Sarah Jessica Nadas

Lots to Say

2011-11-07T02:04:00.000-08:00

So, let's not count the number of times I've failed to post on a regular basis, come back after quite a long period, and only to say that THIS TIME I will write more regularly. That said, I miss blogging, and I've got to find a way to remind myself to do it more often.

A part of the problem was I was using my blog almost exclusively as a place to discuss my creative process for my designs, and having had a long break from my creative work, I felt as though I had nothing to post. BUT I intend to change this. To change the structure or content of what I post here.

Alot is new with me. :) I HAVE returned to my creativity and got back to designing. I have enrolled in a graphic course where I'm learning Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Flash. I'm enjoying it so much and whether I work in graphic when the course is finished or not, it will be useful to have the new skills I've developed to further my own design work.

Also, I'm getting married!! :) That's fun! And as a gift from my fiance's parents, they enrolled me in a mini photography workshop. Best present!! When I was last back home in CANADA, I purchased a pretty sweet D-SLR (digital single lense reflex) camera (NIKON D-3100), even though I hadn't used the manual setting on a camera since High school. Back then I was in the photography club and I LOVED photography. The love never went away but the skilll of manual photography was practically completely forgotten. So I bought this beautiful camera with the intent of re-learning what I once knew, but never got around to it. I was using this camera for the first half year on the Automatic setting, until a few weeks ago when my once-a-week, four week workshop began. I fell so in love with my camera and with taking photographs.

So, now I have a lot of visuals to catch you up on:

Wedding Plans
Graphic Work
New Jewellery
AND photography

I will post in the next few days on each of these topics to bring you visually up to date!

Stay Tuned :)

SJN

A Labour of Love

2010-07-30T13:46:00.000-07:00

My friend Ashley Vella and I met in our first year at OCAD, and then went into different programs. I went into Material Art & Design and she went into Graphic Design. She currently works at Clear Space Design & Communications Inc, and got in touch with me several months back when she thought my illustrative style would suit a current project she was working on. It turned out that one of the clients for the project, Sunnybrook, did like my design, but didn't feel it was the right way to go for that particular project. However, a month or so later, Ashley contacted me again to inform me that there was a new project she was working on for Sunnybrook and they had specifically requested that one of the proposals she would present include my illustrations!!! And so we worked together on this like crazy and our design was the one they went with!!! How exciting!!!!! The project was to design a graphic for the Labour of Love walkathon which is 9k walk to raise money for the women and babies program moving to their new home at Sunnybrook Medical Centre.

It was a fantastic project to be a part of, a lot of fun to work on, and gratifying to see the final product in reality.

The Doodle on Top

2010-07-25T12:28:00.000-07:00

Model Behaviour

2010-07-03T21:59:00.000-07:00

I had asked my boyfriend's cousin to model my jewellery for me, and she agreed! This was so important for me to shoot it on a person, instead of just on its own. And we had a lot of fun in the process. :) I'm the photographer here and I'm rather amateur at it, but I'm pleased with how the photos came out. Click HERE to check out more photos of my photoshoot with Talya.

sarah

Summer/Fall 2010

2010-06-25T08:51:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago I decided to get myself out of my hiatus and back into working. I thought about how I could successfully follow a self-given deadline and soon enough thought of calling my boyfriend's cousin, whom I'd talked with a good while back about modeling my jewellery for me. I thought, "if I can set a date with her, then I'd absolutely have to get to it and start working like I hadn't in too long a time. The date was set for today, but due to a minor conflict we re-scheduled to next week. I'm so very excited to do the shoot with her and get the pics up for all to see, but for now, these will have to do. I spent today shooting the finished collection; not on a model but each piece individually.

sarah

Let's Colour Project

2010-06-23T14:03:00.000-07:00

Today, as I got myself caught up on my Poppytalk reading, I came across this! The project is called Let's Colour Project. The initiative is to literally throw colour in and on places where it is lacking. Check out the video below. My eyes widened in awe in discovery of the project. It carries so much more brilliance than just an aesthetic one; it's simply a beautiful way of bringing people together. Grey should be our world's biggest problem.

Sarah

Semi- Slip

2010-06-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, among a few items which were here for us when we moved in, were two sofas. This rotten mustard yellow with spill stains and pilling fabric. If we the money to do so, we'd have simply tossed 'em and bought new ones. This however wasn't a realistic option. So I made it my duty to take a ten dollar 'summer blanket' with a slight waffle texture, print on it and sew it into a slip cover.. something I've never done before. Well, I don't currently have the means to silkscreen print so I cut my own stencil, and stenciled the fabric. Can we call that print? I'd like to. So I will. Let me tell you something about slipcovers. They are not as easy as they seem to be. Not to mention pinning the form directly on the sofa BROKE MY BACK! Not really, but I have a nice lower back pain as a souvenir from my endeavour. And in case your wondering if I'm aware that there are a few lumpy bits, or that the top corners are absent, or that the cover doesn't reach the for, wonder no more. I'm aware of all these things. And for the time being, I'm okay with them because they are still a vast improvement from yuckiness of rotten mustared, spil stained, pilled fabric.

That's all.

Sarah

For Anyu

2010-05-30T14:35:00.001-07:00

I didn't bother taking a before shot shot because I was sure I had taken one when we moved in to the new apartment. However, I was mistaken. So please try to see that this is a faux wood armoire. I hated it, and thought there was nothing I could do to it as we are renters here and it was here when we moved in and belongs to our landlord. Even though I would consider it doing him a favour, I feel like our aesthetic taste differs. And with that I took to three close friends of mine; paper, scissors, and masking tape.

Although it was something I had wanted to tackle, I had a creative block as to what exactly to do and what exactly I could do. It suddenly just came to me and the process felt so theraputic. I've been really sad lately as my grandmother on my father's side passed away last Thursday. I have moments where I can talk rationally about her passing and understand it but be fine, and at at other times it seems so real and the thought of her not here anymore is something I just can't believe. I live on the other side of the world and hadn't seen her in the past 10 months, but up until a month ago, spoke to her on a weekly basis. It's hard being so far away and going through this without my family nearby (also across the sea), and I wanted to do something for my grandmother, in her honour. So this one is for you, Anyu. I love you always.

Masking Tape!

2010-05-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

Don't know if you can tell, but as I did for Wilfred (my Shopping Buggy) I used masking tape to give this unfortunate painting, (artist anonymous, aka moi, many a time ago, slightly very much embarassed) a facelift. This is one of those paintings that if I saw it in a gallery, I'd think, "That's supid but I like all the coloured shapes." Anyway, I think it's a little bit funny, and a little bit very serious. I nailed it to the wall in our bedroom. It's its perfect home. Just wanted to share.

xo
Sarah

Shopping Buggy Makeover!

2010-05-20T11:59:00.000-07:00

A little out of the norm for me, but I will just say that as much of a pleasure it is to live a seven minute walk from a fresh fruit/vegies market, seven minutes feels a hell of alot longer when heavy grocery bags begin to cut off blood flow in your fingers. Which leads me to the above snapshot of my fabulous new friend, who I have yet to name, possibly Wilfred. If you're unclear of what's so special about her, it is that all that fabuloso graphic goodness you see was my own embellishment. She was just plain old black with those topey sections, and I made her fabulous! Well, I think so. And it doesn't matter really if you don't, because you don't have to take her shopping. I do. Let me rephrase. I GET to take her shopping. Woo!

xo
Sarah

So Loo Shon

2010-05-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yes. I know. It's been about a month since I vowed to write more frequently. Sorry... Well, mind you I don't believe I said how frequently, frequently would be.. so maybe I'm off the hook..? Anyway, I found that solution I was struggling with. The issue was that I wasn't in the financial state to afford having my brass casings waterjet cut and so began my conquest to come up with a less expensive method of framing my illustration on fabric while still using something that would give each illustration weight. I'm not sure if you've tried it but wearing jewellery with no weight feels like wearing nothing. You know you're wearing it, because you put it on, but it's lack in substance when you can't feel it on your body. Dun da da da.... MORE FABRIC + WASHERS. That is the answer. I had mulled over the ides of a fabric fram for my pieces many a time ago but the issue was weight.. I though to fill the stuffed pieces with rice or beans instead of a pillow filling, but they would have created a bizzare texture which I wasn't kean on... and then as I pondered and pondered, I remembered WASHERS. If you don't know what a washer is it's a flat coin which come in a variety of sizes with a hole in the middle, used in installations and found at hardware stores. So I went out and got my hands on some, played around with it for a bit and found that I could do the fabrice frame- meanwhile stuffing with pillow filling and including a washer of the correct size in each. HOW EXCITING?

Above, from first shot to last, you can see the very first bracelet I made using this technique... Awful right? Well I knew I was onto something great, but it looked so blah still. I felt like I need some good and stiff interfacing on the fabric being used as the frame so iit wouldn't bunch in my sewing machine, and then it was still missing something for me, so I came up with stitching a black chain emroidery stitch around the inner frame (example in middle shot). I'm loving it and I love where it's going. Woohoo. Lastly, is a shot I took to illustrate that I've begun designing with a double sided frame. This makes each piece reversible! Nifty eh? So now that I have surpassed my recent technical difficulties I will be go go go. I have a deadline for myself to finish this collection by the end of this month and photograph them to create a press kit. I'm starting to accelerate now. Good stuff.

Sarah

I Love Process

2010-04-10T04:40:00.000-07:00

I do. I really do love the notion of process. I love that I'm doing what I'm doing now because of my final series of work in my Thesis year at OCAD. From a drive I had to bring my illustration 'Off the Page,' I created a wall installation of characters drawn and painted on fabric and used the trapunto technique to add dimension. At the time I felt like I was doing something which on one hand was awesome, and on the other I questioned where I could ever take it. I surprised myself that I ended my academic career at OCAD with a solely artistic project rather than a functional one, as I always intended on pursuing functional design.

I love that I've arrived where I am with design because of something I did just a short while ago. It has been an evolution of thought process and trial and error and I'm only looking forward to what I'll do next. It has taken financial setbacks, and technical obstacles for me to arrive where I am. These two factors, though horrible frustrating in the moment have turned out to be the best thing for my creativity. So many aspects of my designs are all thanks to steering around technical difficulties and finding less expensive methods of doing what I do. The more challenged I am by factors such as these, the more my creativity drives me to places at which I would not have otherwise arrived. Next stop I don't know. But when I get there, you'll know.

Sarah

Back on Track. Sort of.

2010-04-08T09:57:00.000-07:00

Where have I been? you might ask yourself. The answer: not blogging. I am not please with myself regarding this and have every intention on getting back into the swing of things. I am now working two jobs to support my jewellery; 1) as a nanny three full days a week, and 2) as an assistant teaching Mosiac workshops and selling in a Gallery almost every evening of the week including one full day. In my "spare" time I've been working away on my jewellery collection. I've been busier than I've been in a long time and though it doesn't leave me much real "spare" time, I'm enjoying this new pace even if my hands are in pain and blistered; this only means I'm working hard. It reminds me of that feeling you get the after working out for the first time in a long time. Your body's in pain but you know it's because you did something good for it. So although my poor little hands are poor, they are in this state because I'm doing something great with them. Hopefully sooner rather than later I will also find time to fit excersize into my schedule. When the time comes I will look forward to that morning after pain.

As for now I'm working on making three of each of the 'new' pieces which are no longer new because I made them in the fall of '09. I've solved an issue I had with stuffing my strips of fabric... instead of using pillow stuffing and rapidly rolling it back and forth between my hands, causing me rope burn pain, not to mention a tedious task, I've discovered rope to be a far better solution.... and much more consistant in strength and appearance. With this new technique I really feel like I've perfected an aspect of my work. I rarely feel like anything I do is perfect, but the important thing is that it's well made and looks professional, still of course with a hand-crafted feel.

Just when one thing starts going well with my work another aspect causes a pause in production. Months ago I had just finished thirty new pieces and thenthe sewing machine which was lended to me broke down and I couldn't afford to fix it. And then I was given an industrial sewing machine which turned out didn't work, and I waited months for it to be delivered to me. In all this time I managed to save up money to buy my very own brand spanking new sewing machine. So, I've been working away and noticed that I don't have enough brass pieces which I use to encase the fabric pendants and I can't afford at the moment to have more cut. So, that's my story.... I am currently working on my finding solution to this casing... an alternative to getting my brass pieces water-jet cut. I promise to keep you posted.

Stay tuned

Sarah

Oven Mitts & Laundry Sign

2010-03-17T00:14:00.000-07:00

I was adament that I would not spend money on those things which I could make myself. I was in need of oven mits and had to make them myself. I researched what kind of filling to use, to know if there was a special filling against heat. And so there is, but unfortunately I could not track it down here, so I decided to use regular filling and use as much as possible so that I wouldn't feel the heat. I made it very difficult to sew due to its thickness and spent almost a full day working on only one. In the end it was far too stiff to be functional, so it remains simply a decorative piece in my new kitchen. I like it.

The orange oven mits- I bought those. They were plain orange. I bought them plain so that I could make them my own. I rummaged through old fabric- some of which I had collected and some of which I printed. I found an old potato print I did- my first in fact and cut out two little ladies from the print and blanket stitch papliqued one to each mit and dotted the mits with french knots.

I had seen these kitschy signs around in small boutiques- signs for bathrooms, the kitchen, laundry sign.. etc. It was a guilty pleasure of mine dreaming that I had the money to buy such things of no necessity. But I couldn't over the idea of a sweet little sign labeling the place of my laundry machine hanging above- so I set out to make my own. I think it's damn sweet. I feel so hapy when I see it. THat's all.

Popcakes

2009-11-01T06:45:00.000-08:00

My friend Alma and I got together yesterday to go out for coffee. Then we decided that it would be fun to bake cupcakes instaed of ordering something yummy while we were out. So here they are. By the way the title 'popcakes' is what my boyfriend's mother calls cupcakes. I think it's just so cute!

When All Else Fails, Draw!

2009-10-31T03:22:00.000-07:00

I've been having technical difficulty with my sewing machine..which isn't even mine; it has been lent to me. I've broken 4 needles in the past couple of days and I can't afford to have it fixed right now. I was feeling really down for the main piece of equiptment which I use to do my work was now out of commission and I hate not being able to create when I want. So I did something which I have not done in far too long. I drew. And it felt so good. So here are a few of my latest drawings. The interesting thing is that even though I love colour and consider myself someone who understands colour well, I rarely bring it into my sketchbook. So I've scanned my black and white drawings and cooured them digitally. I think what I like about this method, though it doesn't look authentically coloured, is the possibilities to undo and redo and play with lots of colourways.

Seuss

2009-10-23T08:40:00.000-07:00

Ok, ok. So it's not seuss as in Dr. Seuss.... the word 'soos' (סוס) means horse in Hebrew. This is a horse that I made recently for friends of ours who recently had a new baby! The horse is made from recycled cotton and has all the letters of the Hebrew alphabet as well as numbers 1-10.

Tinni's Invite

2009-10-22T13:05:00.000-07:00

My friend Tinni is getting married and she's asked me to design her wedding invitation. She's a big fan of my illustrations of ladies and their saggy madonna-esque tatas, so one design includes one of these such characters and the other is one I've designed that's a little more classic, but still very Sarah. These were just mock-up design, the Hebrew writing doesn't make sense. The only accurate part is the names of the bride and groom as those details have already been determined. :)

Name me Bill

2009-09-28T04:22:00.000-07:00

Fab Stuff

2009-09-18T03:19:00.000-07:00

I'm more inspired than ever before these days. I have an exhibition to work toward and I've been given the task of creating 30 new pieces comepletely different from eachother, each that I absolutely love, before the 8th of October. Lots to do but I'm on this creative high.

That's all,

SARAH

New Pieces

2009-07-29T12:50:00.001-07:00

Some of my latest work.

Sarah

Interning with Virginia Johnson

2009-07-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

I started as an intern with Virginia Johnson (Toronto based Textile, Home, and Fashion Designer) on July 14th. I had two important tasks to complete over the course of an intensive two week internship: The first was press. I called and emailed over a hundred people at various publications including, Oprah magazine, Vanity Fair, Vogue, New York Times and the LA Times to find out what upcoming stories they were working on so that we could send any relevant samples or images of Virginia Johnson products to be featured. It was great practice for me to understand how promoting works in the world of fashion design. The second project I worked on was a mock up doll which Virginia is designing and all profits of doll sales will go to World Literacy. What an amazing project to be a part of! It's been such an incredibly inspiring experience and I've come away with so much knowledege and understanding of running a company! :)

A Glimpse of my Process

2009-07-29T06:43:00.000-07:00

This is an image of my brass water-jet cuts. After I punch them all out from the sheet of brass, I file all the edges so that they are not sharp.

This is a shot of my first two pieces done digitally. I stuffed the illustrations with recycled polyester and then bent the arms of the brass to encase them.

I love this photo because it looks so yummy. These are my finished pieces. I realized that my black boarder on the illustrations was not thick enough (I have to cut a ways away from the hand stitching which left me with a white boarder) so I took a black fabric marker to each one to create a stronger black line.

My first TOAE experience

2009-07-28T10:42:00.001-07:00

The Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition was a couple weeks ago now. As disappointed as I was with my location, Student area BLUE SOUTH on the grass, it was a successful show. I met alot of great people and got really nice feedback on my collection of jewellery. I was even contacted by gallery owner Allison Skinner of Distill Gallery in the Distillery District to find out if I'd be interested in selling my jewellery in her shop. I was so excited, so we arranged for me to go down to meet with her and she selected 10 pieces to sell in her gallery. That's really exciting!!!! So if you're down there you should check out my stuff. ;)

Sarah

New Business Card

2009-06-08T11:30:00.001-07:00

Three weeks ago I began re-designing my business card. After a million adjustments here's where I arrived.

Looking up

2009-05-08T22:47:00.000-07:00

This picture above is a photo of myself and my best friend, Naomi Yasui, who not only participated in the Toronto Outdoor Art Exhibition in 2008, but won Best Student in her Category, as well as Best Student in Show!!! Last year I was not accepted into the Exhibition but was more than happy to help her out. This year I applied for the the Exhibition, as I did last year, only this year I applied with a cohesive body of work. I applied knowing how competitive it is to be accepted.

The other night I woke up at about 3:30 in the morning the unable to sleep, wondering if a letter of acceptance or rejection had arrived at my house in Toronto. With a seven hour time difference, it was 8:30 PM when I picked up the phone to call my parents to ask, as I had previously requested that when it arrives they open it for me. Ohad knew that I was nervous about it and feeling more pesimistice than optimistic. My mom answered the phone and when she said I got in, I was overwhelemed with happiness and excitement, and felt a bit shocked. I didn't know what to say, and I knew that Ohad was waiing for anything from my reaction that would let him know if I was in or not. My immediate response was a slow: "Oh my God.... I have so much work to do now." And Ohad shouted out "YES!!" It was the happiest I've ever been at 3:30 in the morning. I had been feeling down about my work and my capabilities as an artist/designer, and this just felt validating. It's exciting to be part of something at least once, which stands for representing "the best in contemporary art and craft in Canada." I'm so hapy. The show is July, 10, 11, 12, and I'm in Student Area Blue South at booth 231. All are welcome.

And another thing!!!

2009-04-24T03:07:00.000-07:00

I've created a series of excuses for not having created anything since the Plastik show. I know I can't let it get me down. But I think I just needed a break. The truth may very well be that I'm scared of putting so much time and work into something and having it be unsuccessful. I was s looking forward to Plastik because I thought I'd get a sense of whether I had good production line or not. And the funny thing is, I don't think I got a fair sense because I think the show itself wasn't right for me. The fact that I was selling handmade work next to someone who has her things produced for her and was using the opportunity to sell last years' items for nothing, killed me. Those who did stop to look at my work were impressed and I only got positive feedback. If only I could make a living off of that. I'm just bummin' out, and I can't wait until my spirit picks me up again and I get started making again.

The Plastik Outcome

2009-03-07T23:36:00.000-08:00

Some of my work was selected for a photoshoot to be published on the website of the show, as well as on an Israeli search engine and in an Israeli Newspaper. They said that not necessarily everything they shoot would appear in all three publications but at least one. Anyway, the art director told me that if I wanted I could snap a shot of the model wearing my peices. Someone bumped into as I took it, and then things got crazy, so I left the scene. But below is the shot I got.

I spent the last few weeks slaving over my work to produce enough for what I thought was going to be a huge show. According to several other designers that had participated in past "Plastik" shows there was not nearly as big a turn-out as usual. Bummer! My work defiitely caught people's attention, and the comments were positive and and ego-boosting until I caught on to this funny pattern that as much as people loved what I did they'd walk away and buy elsewhere. I met one woman who said she has a shop and is very interested in selling my work... but she wanted me to think about dropping my prices. I feel like I'm already selling my pieces for less than what they're worth. We'll see what happens with that. And then, what I think is the best thing that came of doing this show, was meeting a man called Isaac, works as a Textile Engineer, Manager and executive editor for the Yalkut Israel Textile & Fashion Journal, for the Israel Textile & Fashion Association. He told me that her works in association with Shenkar, the institue where I originally wanted to do my student exchange program. They have an INCREDIBLE textile program. Anyway he told me that there are lots of events, exhibitions and shows in the textile industry here in Israel and he'd like to invite me to take part. He took my card and told me I should email him if I am interested and he'll keep me up to date about upcoming events, exhibitions etc. OMG!!! It's so nice, because otherwise I honestly don't know how I would find out about these things, and this will probably open doors to so many connections and sources for me. Yaay!

ON TO SOMETHING

2009-03-02T03:35:00.000-08:00

I've been working over the past couple weeks between my studies to make work for this exhibition I'm doing in Tel Aviv this weekend. Here is some of my latest work.

Plastik 7

2009-02-17T00:48:00.000-08:00

A few nights ago I went to Tel Aviv to have dinner with my family. my cousin Idan's wife, Anat is a lawyer and just started a lines of jewllery as a side business with a girlfriend of hers. I showed her my pins and necklaces and she told me she thinks I should apply for this huge fashion and accessories show in Tel Aviv in March. She told me that it costs 850 shekels which is $260.00. She told me that she and her friend are doing it, and after telling her that I'm afraid to put out that kind of money not knowing whether it will be worth it, she told me that she'll let me know afterwards what the turnout is, and then next time around I should apply if it's good. Anyway I mentioned it to Ohad's mother. Ohad is my boyfriend. And she immediately looked it up online and asked how someone can apply fo the show. They wrote her back two nights ago saying that the deadline is RIGHT NOW, and they need to see pictures of the designers work immediately! So She called me, as I was out, and told me that as soon as I get home to send pictures of my work. So I arrived home moments afterwards and sent off my pictures. Yesterday morning I got notification that I was accepted and they need an artist statement and confirmation that I will attend a meeting being held tonight in Tel Aviv. The website for the show is not posted yet, but I will be sure to include it in a later post once it is up. The show is called Plastik 7. It's the 7th show they've done. So I'm really excited about it!!!

Kadima

2009-02-11T07:15:00.000-08:00

Bored of making brooch after brooch and having had a desire to branch out further in the world of accessories, I ventured to Tel Aviv, city of lines of shops on paralel street, each column by a different category; like aisles in a grocery store. So I hit up a few craft shops and EVERY bead shop I laid my eyes on. It was cold and rainy, and I only went because it was election day which meant that there was no class and I had the day free. I felt like hell by the end of the day but sure enough came home with several of 'this and that' (chains, and various findings...) My problem was that if I was going to take my work further than brooches, they require a little weight to them. Because my forms are not quite exact circles and are a bit wobblyy around the edges, going shopping for wobbly findings was absolutely a dead end. One guy in one shop who's english was more confusing than hiss hebrew, told me to 'come into [his] office.' He explained that he can make me a mold and reproduce it for me but I have to order 200 of each and I have 73 that are completely different. I didn't even have something clear in mind and he kept explaining stuff to me and I couldn't get out of there. Finally I told him I have to think about exaclty what I want, but I thanked him and told him I was glad to have found his business. Anyway, I spent today making a couple prototypes. The brass casings which grip the illustrations, I hand cut. So I've posted a coule photos of them below. Enjoy!

A Brush Does the Trick

2009-02-05T01:28:00.000-08:00

I was so excited to get Yoni's old sewing machine, and for the first time I sat down to familiarize myself with it. I took off the cover, and just as I was about to try and figure out how to thread it, I realized that there was nothing to hold my spool of thread. So I began to search for anything I oculd stick in there to make it work. I tried various tools and nails and screws, but everything was either too big or too small to fit. And suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw a green paintbruch, and sure enough it fit PERFECTLY!

Once it was up and running, I was able to sew all of my contours of my trapunto brooches. It's an incredible feeling to be reunited with the things that help you produce the work that you do. I feel so productive and in in such high spirits.

Hoop Dream

2009-02-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

I've been on hiatus from my work due to one lacking minor piece of equipment; an embroidery hoop. I require this to hold my printed fabric taut so I can detail with hand painting. Not only does it hold my fabric taut, but it provides a slight elevation off the floor for a much less messy step of the process. Anyway, I mentioned to my boyfriends mother that I needed one and asked her if she knew where I could get one. She had no idea what I was asking for, but she said if it's about fabric, her mother would know. So she called her mother for me, and I spoke with her. Her mother also moved to Israel from Canada, so her first language was also English. Sure enough she told me that she had several and also a box of embroidery thread that I could take, as she no longer does embroidery. So the other day, my boyfriend's mother, picked up the embroidery hoops for me. One of them was love at first sight for me. It's beautiful. There's a picture below, and it rotates which is amazing, and it's sooo sturdy. Very exciting! Now I feel as though the wheels are in motion.

Felt-tip Love

2009-01-31T08:52:00.000-08:00

I've been doing alot of drawing. I love Pilot Felt tip pens. Here are some of my recent drawings.

Truth Be Told

2009-01-30T06:08:00.000-08:00

Though I had been hesitant many a time in the past to apply for shows, I did participate in the PieceWork show at the Gladstone Hotel. I was a member of the Lemon Collective, made up of Willie Yung, Lisa Keophila, Katey Morely, Kat O'Shaughnessy, and myself. Here are some photos from that show.

Yoni

2009-01-30T02:22:00.000-08:00

My boyfriend's mother recently introduced me to a friend of hers, designer Yoni Cohen. Yoni offered to look at my work (photo above) and discuss where I could potentailly sell and how to price it in Israel. It was a productive meeting, and to boot she lent me an old sewing machine, until I can afford my own. Today I put up ads to teach English, which I'm hoping will bring me some income. That's all.

From Scratch

2009-01-30T01:25:00.000-08:00

I moved to Israel from Toronto, one month ago. I wasn't worried about what I'd do here because I knew that no matter what, I'd have to start from scratch. Having studied at the Ontario College of Art and Design, I was introduced to the Toronto Art/Design scene, however I always feared participating in it. Actually I feared not being accepted into it. I was always hesitant to apply for shows, feeling overwhealmed enough finishing work for school, let alone preparing work for submissions. And just a couple credits short of graduating, I somehow feel like it's less nerve racking to step into an unfamiliar art scene rather than a familiar one. The pressure is somehow off. No one here knows who I am as an artist or what I do... yet. It feels more natural to be introspective far away from what I've always known.