter the show. Maybe I could come up with an excuse that I had a catastrophic fiber explosion that melted both pieces into a ball of crap. I was also feeling confident that I had the creative “eye” while looking at each of these entries with such admiration that it actually inspired me at the same time intimidation was beating me down and fizzing up my guts. Feeling my lowest and not coming up with a suitable excuse as to why I couldn’t enter my two lowly pieces in the Anchorage Show I found more links on the WOW site “Why Enter,” “Getting Started,” “Design Forum,” and even “Design Tips.” I suddenly felt welcomed into this new world of wearable art. I read of many other new artists and “never-evers” that had questions, fears and apprehensions as I did. I may not be entering the WORLD of WearableArt Show but I appreciated their supportive and encouraging approach to us beginners. That is how you grow, foster and support CREATIVITY. I’m going to try and apply this experience to our local Eye of the Beholder Wearable Art Show as I fill out my entry forms -today. As an artist, even if your medium of choice is not fiber, you need to check out some of these creations for inspiration. I also felt that a few of the WOW judges comments are helpful for any of us working in any medium -where you read the word “garments” and “fabric” simply insert your current medium of choice:

"Too Much Dress Up!" entry for the EYE of the Beholder Wearable Art Show -Anchorage by Cindy Shake. Original pattern and design, Barbie accessories, clothes, tulle, found objects, commercial fabric.

       

      "There were some great concepts but some garments had problems with form and design. Try taking a photo of your garment or looking at it in the mirror – this can help you see it more objectively. Remember, less is more!”

       

      “We loved seeing garments made of materials that have been manipulated or transformed by the designer rather than just using commercially available fabric.”

       

      “Some garments were broken on arrival due to poor packing. The firmer you can pack your garment, the better. You may also be able to collapse your garment to fit in a smaller box or even pack it in more than one box.”

"Power Suit for Casual Friday" entry for the EYE of the Beholder Wearable Art Show -Anchorage by Cindy Shake. Original pattern and design, plasma cut steel and copper, wire, hardware, denim, satin, faux fur and LED light embellishments.

"Too Much Dress Up!" entry for the EYE of the Beholder Wearable Art Show -Anchorage by Cindy Shake. Original pattern and design, Barbie accessories, clothes, tulle, found objects, commercial fabric.

More Time, More Art

One of my entries in progress for the Alaska Fiber Festival Wearable Art Show, "Power Suit For Casual Fridays."

"Too Much Dress Up"

To accommodate additional artists who have works in other Wearable Art Shows here in Alaska and the lower 48 this month and still want to enter our show, the deadline for the Eye of the Beholder Wearable Art show here in Anchorage has been extended until February 27. What?! More Time?! Woot! –with all of this extra time let me completely deconstruct my entries this week and explore even more ideas! Extending deadlines is not a good thing for me because I tend to work best under pressure and there are just way too many ideas that can always be made! My entry “Too Much Dress Up” using lots of PINK BARBIE accessories as found objects has been a kick to make but has also had structural challenges with the weight of the collaged accessories pulling too much on the front of the dress. In this sneak peek of images I’m not finished with the shoulder treatments but the head piece and accessory bracelet are complete. The head piece is a Barbie luggage set stuffed with girl-pink must-haves! The bracelet is a chunky wristband made using all Barbie hairbrushes on a hair scrunchie, that is totally FUN to wear and look at. My second entry “Power Suit For Casual Fridays” is a retake on my metal sculpture “Power Suit” of plasma cut and welded steel with copper embellishments, hardware, aluminum mesh and purple faux fur lining the breast cones. I’m working on a hip denim mini-skirt with free moving “pleats” that will be worn under the “suit’s corset” area. With all of this EXTRA TIME, who knows both designs may be completely transformed this week, yet AGAIN!

Design ideas for one of my entries in the Alaska Fiber Festival Wearable Art Show "Power Suit for Casual Fridays."

I Stopped by 2 Friends Gallery today and saw that my Art Quilts were up! Jacqui purchased 8 of my fiber pieces. It was hard to see them leave the studio but hopefully the pieces will all find good homes! I’m still in love with most of them, especially the large Crane. My art work usually needs to have a “cooling off” period where I set them aside in the studio, not look at them for a while before I’m able to let them go. Most of my fiber work has been especially hard for me to part with, maybe because I spend so much time on each one and really enjoy what I’m making.

My Art Quilts on display and for sale in the 2 Friends Gallery.

With the temps FINALLY above zero, we were able to enjoy Westchester Lagoon on our evening walkies! January is on track to be one of the most frigid months on record in Alaska history, according to the National Weather Service. The average temperature in Anchorage for January so far is 2.7 degrees.

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/27/2287406/anchorage-on-track-to-set-record.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.adn.com/2012/01/27/2287406/anchorage-on-track-to-set-record.html#storylink=cpy

Plan Z

With apologies to Plankton, I felt like I was reverting to evil plan Z this week. After several different attempts and ideas for my Alaska Fiber Festival Wearable Art entry that were just not gelling, I finally found an idea that I could run with. Thank goodness. I’m showing you just a sneak peek for now… Frustratingly, there is no "on demand create” switch on my body –though I wish there were. My first couple of ideas for my entry were shot down (by me) after doing some reference image searches, I came across images of similar designs that had already been created –DOH! One early idea was a dress in the shape of hand painted, Tyvek sculpted butterfly wings I wanted to call “Mariposa Metamorphic”  -already done. Then, my idea for the “Read Queen,” a play on the Red Queen reinvented was going to be a red and black dress of sculptural books and magazine pages was just NOT structurally working as I had hoped. After sewing numerous pages from books, dying a thrift store wedding dress as a base in my NEW LG washing machine (I was panicked I was going to stain the machine using the Black RIT!) came out old lady lavender instead of BLACK, arrrgh, so I finally gave up that idea. Even after seeing that one of my original ideas had already been done I stubbornly kept at it and ground it right into the frozen ground until it died a slow depressing death until it was no longer fun. Then while feeling sorry for myself and farting around in my studio it came to me! I changed my thinking to try and create something that I LIKED MAKING instead of something that I HAVE TO DO or a piece that NEEDS TO WOW. Sounds easy enough, but sometimes I get so focused on the wrong direction and intention, like the JUDGING and the CONTEST portion of the Fiber Festival that I easily lose sight of the best part, the CREATIVE PROCESS and making. I put way too many self imposed high expectations on my entry even before I began. Fearing that my entry wasn't going to be "good enough" started to derail my ART MAKING even before I started MAKING the ART, silly me. I'm back on track and LOVING the direction my new piece is taking.

-P.S. There is still plenty of time for YOU to make something, entries are not due until February 3 and is open to all mediums! If you are out of state and would like to participate, I'd be happy to help coordinate the delivery of your piece. For for more information and entry rules visit the Fiber Festival web site.

Oh, and did I mention there is $2,000 in prize money up for grabs?!! 

The find of the week was my VINTAGE dress maker mannequin! Isn't she just FAB! 

She was immediately put to work fitting my Wearable Art entry for the Fiber Festival.

.

Check out the entries from the 2011 Show for a little inspiration at  http://www.alaskafiberfestival.org/