New tee

I quickly made this new tee the other day. Hope you like it.

Am printing and can't stop

Am currently taking a course in Illustrator, Photoshop and PadSystems. The course is intended for people working in fashion, so it's all about making technical drawings and patterns for printing fabric. On the school they have this textile printer, and let me say it is fabulous. (something that I don't usually say, but really, it is!) It is only money that keeps me from printing and printing and printing. 
(For those of you who don't realize it, I want to point your attention to the fact that our clothes are usually not printed in this way, but in the old school silk-screen-printing way like Andy Warhol's images. It is not a printer but a person, - just the more reason to be impressed and apprecciate the work.)

I made this print, the first one that I finished, which you see being printed as the picture was taken. 

The inspiration is from water crystals, microscopic constellations in water which shape is decided depending on which thoughts are directed toward the water. You can see on the crystals how positive thoughts create completely different constellations that negative thoughts. (so be good to yourself, you are mostly water)
After a long designproces where I basically dissected pictures of water crystals I finally decided on this print. 


It will soon become a dress - well actually I plan on making two dresses, one in a sharp clean and minimalistic cut with a deep back and one to wear on top, if you feel like more adventure, which will be a much more extravagant, flowing draped dress.

 

Floors of Bruxelles

(And I don't care that the correct English way of spelling Bruxelles is Brussels, Bruxelles is just much better)
I've just come home from an absolutely wonderful trip to Bruxelles and London. And I believe I've especially fallen in love with Bruxelles.

These floors are part of the impression of a style I found inspiring. Every place you walk into has it's own unique floor decorations, all seem inspired from something like a mix of old greek history and l'art nouveau. Simply marvellous!
I fell in love with these floors as I did in the architecture of the little streets filled with history and memories from hundreds of people living there or walking the streets through history.
I think it's the perfect mixture of old meticulously made buildings, decay, and new subcultures being embraced (charming in spite of or maybe because of the occasional and unpleasant smeel of pee from street corners). Maybe that impression is what I get after just being in Bruxelles for only five days, maybe it would also be what I'd get if I lived there for a longer period. Who knows.

Pattern Magic

What have I been doing these last two weeks? (three, maybe)... 

I have been playing with the Japanese Pattern Magic books (in Japanese)  - on amazon here, now in English.

During my internship at Camilla Norrback, I found how I LOOOVE making patterns. It's like i enter this other world while I'm doing it, maybe similar to meditation.
(check out camilla norrback here)

I did pattern for two dresses, but only had time to finish one.It was very time consuming but so much fun to work on.

: This is the result, my love :

reflections and light

Exhibit at Urban Outfitters, Copenhagen. (designer and photographer unknown)

The fashion photography translates the fragileness and transparency of the feather-light garments in a delicate unique way and pictures and clothes reflect and complete eachother perfectly.

Embraced by the jungle

A shot of the pants I designed and made just before christmas and our journey to Thailand. My version of harem pants, with safari print.

The shoes are a cheap treasure found in the local vintage shop in Skælskør yesterday and the top is Camilla Norrback from this Fall/Winter 10.

Oh, and my new tattoo is finally revealed on the internet with this picture.

In Thailand we spent 4 weeks, - Christmas and New Years in the North and the South, in Bangkok and in the jungles, on beaches climbing and in the water swimming. With the trip in mind, I felt like I needed some suitable pants, so these rose from my imagination.

I had barely ended my internship at Camilla Norrback, and I was inspired to over the top and felt much more like sewing than writing the report about my experience at Camilla Norrback.

In the folds of fabric

Draped collar. It was a present for a friend of mine who recently had a birthday.

The Danish Museum of Art and Design in Copenhagen

Because of my homeless situation, it has been a while since I last posted anything. I'd like to get better at making a few posts, when I have the time and possibility, so that I can publish on a more regular basis.

Recently we visited The Danish Museum of Art and Design in Copenhagen with my school, where we among other things looked at these fantastic embroidery pieces.

This one is especially great.

It's all embroidery. It can be hard to see unless you're very close and it's simply one of the most impressive things I have ever seen. To shape the muscles of the animals and create a relief they used cork or wook and then embroidered over that.

It's like a little cupboard with doors and drawers from China.

 This one is also made with small pieces of wood under the silver thread to make a relief. It almost looks llike it's actually pieces of silver on it. I'd love to something like that for a belt.

This is embroidery and application on tulle made in the end of the 1800s.

Notice the animals. It's such a cute idea for a collar.

Next are a couple of pieces of newer embroidery. I love the dandelion.

It's easy to forget how much inspiration you can draw from older designs and techniques. I really think these pieces prove how many ways you can use historic items creating new ideas. 

Thursday in fashionable, creative Copenhagen

The past week was stuffed with press days at the different PR companies and Thursday I unintentionally and for the first time found myself at one at Star Public Relation. I had met up with a friend who did an internship at this company, she wanted to drop in to say hi and see the FW10 collections and she knew I'd find it interesting. 

I especially fell in love with these necklaces from Gem Kingdom.

They are all really cool, I think this one is my favorite. So, another thing just got added to the many things I need to safe up money for.

After this press experience another friend asked if I wanted to join her seeing a talk/discussion on the subject, the difference between design and art, wich took place at the museum of contemporary art Luisiana and of course I'm not one to put down a chance of gaining knowledge about art and design. Present was a furniture design team Salto & Sigsgaard, a textile designer, Margrethe Odgaard, and a craftsman Louise Hindsgavl, so all sides were represented.

Salto & Sigsgaard represented the more generic design and had a very matter-of-fact attitude to the process, wich was really interesting to hear about. They begin with research and make a list of criteria before even thinking about what the product should look like. Their target are wide and with the risk of sounding harsh I'd say their design is kinda dull.

Margrethe Odgaard's design is in the middle of the different types, design, arts and craft. She explores and challenge the general idea of textiles and has fx made this huge oversized napkin. She takes everyday life and moves expectations a little.

 Louise Hindsgavl is more an artist than a designer; very intuitive in her way of work and with her attitude towards the process. She doesn't aim to make something for a certain group of people opposed to designers.

My friend and I came to the conclusion that, that is the main difference between art and design. Design has a target group and criteria to live up to. The designer can argue for every little choice taken in the process; -why this shape, why this colour, why this light bulb and so on. The artist works intuitively and the work is an expression, not something meant to sell. That is just a benefit. An artist asks questions and provokes. And can't argue why it's this shape, this material.

It was all in all a great day.

After the fiftes

So after a little while of many things, I got some pictures taken of the jacket I made for that old school project I last posted.

Some might be able to recognize the label in the jacket.

Free again

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Done. With my exam. After two weeks of hard work the project was due today and I turned in the result at noon. I don't know if it went well or not. One moment I have a really good feeling about it and the next I think it's shit. We'll see in... hmm June I think.

I lowered my expectations to myself and the 24 hour day; it will never become any longer than 24 hours, not even if I want it to. 

Maybe I should explain a little bit about an assignment like this. (I chose to take my exam in testile printing; finishing this course in stead of embroidery) From a given theme we had to create an idea which should work as decoration on clothing. Then make alot of samples (not a finished product) and in the assignment we argue, with the hypothetical product in mind, why one sample is better than another based on knowledge of materials, colours and techniques and showing the samples next to the text.

So the "sub"-theme is a sea anenome, nothing more nothing less. I've already posted pics of my ornament, so here comes some pics of the process and samples and and..

 The kind of print I thought worked best with my ornament is iris print. Above is a picture of how to put the colours on the silkscreen - It's hard to see, though, because of the colours I've been using (remazol), they're kinda transparent.

Above is an illustration of how I imagine the summerdress the fabric is hypothetically meant for. I wish I had time to actually make it.

 My finished project. I can't take credit for the great accordion-inspired idea of how to put it together, but a friend from my school, Elisabet Flejsborg.
This way you can choose to look through it like a book or open it up if you need to look at four pages at once.

Examinating Sea Life

I am at the moment in the middle of my textile print exam. The course I chose to end and instead get in touch with my inner embroiderress.

The subject of this exam is "life of the sea" - Some find that this is full of inspration other find it kind of unambiguous. I had high expectations and ambitious, extensive ideas, wich I think I'll have shelf. I wanted to print a coralreef with lots of life and then somehow illustrate how trawling destroys these beautiful reefs and killing hundreds of spieces. I still don't know how I can possibly do that, and for the record I have until next Friday to make samples and write an assignment arguing why I choose this sample over that one. Might sound easy, but it take much longer to put together an assignment like that with samples and inspiration.

So far I have made the screen ready for two prints. It will become an print; an anenomone (Nemo-reference) In two layers though. Can't decide if I should go further with the idea from before, or leave it at this.. Though choice. And what about time...

The ornament I'm printing - Imagine it woth two colors.

Inspiration pics will follow and I'll post pictures of the results.

Wedding Dress >> Christening Gown

In December I got an assignment to redesign and transform a wedding dress into a christening gown. The parents thought it was a shame to keep the dress packed away. "But you're not gonna wear it again - you don't want just anyone to wear it - you can't expect that your daughter would want to wear it at her possible future wedding". So they decided it should become the christening gown for their little daughter.

The cut is inspired by the cut of the wedding dress so its origin is recognizable.

 And the finished gown.

 This last picture is taken by my brother, photographer T. Kaare Smith.