Early Work - Keeping Up

I guess all my creativity has gone into my school work over the past six months - that and the fact that I have been struggling a little bit to find my focus and direction.

School has been a challenge in many ways, some good and some bad, but overall, it has helped me move forward.  I feel like I am much clearer about the things I need to do to be a textile designer.

There are so many things to write about - from the actual projects, to the school politics, to group dynamics and personalities of the students and teachers, to my creative musings - I should have kept up, but I didn't and now I have to either back-track, or skip it, or try to sum it up.

I think I'll just start and go forward randomly (as is my usual style).  One thing I have learned, and continue to learn, is that it is so important to be true to my own ideas and vision.  I know this sounds like a cliché, but when you see the negative results of not doing this, it really hits home.  Sometimes this is hard to do because you have to follow a brief, or you doubt your own taste, or you simply don't have the technical capabilities to manifest your vision.  Being in school has been a good place to learn, to research, to play around with ideas and to practice, practice, practice.  I know I have lots of room to keep growing (and that is exciting) but I am not too shy to say that I think I have come a long way, and I can see my progress in my work.  I don't want to appear to be bragging or showing off, but I think some people want to see what I have been up to, so here are a few examples: the first two are exercises from the beginning of the year, and the last three are artwork and a class print project.

all of our deco designs mixed together. mine is the lilac and teal crystals in the front. they will be cut and sewn into seat covers for an event

phase one of a fabric print design

The computer has proven to be the biggest challenge but also one of the biggest potential tools in design and printing.  I managed to get over one major hump with the help of a friend (yay!) and now I feel a little more capable.  It is still a whole foreign territory for me, my mind does not work the way the computer's does, but I am learning it like I would learn a foreign language.  This is a recent design exercise:

I am going to be scanning all my work and putting the best into a portfolio (we have to do it as part of our curriculum) so I will post more of the recent stuff soon.

Next time I will write about the time I spend at school and how that whole thing is a challenge.  I've been managing to keep up with my assignments, and just managing to stay healthy and sane.  Sorry I haven't kept up with the writing.