Heart

"Why all the long dresses?" you might ask.

Well, aside from being elegant in general and a joy to make, they (along with some shorter ones like this ) were requested be a store owner in Annapolis, Maryland. I've created 6 dresses total for the store in a range of sizes, and they will be on their way there early next week. (Stay tuned for more info. on that.) Oh, but the maroon one from the previous post--the one I received so much positive feedback on. Thank you. :-)--isn't going. I've yet to decide what I'm gonna do with it...whether I'll post it on etsy or what. You can check it out on Flickr.

You can't tell from the photo but the above dress is actually a black and white herringbone print.

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And this.

If you're a fan of Self-Portrait Thursdays on Etsy/Flickr (or if you've been to my shop lately) you've already seen the top (and the skirt, too). This is my current obsession: colorful patchwork. I've long enjoyed piecing fabric together, and it began as a way to recycle my scraps. In addition to doing the recycling, I'm now purchasing knit pieces for the sole purpose of essentially designing and creating my own fabric. I lay pieces out on the floor, arrange, look at it, go about my business, look at it again, then rearrange, look again, add a piece, take a piece away, til i get it how I like it. It's all a process. I'm currently working on a dress that'll be done in this style.

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Sooooo, I'm still undecided about this whole where-am-i-gonna-move-to matter. I think Atlanta is out, though. I think.

My aunt once told me when trying to find a place to live, go there to visit and see what the energy feels like to you. See if you can visualize yourself living there. In Atlanta, the energy feels just fine to me. I mean, I've been there 5 times in the last year. I love visiting. But everytime I try to visualize myself living there, I hit a wall. When I first made the decision that that's what I was gonna do--leave Lafayette, come home for a bit, then go to Atlanta--I ignored the wall and just said I was gonna go because I needed a different situation in my life. But something is keeping me from making the move. If I was going to go, I'd intended to be gone by now. Decatur is really the place for me. Not Atlanta itself. However, I feel that if I do go, I need to be in Atlanta. Living. To get done what I need to get done. I know that if I move to Decatur, I'll just get comfy with the lifestyle and perhaps neglect my main purpose for going.

At this point I'm considering alternatives (mainly Dallas, a place that I was supposed to move to at 2 different points in my life but didn't), along with whether or not I should just stay right here. Home. In Louisiana (back to someplace in the southern part, though). Cause, really, this is where my heart is. I've known that, but it's becoming more real to me everyday. We shall see...

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Thanks to everyone for continuing to check my blog even when I'm missing for days. There's been lots going on. Oh!! My fashion show--here in my hometown--is coming up. July 30, 8pm at a park downtown. I've been lazy about planning it, but it's coming together. More on that later.

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Inspiration!



peace!

Third Eye

I haven't intentionally been neglecting my blog. It's just that there's been so much to say that it's been a challenge for me to even come here and type! There's plenty that I could talk about concerning my trip to Atlanta and some of the experiences I've had since last updating, but one experience in particular has been weighing on my spirit. I was so taken aback with the passing of a certain musical and humanitarian legend, though, that I set it aside. While sewing yesterday it all came back to me.

My thing is this: don't take me for stupid, naive, inexperienced, incapable, and/or deficient of culture and artistic insight based on where I come from and your preconceived notions about individuals from that part of the world. Secondly, don't hold animosity towards me because you aspire to be at a certain point, originally came from an area known for getting people to that point (NY), yet can't comprehend how someone from what you believe to be backwards, country a** (although I proudly proclaim my country-ness) Louisiana can do what I'm doing (And really, I'd replace that with what I'm trying to do, if I weren't on a mission to speak my desired reality into existence. I still have a ways to go myself, yet, "There is no try. Only do.") I don't operate from a place of competition and hold others' potential, talents, and gifts just as highly as I do my own regardless of where they come from.

(The "you" used above is specific, not general.)

Now, usually I wouldn't make these kinds of inferences, but I've come across this more than once, and it's so old. I'm neutral, fair, keep a lot of my thoughts on these sorts of situations to myself, and do my best not to make assumptions. However, I've always been pretty perceptive and have had the ability to see right through people--for the good and bad-- since I was a child. Normally I wouldn't even take it there, but this needs to be addressed.

With that said, a couple of Wednesdays ago, I encountered a male with whom I met to discuss the potential of my garments being carried in a nice little boutique in downtown Atlanta. We always hear the phrase "follow your first mind", and that's exactly what I should have done when I walked in the place and was looked up and down by said individual whose face read "Whatever," (with an eye roll for added attitude), who then went back to sweeping or whatever without as much as a hello. (The first mind said, "Turn around and leave." I didn't, though.) It was downhill from then on. From the feigned interest, to the fake smiles, to snide remarks, to the underhanded attempts to attack my work and how I approach what I do, to the looks of total disinterest and disgust, to the killer finale of turning it into a session about his work and all that he's done on the fashion scene outside of the boutique, current studies in fashion, etc. Complete with photos of some of his styling work. And here I was thinking this was about me and what I do. Now, I'm very aware that people can be shady, yet I find these sorts of actions to be so far out and unnecessary. If you're not interested, tell me that, and let me be on my way. Don't try to play me.

I won't call out the store and the specific individual out of respect for the lovely co-partner of the boutique who was very genuine and cordial when we spoke various times via email. She was the one I was supposed to meet with but was unavailable when I was there, so her partner conducted the meeting. Her enthusiasm after seeing numerous photos of my work and excitement about potentially carrying my garments in the store was and is very much appreciated.

I'm not really bitter about it, because it's all a process and a learning experience. ..just putting it out there.

To go into further detail would just drain my energy, so I'll just sum it all up by directing this quote--from one of my favorite films, I ♥ Huckabees--to this particular individual:

"You can't deal with my infinite nature, can you?"

:-)

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Now. With that out of the way...music was can all groooove to!

peace!