Summer in Space 2009 18th Street Fashion Show

Last years 18th Street Fashion Show was themed Summer in Space. As always do for every runway show for this event, I designed a jewelry collection for my friend Jovana Mirable. She and work cohesively with little communication really, as she lives in New York City, attending Parsons New School of Design. I was in South America when the actual event took place, so it was really hard to leave my collection in Kansas City and hope for the best. I had never even seen Jovana's pieces until the day before I left the States. Again, as in every year, I was greatly relieved to see that our artistic connection was still as in tune as ever. Below is the photos taken by the official photographers of the show and were featured on the Kansas City Star Ink Magazine. Up close shots of the pieces I still have are on the way. For now enjoy these and see the full idea come to life.

I left my heart in Peru...

Newest addition to the South American adventure. Many fine photos of the one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to: Peru. Words do not do justice for this place. Its almost difficult to remember all the beautiful moments I spent there. It is with great hesitation that I only write these few sentences and leave you with these few pictures. Eh, such is the writers block I guess.

Masks to represent the fool, someone who partakes in too much indulgence. Many of my classmates who went on the trip with me bought these. All different colors and all wonderfully cute. I took one home as a souvenir for my friends four year old son. He thought it was totally awesome.

Piso Sour. Fermented corn alcohol, with a very high content, with foamed egg whites on top. Hard to get down, curses you with light headedness that is only increased by the altitude.

View of the planes wing as we left the states.

My traveling group, waiting in the Miami Airport to board our first of many international flights.

View from the balcony of the room I shared with another female student at the first hotel we stayed at on the trip in Cuzco Peru. Gorgeous and humbling. We were staying in the mattress dristrict, where usually only bed ensembles and furniture were sold, surrounded by even more oddly specific vendor districts.

City marketplace view showing the wide streets and modern conviences mixed within.

Extremely fast paced traffic could catch you off guard in this city that never sleeps.

On a winding road through the mountains we stopped at this vendor market place that had been in use for centuries. Hand made goods were displayed side by side with mass produced Peruvian culture specific wares shipped in from China. Even in third worldl countries there seems to be a overload of tourist based products.

Market place built in the 14th century still in use today.

Mother and children, dressed in traditional Peruvian clothing style.

We visited an artisan weaving studio where they raise Llamas, Vicunas and Alpacas, shear their fur, dye it with natural organic flora and fauna based colors and then weave it into one of a kind hats, gloves, rugs and tapestries. This is one of the many that we got to pet and feed alfalfa. Did you know Llamas make very funny grunting and cooing noises when they are happy?

Note the ancient building with modern advertisment.

Long climb to the Temple of the Sun, along the huge terraces of soil which were used for commerce and agriculture. This was shockingly difficult but only scratched the surface of the climb we had in store for the next three days to reach Machu Picchu.

Wall structures over 3,000 years old at Temple of the Sun, located in the Incan Valley, one of the most holiest of places for the Incan people. Giant boulders that were cut from the mountain side still lay abandoned throughout the surrounding town and valley, all in a traceable line leading up to the ramp that workers dragged the giant rocks up towards the quarrys. These large stones were added to an assembly process to create the materials necesary to make terraces, walls, steps and solid carved structures.

Ecuador!

So another addition to the South American escapade photo montage: Ecuador! We spent the least amount of time in this country out of the three, but it was just as eventful. With major cityscapes that reminded me of San Francisco jutting up against wide open valleys, we saw every type of cultural demographic there is to be seen. Of course as tourists we rode in giant buses that hilariously resembled mechanical catepillars, in my opinion. Open markets in city parks, winding roads up to hilltop views, western Applebees styled restaurants and a busy nightlife unlike any we experienced elsewhere; this country offered it all and pulled us in. Enjoy these small tid bits of the views I was blessed with.

Street murals where kind of far and few between, but the ones that were seen had epic size and narratives to make up for the lack of quantity.

Many beautiful cathedrals were on a specific part of the tour, offering us a chance to see an in depth representaion of the European influence from early conquistadors. Grandiose in size with great pride from each district going straight into the care of each site.

Underneath the cathedral seen above there was an ancient catacombs which was filled with coffin spaces that were only allowed to rented for five years at a time. Chambers of 5X5 boxes, with detailed front pieces which had plastic religious ephmera, portraits of the deceased, poems and money. Spookiest part was an addition to the end of one hallway which was wall to wall with coffin spaces for children.

With some architecture and city layout dating back to almost the 16th century, the roads between them werenarrow and tall. This forces the population to share limited space with cars and vendors, making a fast paced stream of activity barrel through at all hours of the day.

Truly the most beautiful church I have entered. Varied historical artistic styles have been used throught out its lofty rooms during the course of its existence. Gold filigree highlighted large and beautifully epic structural work and statues and the patterns around them.

Best street artist robot man I have ever seen.

Statue to commemorate the Ecuadorian victory in gaining freedom from Chili.

Skull of jaguar. That is all.

The South American International equator line momnument which is only 5 miles away the site where the Mayans believed it was. Very strange theme park like place with shrunken heads, taxidermy animals and science experiments to conduct while standing on the line, showing the gravitational neutral zone that is created by the two different hemispheres.

Simple city street typical for one of the smaller towns on the outer rims of the many valleys.

Inner city traffic circle showing the truly modern extent of their architecture evolution and appreciation.

Concret frame structure over doorwary peaks that graced the store fronts of small vendors along the edge of grand cathedral.

West 18th Street Fashion Show!

For the fourth year now, I have the esteemed pleasure of being a jewelry designer for the 18th Street Fashion Show, which is held in the art hub of Kansas City, the Crossroads District. On Saturday June 12th at dusk, the most grand collection of diverse yet similarly influenced designs will take a 100 ft. runway by storm. Every summer they unveil a new "theme" as to which particpating designers must create an entirely new collection specifically for the event. This years concept was proposed as "Be bold; be brave; be excellent; and collect your inspiration from romantic elegance, drama, classic luxury and Edward Steichen"

I can without a doubt say that this will be the most glorious show they have put on and the biggest acheivement of my creative career thus far. I collaborate every year with Jovana Mirable, who is one of the most inspiring and ambitious fashion designers I have ever met. She creates a outfit collection to which I match with a custom jewelry set for each model. It takes intense work with faith based communication, as she has been living in New York while attending Parsons School of Design for the past three years. We mesh so well togethere that I am sure someday there will be a fashion house that we both start from the ground up.

Making jewelry is my secret love, to which I owe a decade of devotion so this summer will contain the finest pieces I have ever created. The event is free and family friendly, with more creative moments and visual stimuli than anywhere else in the Midwest. I hope you find the time to attend this years event for it is truly something you will not want to miss. Details of my designs and sneak peaks will follow soon.

South America Trip Study Abroad: Introduction and Amazon Photos

Through my alma mater the Kansas City Art Insitute, which I graduated last fall, I was able to take a very exciting once in a lifetime trip the countries of Peru, Ecuador and the Galapagoes Islands in a study abroad trip. It took place over the course of 23 days which included challenges that stretched far beyond my expectations. Challenging, exhausting, eye opening and forever changing the way I interact with the world, it is an experience that will stay with me as some of the most memorable moments of my young adult life.

This was not only a chance to see the amazing cultures and sites of these countries but also allowed me to gain college credit in a photography course, culminating into a photo expose book. I published this through a website program on Blurb.com which I believe to be the best source for amateur and professional book creating for anyone who wishes to self publish their written and or art filled bound creations. It is free domain in which they provide a downloadble program filled with templates, examples and tips on how to make the book of your dreams. Publishing is very affordable on the small scale compared to other sites that I researched while comparing the options avaliable, and the range in sizing, cover binding and layouts avaliable is unbeatable. You can create at your own pace and edit countless times and ways, allowing you to really develop a consise perfect version of what you have in mind. After finshing the design of your book, you can send the files to their website and order it in minutes. Producition and shipping is fast with a trackable calender to show you what steps they are in while making the product. They also encourage you to post your book online in their website shop, which has many categories of other writers and artists creations. This is a beatiful painfree way to sell the it, taking care of the assumed hassles of sending off your story to publishing houses and waiting for it be picked up or regected. I would recommend this site profoundly as they made this experience almost as enjoyable as the trip itself.

Daily writing in my notebooks chroniciled the adventure, which I hope someday I will turn into a travel journal to share a more in depth view of my journey. I captured every moment I possibly could, filling two memory cards with over 4,ooo pictures. Narrowing down these beautiful images to fit into my photobook was the hardest part really, as I wanted to use every single one them.

I will post more about this subject of course at a later date, but for now I thought it would be nice to share my favorite moments from our visit to the Amazon. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

Its been tooo long my dear friends

I have graduated! I have debt! I have new an exciting ideas and things I have been working on and no time to post them!

This shall change. My blog will be updated fully next week and shall contain all the great advendtures I have had since then and all the plans I have started to prepare for.


Have no fear, my return eminate

Been a while

i will be graduating in august.
i know not what i means to be free of school.
i have been in school almost my entire life. without a schedule of that rigor how will i pass the days. my parents are considering moving somewhere else.
i look to that as an option, maybe follow suit. maybe leave this place and start over without all the pre conceived others have of me and i of them.
what good is a self conscience when that is made up by other people.

from june 2 to 22 i will be in south america.
there i will climb mountains, canoe down rivers, swim with sharks, explore jungles, shop in markets and photograph it all.
i will release a call of barbaric joy into the sky once 13,000 feet have passed below my feet, giving me view of those previous to my southern neighbors.
the existence they had, the lives they lead, the walls they built, will only be shown simply or made up in my head.
how does their past interact with my own?
how does my want for something new react with this view i will have of a civilization gone?
it is at this moment that i feel i will desire to toss all i posess, all that i have earned, all that i claim as important over the cliff and dwell amongst the ancient cities and never return to the soil of familiar.
who can imagine how i will feel when looking down upon this place of worshiped gods, woven cloth, raised families, ravinous disease, vegetation overgrowth, centruries of death, milleniums of life, not unlike my own home.
but the difference is that the place of where few have seen their traces, deep breathing ghosts know not of me nor i of them.
here is where i fear i will feel most at home.
there with no one.

Just some photos

I am not a trained professional by any means but I still really enjoy taking photographs of friends and inspirational things. Here are some of my favorite moments from the last year.

Above is one of many photos I took at the Monteray Bay Aquarium in California in their huge Jellyfish exhibit. Beautiful.

Shore bird footprints in the sand of Big Sur off the coast of California.

Seagulls flying high over sand dunes in San Francisco

Shadow of our plane from Denver as it crosses the San Francisco Bay

Patience is a virtue: I wait for friend to come out of their house

Mid-day sun wakes me from my nap on the love seat

Outside of sculpture, taking break from cutting wood

Dance party with four DJ's at local art kid house

Matt, Chandler and Mitch

Myself and Matt at a Kansas City Wizards game. They had just scored, pushing the game into overtime and went on to win, taking them to the playoffs. We were very happy.

What cookies to choose, boys?

Mitch, Matt and Michael. Personalities captured perfectly.

One of two female dancer/percussion/singers for gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello.

Lead singer of Gogol Bordello.

Violinist and singer of Gogol Bordello.

Dirty sculpture patio

Scrap wood formed into unison shapes.

Soup can close up from installation.

Another soup can close up.

Downward view of outdoor sculpture I did last fall.

A friends toe nail clippings. Gross yet beautiful.

Side shot of outdoor sculpture base.

Repetition found in seed balls and strange rock.

Hand of God disturbing Chandlers' slumber.

Beautiful day, with wonderful skies.