Fabric-Free Fashions

Check out some of the awesome fashions using non traditional materials at the Visions Gallery in Liberty Station. If you click on their web site http://www.quiltvisions.org/ you will see a preview slide show of some of the creative designs. It is a lot of fun to see. I can only imagine what it is like to wear.
Rene, AKA L751 is right around the corner (in the same building) at Sophie's Gallery. Stop by and see her and her friends at the Mannequin Project. http://stmsc.org/programs/sophies-gallery-and-gift-shop

Gaskin Anomaly Detector

In March, the Balboa Park Online Collaborative launched Balboa Park’s first-ever steampunk design contest. The contest offered steampunk enthusiasts the opportunity to show their creativity by creating a version of the Anomaly Detector used by the characters Pandora and Drake in Giskin Anomaly, Balboa Park’s park-wide cell phone adventure. I didn't win anything, but had fun designing a detector for the contest. To see the winning design, go to http://www.balboapark.org/ and type in Gaskin Anomoly Detector.
In my entry below, there is a sliding door that opens to a secret compartment that holds the actual device.

Here you can see the sliding door where the device fits inside.

Close-up of the hidden detector. It is made of polymer clay, jewelry parts, and computer parts.

Close up of the top of the case composed mostly of computer parts and watch parts.

Mannequin Project

You are invited to the opening of The Mannequin Project, Friday night at Sophie's Gallery. My mannequin, titled " L751" will be on view until the end of May. Unfortunately, I will be teaching a class during the opening, but if you go, you will have fun. There are lots of things going on regarding Art Meets Fashion so check out the big fashion kick off and other "fringe events" at San Diego Visual Arts Network. http://www.sdvan.org/. (Rene's outfit is part of their web site banner right now too)

Mixed metals

Wearing earrings is part of getting dressed for many of us. Even if we don't wear much jewelry, we tend to wear earrings. After making so many in polymer clay a shift in thinking is needed when working with metals.
Not only do they need to be lighter in proportion to size but other elements need to make up for the lack of color. My solution, use as many metals as possible. Here, you see silver, copper and brass. And..............if at first it doesn't look right, just keep adding more stuff. That isn't usually a the best strategy, but in this case it somehow worked out, or maybe not.
What do you think?

Mannequin Project continues

I finished the mannequin project and wanted you to see the progression of ideas and the final form.

In this first photo you can see Rene wearing tights to highlight the metal disks in the skirt. (I was OK with her wearing nothing underneath, but the contrast wasn't enough to make the skirt stand out). Notice on the right side of the photo the tights are lower then on the other side. Actually, her entire left "cheek" is exposed in the back, and I think I now know where the phrase "having a stick up one's butt" comes from. Rene has one embedded in her left cheek that attaches to the glass base on the floor. No way those tights were going up over her butt unless they were cut and somehow reattached. That wasn't gonna work, so they had to come off. 

Here you can see the skirt now lined in black felt. Much better.

This gives you an idea of the overall look. The ruffled top is made of floppy disks and the jewelry is mostly computer parts and polymer clay.

The hat is made with recycled tubing, the pantie hose that didn't work out that you saw in the first photo, styrofoam, computer parts, wire and pins. She still need a few accessories. The clip on earrings I made didn't stay on, so I need to figure out something because she needs earrings. A few more arm bands with computer parts, will be added later, but you get the idea. You can see Rene in person during the Art Meets Fashion Event in Liberty Station. Details will follow soon.

Dainty digits

Here you can see the  progression of work on my mannequin, Rene's hands.
Notice the color difference. I thought only the navy, purple and red polymer clay darkened with baking. This really darkened quite a lot. Possibly because I baked it longer due to the thickness of the fingers. Anyway, they fit pretty well and are in the poses she previously held.

The painted view, including a new nail color, alizarin crimson is seen below. If alizarin crimson was a nail polish color, it would never fly. It would need JUICY, SEXY or SENSUAL in the title to sell. Right?

If there was more time, I would have sanded the joints and made them seamless.

But, under the circumstances, covering them up with jewelry was more fun and served the purpose.

Making this jewelry pushed me creatively and made me want to do more.These pieces are made from our old portable hard drive I took apart and a couple other things destined for the trash. The flashy part of the rings are anchored with polymer clay or wire. The only thing not from the computer is the marble I found and embedded into the clay on the left third finger. It is probably good there wasn't a lot of extra time and parts because making these made me want to make more. You should try it. At least try taking an old keyboard or CD player apart. It is fascinating to see the mechanisms and circuit boards inside.

Rene's skirt

Here is a preview of my mannequin, Rene's skirt. I can't tell you how many little disks I've individually wired together. Anyway, it is finally finished and photos will follow with her wearing it.

No, this isn't Cousin It. Remember him from the Adam's Family? These are Rene's hands. I was told she got bumped around and knocked over in the costume shop where she lived previously. She obviously needs way more then a manicure, so I've been creating new clay fingers for her today. After spending quite a while carefully matching the clay color, the fingers darkened during baking. Doh! I should have taken that into consideration. I may just paint over them since you can see her hands are slightly different colors too.

I'll post the finished digits next time.