Monday, February 25, 2013

Gary Graham Fashion Designer

Gary Graham Fall/Winter Collection 2011

After an evening swooning over red carpet gowns, I felt inclined to share some looks of a fashion designer I've been eyeing recently.  As I am slowly learning about who's who in the fashion design world, few have caught my attention the way Gary Graham has.  I've not been all that into very fancy dresses, but, if I were to have an occasion to get really dressed up, I think I'd be looking for something like this one pictured above.  The one below, while not as elegant, is really more my style.


Gary Graham Fall/Winter Holiday Collection 2011

Normally I would spend my time researching painting online, but lately, I've been shifting to looking at fashion, interior design, and architecture.  When I was in graduate school, one of my painting professors gave the advice of looking to other media for influence.  Look at sculpture rather than painting, for instance.  Over the years, I have really begun to internalize this advice and feel it time to put it more into practice.  While there is really nothing I would rather look at than a good painting or drawing, I think there comes a time where it is necessary to look beyond to what is so close to home, to pull inspiration from other creative forms. 


Gary Graham Spring 2012 Collection

With recently taking up sewing, naturally, my eyes and head go to fashion.  But, this is also circling back to one of my early loves as a young child.  Growing up, I was drawing constantly.  What did I draw?  People and the things people wear.  I loved making paper dolls and dressing them up with not only everyday dressings but also costumes.  Very involved in dance (ballet mostly) and performing growing up, costumes were frequently on my younger mind.  


Gary Graham Spring Collection 2013


I am drooling over some of these looks.  I could easily imagine wearing this dress above or more casual skirt outfit below.



Gary Graham Anagram Spring Collection 2013

This jacket is really simple, elegant, and sharp looking....


Gary Graham Anagram Spring Collection 2013

And if I were going on a vacation somewhere, Venice ( I wish), maybe this....


Gary Graham Anagram Spring Collection 2013
...and this to me is just too quirky and cool.  I love the overall shape, the jacket especially.


Gary Graham Spring 2013 Collection

Which designers you love?

*please note that the links below each picture do not go directly to the page, please look for the collection name on the website and click accordingly.

Monday, February 18, 2013

Cups and Collecting



I've never considered myself an avid collector of anything in particular but I suppose if I were, I would be a collector of cups.  When I think of a collector, I think back to the CBS Sunday morning story on people who collect toasters.  Did you see that one?  Rooms fully dedicated to toasters, hundreds and hundreds of toasters.  Watching almost made me want to run out to the nearest thrift store and start my own toaster collection.  Yes, almost

I have a modest collection of books and an even smaller collection of art.  I'll admit, I've always been a little bit envious of people who have something they passionately collect; dolls, jewelry, quilts, spoons, rocks, etc., these are all worthy of an enthusiastic search and carefully curated home.  Maybe I do collect something and just haven't realized it yet?

Since I'm sticking to a resolution to post once per week and was not sure what to write about today, I followed my gut as it told me to photograph my small collection of cups.  I realize too, the subject of collecting could easily fill a day, a week, a month, a year just researching this fascinating human behavior but alas, this blog is meant to be light, easy, and relatively quick to both read and write.

On a related note, there is a book sitting on my shelf in my little book collection, waiting to be read based around this very subject - Umberto Eco's The Infinity of Lists.  Have you read it?  This may be a pool-side read for the summer.  For now, I will share with you my tiny cup "collection."  If anything, it was fun taking pictures using the lovely afternoon sun streaming through our windows.  Here they are!






What do you collect?





Monday, February 11, 2013

Start Again

One of the things that I wanted to do in 2013 is to actively write on my blog again.  I have left the thing high and dry for over six months!  While I'd rather not make excuses, I suspect my dwindled attempts is mainly due to becoming rapped up in reading other people's blogs (which is SO much more interesting than writing my own).

Starting again; slow and steady.  My goal is to post once per week and share with you things I'm up to in the studio, updates with my gallery, and other interesting things I come across whether it be revolving around other makers, interior design, food, fashion, travel, etc.  This seems manageable, and here we go...


Erin McIntosh, Connect no.117, watercolor on paper, 11x14 inches

To begin, I'll share something that I've also started again: sewing.  Mind you, I never have been much of a sewer.  Sewing was a regular part of growing up in the McIntosh household; my mom frequently and lovingly sewed clothes for my brother and I.  I tried to sew a few times with a machine my parents gave to me around my 21st birthday, but, I never really took to it.  With a measly attempt at a horribly constructed patchwork shirt under my belt, I consider myself a total newbie.  When I heard a beginning class was starting up at our very cool local Athens Boutique - Community, it didn't take much to get me to sign up! 

photo courtesy of Community Board,  photo credit: Ian McFarlane Photography


Feel inspired yet?  The photo above was taken by my awesome boyfriend who is one incredibly talented, bad-ass photographer.  Pictured here was a look from Community's recent fall collection.  Community is owned and operated by Sanni Baumgartner and features vintage clothing and hip upcycled re-designs.  Beth Graham teaches the sewing class and she is super sweet, patient, and knowledgeable.  Only after a few classes I feel I may become hooked.  Just yesterday, we learned how to construct a pillow and as soon as I got home, I started working straight away on my second project.

Here are the results so far; one pillow and one re-usable grocery bag made from a free pattern from BurdaStyle.  These were very satisfying to make!



This past week I've been sick, so I had some extra time to research sewing blogs.  I'll leave you with a couple I found, hope you enjoy!
Tilly and the Buttons
Colette Patterns (and here's the link to their blog)  


What are the things you have started, and then started again?