Good News

I am sure most of you remember the rawhide tables I made last fall. Well, the tables were made in conjunction with a class that will be exhibiting selected projects at the International Contemporary Furniture Fair in New York City in mid-May.

According to its website, ICFF is "North America's singular showcase for contemporary design. The Fair draws the most intrepid seekers of design truth and design trends to an extraordinary exhibition of the most inspired models of design on the forefront, as well as thought-provoking programs and a schedule of supplementary exhibits and features."

Due to space restrictions, not all of our projects could be included in the show but I just heard yesterday that mine will be one of the nine projects that gets the go-ahead. I am really excited to be a part of the show and am looking forward to meeting lots of cool people. I am also hopeful that something will come of my rawhide tables. It will definitely be an eventful month!

A New Direction

While I was at Haystack in September I made a purse out of leather remnants. I have received lots of positive feedback and have decided to see if I can't make something of it.


The first version of the purse had some details that needed improvement, namely the handle and how it connected to the body of the purse. To work out the details, I purchased some large leather remnants online and started stitching yesterday morning.

Since I ordered the material online, I wasn't quite sure what the actual product would look like. One leather in particular was a little odd so I decided to use it for my first round of testing. After a full day of planning and stitching, I had a swollen, red hand and a purse to show for it.


I'd love to hear what everyone thinks...although it might be difficult to get a true impression from these photographs.

Slowly coming back.

Over Wintersession (the short six-week semester between Fall and Spring), I am doing an independent study with one of the members of my thesis committee. The piece that I will be designing and building is inspired by a few of my experiences over the holiday break.

First, on Christmas Day, I sat down with Graham's family to watch Man on Wire, the recent documentary of Philippe Petit's 1974 high-wire walk between the Twin Towers.

I loved the visual impact of the body seeming to float in the air.

Second, during my celebration of the New Year in Austin my family and I got to witness up close an aerialist performance in the City Hall.



The interaction between the fabric and the body, and the various forms the combination of the two created, seemed to fit right in with my thesis topic. Additionally, the use of textiles and physical athleticism are right in line with my interests.

Third, although thankfully I have had no direct experience with them over the last few weeks, I have enjoyed looking at various images of spider webs online. Flickr slideshows are amazing!

Their intentional invisibility and the way in which they trap the bodies of insects is particularly interesting.

Some old news.

I never posted an update of my final project from the fall. Not surprisingly, I got photos of everyone's project but my own and it has taken me a bit of time to track some down.

Although it is a bit old news at this point, my final crit went well. Usually, we take notes for each other of what was said during the crit but this time around we set up a video camera. I haven't yet received my copy but I am anxious to go back and hear the comments without having to worry about responding. Unfortunately, the leather ties that hold the molded-leather pieces together were too thin and not strong enough to support the weight. The project survived through the crit but began to snap apart as I carried it back to my studio. I have some trouble-shooting to do before it is ready for its official presentation but you get the idea. Also included are pictures of some of my classmates' projects.








The first three photos are of projects done by my fellow second-years working on their thesis body of work. The remaining images are of work done by those in their first year of study.