Mogu Takahashi Daily Doodles A/W 2013

mrs kamakaze/mrs dna

oof! it's almost September and i need to get my shit together.  we ARE moving...but just across town.  jeremy did try to get a job in oregon, but there was just nothing. so we were getting broker and broker and our medical was running out...and just then, he was offered a mega-job here in birmingham. so of course he took it. here we are at least another year. we also decided that we can move into an apt(thank GOD) and found a lovely, foresty place right near his job. quiet, pretty, tranquil. just what i need. i'm so excited for sookie to see her new space! she won't know how to act with FIVE rooms to explore, poor little thing. the consensus is that living in a bedroom for six years has been the primary reason for my huge drop in  mental functioning.  i still can't believe that has been the case....i think i've been in denial.  

so i'm going to be taking my samples of mylifeinviolet and all the stock of fiveorsixgirls and sell at the monthly street fair on second ave. north. we do hang out down there a bit, it's where like-minded people are, and now i need to really get involved. i just hate feeling like a loner. trying to do my thing in an environment that is still foreign. but in a few certain parts of the city lie people and places that make me really smile.  to be among the artist/crafters/makers would be fantastic, as long as i have to be here for awhile longer. I have to make bigger use of my skills. i have to do bigger things.

i also am starting a new shop-for etsy as well. it will be stuff from my heart and from what i like and love. lots of vintage and upcycled fabrics and items and trims etc. and cast-off fabric from the garment district in Los Angeles. and all in plus size.  i'm working on it now, but with the move and a million other things i won't be able to get a full swing on until after we are settled in our new place. i promise pictures!

i also, at first reluctantly, have gotten into instagram. yes, it's fun! it has in no way detracted from my analog ways....i haven't had time to go out on shoots but i will..and when i don't have a camera or two i have the phone. i still like my analog pics best, truth be told.

okay and now the big news....during all of this madness, i scored an interview with stylist extraordinaire and coolest girl ever-Shirley Kurata!! 

she was super nice about it. i've sent her my questions and will be posting the interview when she sends them back and i edit.  of course there will be lovely photos as well as where she can be found.  

here are some photos i have taken lately along with a sneak peak of another item in my new shop....(and yes that's vintage 70's photo print fabric! almost impossible to find now.)

 

top to bottom: photoprint dress, someone's covering her face, jacob and liz,nani iro, bff's, aldridge gardens x3, balloons, first pic i ever saw of jer, first pic jer ever saw of me(oh-my hair was so much thicker..) xx

too much time has gone by

and i've already joined finally the ranks of the people who don't carry flip phones. i do so much on it that i hardly remember how to make a phonecall. yes, i'm among the living now and probably the last person to make it.
ohhhhh...so much has gone on....we are here for another year...mr. violet tried to get a job in oregon but no one was biting, and we needed income, and medical, and and..so he got a super job here. and we are moving into an apartment. i'm quite excited to just RELAX and know that i have a whole space to wander around in, an actual kitchen, a living room...it's so wonderful. a one bedroom apartment would seem big compared to what i've been in for over six years.

it's not great that we can't go back to the kids and grandkids (yet). but we will get to see them christmas. it will be so lovely to be in oregon, if just for a week. we can take trips now, with this new job. i'm opening another shop (and probably closing my current one)...developing that whole story and will let you know how it turns out.  i sit here craving fried chicken and v8 and haven't slept all night, having read an entire book. (An Extraordinary Theory of Objects: A Memoir of an Outsider in Paris).  it touched me fondly and it was all too real to me, her having mental illness. her writing is perfect. now i must read other books re:France as well, like again My Life In France, and another one i am reading but the name escapes me.

i wanted to leave you with photos, but i've gotten a new computer and need a new picture editing program so can't make it happen quite yet.  

watched Jules et Jim which came along with my French marathon right now. so extraordinary as well.

soon xx

 

 

 

New toys are GOOOOOOD

i have two new cameras-a minolta 110 zoom (lomography.com has a new line of 110 films!) and a olympus LT 35mm. they are so cool! i've shot one and a half rolls of the minolta, and just started a roll in the olympus. the minolta's turned out fabulous! so color-rich.i'm really excited about this camera.  i used the lomography 110 200 and tried hard not to jiggle it. even the sort of blurry ones i liked. you might notice i took lots of pics of the same red-flowered bush. it comes to bloom in the spring, i don't know what it is, and it doesn't last long. not even a month.  so every year i snap lots of shots.

i've been doing better pain-wise too. i saw an orthopedic surgeon and he took more xrays. he said i have so much arthritis built up on my pelvis that it meets in the middle, in the front. my pain level as you may recall was a 9. i started doing my PT exercises every day, and lots of yoga. i do a dvd called Big Yoga, for big bodies. i still can't get on the floor, so i do it on the bed. he also gave me a pain med that i took once before for my back and it helped. my pain level went from a 9 to a 2.  now i am awaiting back xrays to go forward with that.

jeremy just graduated from college. we are trying to figure out how to do this relocating thing. of course we want to be in oregon with  my family. but he hasn't gotten a job yet and our insurance runs out soon. so he will have to find one here, u ntil he gets one in Portland, or another city close to my son and his family.  he got an interview in Nashville, tho....

oh my oh my oh my oh my

it's taken so long to get back to this and write to you and share.  my health has been quite bad. i spend most of my time in bed with tea and pain meds.  i keep hoping for an answer, a cure, a diagnosis, some relief at least.  i've never been this sick.  i would love it so much if you would send prayers and juju that something is found and relief can be on the way.

i have managed to get to the computer and post my new designs in my shop mylifeinviolet.  i mixed them in with the others and have gotten great responses. business has been going GREAT but i have to close the shops soon as we are moving in just a month from now (cross country).   i will open them up again when in oregon in my OWN HOME. you have no idea how wonderful those words sound.

in the meantime, here are the designs:

anyway, i hope you like them. i will miss my models lesley and jessica so much! they have been just great. 
also, i got a new camera...minolta 110! i know! but lomography.com has made a nice little line of 110 films. i've shot one roll and can't wait to see it. i need to feel better to get out and do these things that make my life have quality. always praying, always chanting. xxx

circus in stop motion

THE JAY MCCARROLL INTERVIEW

It's HERE! It's HERE!! Grab a coffee and put up your feet....

JAY MCCARROLL's initial claim to fame was his
win on the debut season of Project Runway, 2005-2006. 
He continued in fashion design, the making of
one collection called "Transport",
being documented in the film "Eleven Minutes" in
2007.(that collection killed, btw, all of it. The wigs,
the jewelry, the huge yellow bag that I still want...)
 He is now redefining fabric design under the name
"Free Spirit".  His current  incarnation of this
is called "Center City". I am so excited to have him here!

How would you compare working in fashion design and fabric design?

THEY ARE 2 VERY DIFFERENT BEASTS. FASHION DESIGN REQUIRES MANY MORE STEPS ON THE FRONT END AND BEHIND THE SCENES. A WHOLE SLEW OF PLANNING AND SOURCING OF FABRICS AND OTHER RELATED MATERIALS ALONG WITH THE PRODUCTION OF THE GARMENT TO PREPPING IT FOR THE WEBSITE OR SHIPPING TO A RETAIL OUTLET HAPPENS BEFORE THE GARMENT EVER LANDS ON THE HANGER. THEN AFTER IT GETS ON THE HANGER, ASIDE FROM A BUNCH OF ACCOUNTING AND INVENTORY ISSUES, YOU ARE BASICALLY HOME FREE AFTER THE CUSTOMER HAS PURCHASED AND IS ENJOYING IT.

IN THE FABRIC DESIGN WORLD THE PROCESS OF DESIGNING IS MORE PLAYFUL AND FUN IN THE BEGINNING AS YOU ARE BEING PURELY CREATIVE COMING UP WITH PATTERNS AND COLORS. THEN THE WAITING GAME BEGINS. IT REALLY DOES TAKE FOREVER TO GET A LINE TO THE POINT WHERE ITS ON THE SHELVES. A LOT OF BACK AND FORTH GETTING THE PRINTS JUST RIGHT AND THEN MORE WAITING. YOU THEN GET A FEW YARDS OF YOUR FABRIC AND THEN IT KICKS INTO HIGH GEAR WITH WHIPPING UP SAMPLES AND TRYING TO PROMOTE THE LINE TO AS MANY OUTLETS AS YOU CAN WHETHER IT BE USING SOCIAL MEDIA, OR TEACHING WORKSHOPS OR MAKING APPEARANCES AT FABRIC SHOPS.

BY OFFERING PEOPLE CLOTHING, THE SATISFACTION OF SEEING SOMEONE IN YOUR GARMENT HAPPENS INSTANTLY. WITH FABRIC, YOU HAVE TO WAIT A WHILE BEFORE YOU SEE IT TRICKLING IN ON SOCIAL MEDIA OR IN OTHER MEDIA OUTLETS. SOMETIMES YOU EVEN WAIT YEARS TO SEE A LITTLE BLOCK OF YOUR FABRIC IN A QUILT OF A THOUSAND BLOCKS. YOU KNOW THAT PEOPLE ARE BUYING IT, YOU JUST DONT KNOW HOW PEOPLE ARE USING IT. BUT WHEN YOU DO SEE IT USED BEAUTIFULLY IN A PROJECT, THERE IS NOTHING MORE SATISFYING. ITS GREAT TO BE ABLE TO PROVIDE A MEDIUM FOR WHICH PEOPLE CAN BE CREATIVE.

As there is so much about the fashion industry being difficult, are there aspects of fashion design that you are glad  you  don't have to deal with anymore?

I AM STILL VERY MUCH DESIGNING CLOTHES AND ACCESSORIES SO I CANT SAY THAT ANYTHING IS ANY LESS CHALLENGING THAN IT HAS EVER BEEN. IT IS CERTAINLY NOT AN INDUSTRY FOR THOSE WHO CANT UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPT OF PICKING YOURSELF UP AND DUSTING YOURSELF OFF ABOUT EVERY FEW WEEKS.


I love your latest fabric collection, Center City (the "downtown" portion shown below).

THANK YOU!

Color and print are also my Holy Grail.  You have one called "Portland" (bottom left), which is where I am from. What inspired those "globular" shapes?

THOSE SHAPES ARE ACTUALLY MEANT TO RESEMBLE TREES AS SEEN FROM ABOVE AS LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS RENDER THEM FOR URBAN SPACE PLANNING. A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ASKING ME WHAT THEY ARE AND EVERYONE SEEMS TO THINK THEY ARE SPORES OR RED BLOOD CELLS OR SOMETHING. WHILE THAT CONCEPT IS COOL, I THINK I EXPENDED MY ENERGIES ON KOOKY/CREEPY/GERMY ICONOGRAPHY ON MY "GERMANIA" LINE FROM A FEW YEARS BACK. I JUST RECENTLY NOTICED ANOTHER DESIGNER HAD THE SAME ARCHITECTURAL DRAWING IDEA. THE LINE IS CALLED ARCHITEXTURES BY CAROLYN FRIEDLANDER FOR ROBERT KAUFMAN. SHE ALSO DID A MAP PRINT LIKE MY "LOS ANGELES" PRINT. ITS COOL WHEN PEOPLE IN DESIGN ARE ON THE SAME WAVELENGTH.

"Portland in downtown" by Jay

















 "Architextures" by Carolyn Friedlander












  In deciding on color, do you go by Pantone or do you choose colors you particularly like?  or both?

I DONT REFER TO PANTONE, ALTHOUGH I REALLY LOVE THEM AESTHETICALLY; OR
TO ANY COLOR SYSTEM OR COLOR TRENDING OUTLET. I HAVE COLORS THAT I REALLY LOVE AND HAVE A TENDENCY TO ALWAYS GRAVITATE TOWARDS. NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY TO FORCE MYSELF TO WORK WITH KELLY GREEN, IT JUST NEVER SEEMS TO WORK OUT. I LOVE PUKEY YELLOW GREEN AND IT SEEMS TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN EVERYTHING I DO. I REALLY DONT HAVE A FANCY WAY OF DOING THINGS. I HAVE COLLECTED ABOUT A MILLION PAINT SWATCHES FROM HOME DEPOT THAT I SCATTER ON A TABLE AND THEN START THE PROCESS OF COLOR COMBINING.


What is your designing process: which comes first? Do you do certain things to bring on inspiration?

I USUALLY HAVE SOME SORT OF INDICATION OF AN IDEA THAT I WANT TO PURSUE AND FROM THERE I START TO COLLECT PATTERN IDEAS FROM BOOKS, ONLINE SOURCES, THE STREET, NATURE OR FROM FOLDERS OF PICTURES OR SCRIBBLES THAT I HAVE COLLECTED OVER THE YEARS. FROM THERE I MAKE MORE FORMAL DRAWINGS AND THEN I WORK WITH A TEXTILE DESIGNER AND WE START TO PUT THINGS TOGETHER DIGITALLY. WE THEN EXAMINE AND RE-EXAMINE SCALE, PROPORTION, REPEAT PATTERN AND COMPOSITION. FROM THERE WE ADD COLOR, WHICH IS THE MOST FUN PART. THEN IT GOES TO THE MILL AND SAMPLE YARDAGE IS PRODUCED. ONCE ALL OF THE NECESSARY CHANGES ARE MADE, THEN ITS READY FOR PRODUCTION AND THEN IT EVENTUALLY GETS TO THE CUSTOMER. THE WHOLE PROCESS TAKES ABOUT A YEAR ON AVERAGE.

I'm a designer who sews. Many of my readers are as well, or just are in love with fashion and fabric. A lot of us sell on Etsy, and  try to get our designs out there on social networks and whatever else we can imagine. What is your best advice to fledgling designers out here on getting our work seen and any other important encouragement?

HMMM...THATS A REALLY HARD ONE. I DONT REALLY KNOW HOW PEOPLE DO IT THESE DAYS. I WAS ON A TV SHOW, WHICH HELPED, BUT IT ISNT THE END ALL BE ALL OF SUCCESS BY ANY MEANS. YOU HAVE TO MANAGE A WAY TO CREATE PRODUCTS THAT RESONATE IN OTHER PEOPLE AND THEN BRICK BY BRICK KEEP BUILDING AND BUILDING. I HAVE FOUND THAT SUCCESS AND FAILURE OPERATE AT VERY SIMILAR FREQUENCIES.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND PEOPLES OVERSHARING HAVE REALLY TAKEN THE FUN OUT OF THINGS FOR ME. DONT GET ME WRONG, I LOVE TO LOOK AT THINGS ONLINE AND SEE WHAT PEOPLE ARE DOING BUT IT HAS GOTTEN TO THE POINT WHERE ITS OVERWHELMING TO JUST LOOK AT WHAT EVERYONE IS DOING AND IN DOING THAT, YOU ARENT DOING WHAT YOU SHOULD BE DOING, WHICH IS DOING! SO, I SAY, JUST DO. DO THINGS. LETS JUST SAY, AT THE END OF THE DAY, IF CERTAIN SOCIAL MEDIA OUTLETS CAUGHT ON FIRE AND BURNT TO THE GROUND AND IT WOULD TAKE 20 YEARS TO REBUILD THEM, I WOULDN'T BE SAD ABOUT THAT. AT ALL.  I AM JUST GOING TO KEEP ON KEEPIN' ON. I HAVE LOTS OF FUN PROJECTS PLANNED FOR THE COMING YEAR WHICH I CAN NOT DIVULGE ANY INFORMATION ON YET, SO YOU WILL HAVE TO STAY TUNED!

Lastly, do you have a philosophy or practice that keeps you zen in the middle of pressure, rushes and deadlines?  Or do you just get crazy and make it work?(pun not intended)

UNFORTUNATELY THE CREATIVE MIND INHERENTLY NEVER STOPS THINKING SO EVEN WHEN YOUR WORK IS TECHNICALLY DONE, IT ISN'T EVER REALLY TOTALLY CREATIVELY DONE. I DONT MIND WORKING ON A DEADLINE BECAUSE IT REALLY GUIDES YOU TO WORK HARD UNTIL YOU HAVE A SPECIFIC DAY AND TIME SOMETHING NEEDS TO BE COMPLETED. YOU REALLY JUST HAVE TO KEEP A STEADY PACE AND KEEP THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE. MY FATHER TAUGHT ME THAT HASTE MAKES WASTE SO I TRY NOT TO KILL MYSELF TO RUSH FINISHING SOMETHING. THERE ARE ONLY SO MANY HOURS IN THE DAY TO GET THINGS DONE. IF IT RUNS INTO THE NEXT DAY OR WEEK, I TRY NOT TO SWEAT IT. IM CERTAINLY NOT A TYPE-A PERSONALITY.

Thank you so much, Jay!!  It has really been an honor for you to do this interview with me.  I and all my readers wish you nothing but success and happiness for the coming year and beyond! xx

Where you can find Jay :

jaymccarroll.com - website

jaymccarrollfabric.com - fabric

jaymccarroll.wordpress.com - blog

facebook.com/jaymccarroll

twitter.com/jaymccarroll

pinterest.com/jaymccarroll.com