Mario Nail Art!

Ok first off, Merry Christmas! however this is not a Christmas post.. that will come later.
So how did I spend today? I spent it painting my nails with Mario! I found this new technique that involves painting the image on a sand which bag and then transferring it to your nails. I found this technique on YouTube HERE. I used this for the Mario and Luigi on my thumbs, but I painted the rest on my nails the regular way with a paintbrush. I guess the good thing about my in-ability to paint large pictures or own large brushes comes in handy when I'm painting my nails.



Happy Holidays!

New Items for Sale!

Its about that time of the year again and since last year when I released my hand painted leather gloves, they have become quite popular.  So this year I went on the hunt for paintable gloves and this year I found mid forearm gloves in color!

I have posted the first batch of gloves including the gloves seen in my fall 2011 collection.  I have many more coming so keep checking! here is the link to my etsy account

apiana que etsy account

happy shopping!

Believe in Fairies

Check out these photos that were in the December issue of Onmag, a fashion magazine from Argentina.  The writing is in Spanish but translates to "believe in fairies".  The photography is by Fela dales, makeup by Trena Olfert, hair by Joanna Kemp. Models: Irene R. Ashley Q. and Brittany B.

So excited to have my work published in a magazine in a different country!

If you have a mac/iphone/ipad you can check the link to the magazine HERE, otherwise check out these screen caps

Just Because

Ive been told that I have a magnetic personality and an addictive personality.

Not because people like me, but because I become addicted to things I love, and I set off alarms.

If I had a blogging app on my phone I'd probably blog more often.

The mascot from the hitman game last friday grabbed my head and "made out" with me during a promo.  umm is this bestiality? mascot-ality? either way definitely something that I have not encountered before.

All these anti-bullying campaigns are really making me take a look back at my childhood. You never see people talking about the kind of bullying I went through though. Once I mentioned it on a social media outlet and I was called conceited, fat, ugly and full of myself among other things. However it has inspired me to maybe expand on my "meat dress, paisley dress, or whatever I may have called it" print where I first started to make art opening up about what I went through. Maybe work on doing a more intimate show and call it "Things a 15 year old girl should never hear". Every single person goes through bullying in some form or another I just pray that one day I can leave it behind me, and that everyone else can grow past what has happened to them as well to become a stronger person.

a mash up of some images where I modeled for Jessica Armstrong for the past show at art central we did as well as the upcoming performance for artawearness at acad.

busy little bee

I keep making a list of things I would like to blog about in my head yet it never seems to happen. In my Professional life things seem to be going very well! I recently dressed KD from "the girl with the messy hair" blog for the fashion Christmas event at the core and I’ve got been painting and working on products that will soon be appearing on my blog and etsy. However what I didn’t expect to be taking off is my modeling. It has always been something I enjoy doing but I never really thought I would take it any where. When I was preparing to move to LA I started realizing how much I missed modeling as it took a back seat to designing and recently I’ve kind of picked it up again. keep an eye out you may see me on a billboard from one of my recent or upcoming campaign shoots :) oh and if you do, send me a pic!
In the next week or so I should hopefully be getting some pictures up and I will make a conscious effort to blog online rather than in my head.

P.S I started watching Sons of Anarchy and my goodness I am soooo hooked. Love that show, I keep saying its like veronica mars but for adults.

An Interview with Krystle for ACAD

Here is an interview that Krystle Mendoza wrote about my inspirations, concepts, how I define art, and wearable art.

Krystle is currently a student at ACAD in the fibre department, she also keeps a blog as the textilequeen, click the link to check her out. Her work is based heavily on wearable art and I cant wait to see what else she comes up with!

Click HERE to see the interview on the ACAD blog.

two questions wernt posted on the blog, but if your interested to know more.. keep reading

q:Designers usually have a story behind their work, what kind of story do you look for when designing your collection?

a:My work has a somber feel behind it because I usually gravitate towards concepts that have a dark secret in them or as I like to call it "the ugly truth covered up by the beautiful, the embellished and the lavish". In 'Lover, Come home' The female waiting for her lover to come home is oblivious to the destruction and bloodshed that her lover is facing. HoweI tend to reference events or practices that no longer exist such as binding feet. I use these as a way to examine experiences we face now and how they parallel things that our ancestors had to face even if what is happening in the modern world is more or less severe.

q:Since most of your works are wearable, what do you enjoy about making them?

a:My favourite part is and always will be the printing. I love what I do as a textile artist and as a printer. Designing clothes has always been a secondary thing for me that opens me up to a different market and audience. However I do love designing and challenging the garments as well as the sewing-just probably not as much as the printing and artistic expression that goes into the first steps.

Look Who I Met

ok, so lately I've been doing a little bit of promo work as a way to fund my art. It is a really good deal since you work as little or as much as you want (given that there are jobs to do at the time) so it is quite flexible for my art schedule. in September I went around downtown with TELUS giving out roses and footballs for TELUS, in August I worked at cirque du soleil as part of the infiniti tour, and this month I am working with TD with their hot chocolate truck.

I've found that doing promos has actually helped me in more ways than just earning some money. I have always been a rather shy person who didn’t talk to a lot of people and when I did, if I didn’t know you I would feel kind of awkward talking to you. Now I may not be as outgoing as I would like, but I am more likely to start up conversations with people. I guess this started with when I first started doing "promotional" work at the beginning of summer(I use "" because technically what I was doing - it was illegal to promote it and no, it was not prostitution or anything like that). I remember telling people, "I got a job where my main job is to randomly talk to people, I know.. I hate talking to people". Now I am more comfortable meeting people and I think this is a step in the right direction :)

For this TD job, I have been rotating between beeing a mascot and being a spotter. This job is deff different because my job is not to talk to people but as the mascot interact and get peoples attention to bring the experience of the promotion to a higher level. basically I just dance non stop the entire time Im in the suit and well it seems to work haha. Funny how I keep getting finding jobs that pay me to dance while carrying heavy things lol. Last week we were at wordfest and they pulled me aside to pose with franklin! If I had known franklin would be there I would of brought my sister along to see him.

working at cirque du soleil had its perks, other than seeing the show every night on the screen in the tent. I learned that 5 minutes before every show the mosquito would come out and shoo people into the big top. So when I saw the show for the SECOND time I made sure to stay and wait to get my photo with the bug!

OH and one of the big perks of working promo? The people you get to meet. At cirque du soleil I got to talk to the traveling employees about the textile department for cirque, got to go into the vip tent to take a close look at some costumes and talk to head of security about how they are made. At my current promo my manager even has connections to people from marketing of cirque du soleil in montreal.

Oh I may not have mentioned this, but I would maybe like to spend a part of my life learning and being a part of the textile team behind cirque du soleil (if you didnt already figure that out). All I need to do is become fluent in french :)

love.dance.art

There are two things in this world that sometimes confuse me, because they are the two things that I cant really describe why I love them. art, and dance. I was going to wait till morning to write this, but it is in me right now. I love to dance, and I love to create art, I cant explain why and I often wonder why and what force drives people to want to create, and dance well thats harder because as styles change you kinda really are just flopping your body around. A few years ago, I was quite involved with both aspects of my loves and I made the descision that I would fully commit to art, and just dance when I could.

However now that I am not in school or really working that much, its really wierd but Ive been feeling kinda unmotivated. However now that I have some dance back in my blood, I get excited to work again and be creative.

I always thought that I had to choose one or the other and now I know that I need both. Dance motivates me, and art keeps me passionate.

When I was younger and I liked a boy, if I wanted him to like me back I always had the mindset "well, he just needs to see me dance". For those of you that have seen me dance you know, once I start, I cant stop.


(This was brought up by my seeing footloose today, man I love dance, and I love dance movies)

Rivalry

You got to find it interesting when different people from different areas of the globe both come up with the same idea, both market it well and yet probably dont even know about eachother. My facebook still thinks I'm in LA so I get ads from there, today I looked at one of them and it really reminded me of a calgary brand

first up is stellar hoods from calgary
www.stellarhoods.com

and today I found out about Schoodie from LA who is trying to completly brand the hooded scarf as a "schoodie"
www.schoodie.com
*schoodie I like your idea of flipping the hooded scarf and using it as a bag, should of been a bigger part of your "teach me how to schoodie" video

(this one is mentioned in the next paragraph)
www.jalu.ca

Stellar hoods website says that it was founded in july of 2009 and schoodie was made in october of 2010 so I have to say congrats to stellar hoods for marketing first; but honestly I remember seeing it first from space angel which is now jalu (from calgary). since space angel is no longer around and jalu is not producing the "barminder" anymore I cant really find dates other than a youtube video from march of 2009. Maybe there is more comapnies just like this, and maybe they started even earlier, and lets be honest the idea of attaching a scarf and ahood has probably been around for quite a while in the knitting world, but it was smart of these three people to market something that maybe hasnt been done before.

I guess the point of this is, no matter what you do, you there will always be rivalry. When your a kid they tell you "there will always be someone smarter or faster than you" and in art school they tell you "everything has already been done before, nothing is ever new or original". I guess the key part is taking what you do, and doing it your way and if you find someone who is doing the same thing as you, embrace what they have to share and dont let it deter you off of your own path.

If i could be anything...

I'd be a (hip hop) dancer. Ive always had a dream to be the star of a dance movie. I dream about it, day dream about it. Dance runs through my blood and it makes me happy. Girls flock to movies because of actors they love, male actors have never been someone I fantasize about. I have however been known to fall in love with dancers. People I know, performers I dont, male, female.. their movement captivates me. Dont get me wrong, I love what I do, but if I could do anything, it would be dance.

Then again it isnt just dance that I am attracted to, I think it is just talent in general.. there are a few artists Ive met in the past few years in calgary that I am just head over heals for, what would we do in this world without creativity and self expression?

Live cosmo givaway

live cosmo is giving away one of my pureses on their site TODAY only! so you can enter to win by clicking on the link below

enter to win

with a little help from my friends

I am lucky that I have had some good people helping me with my transition back, and while I haven’t made it to half the events I said I would, it is time to start networking again.

I was able to make it to the Haultain and First fashion show, which had my good friend Chantel Traub in it. Chantel and I have worked closely together in school over the last 3 years and while at some times it may have felt like competition, it only made me stronger. Having someone to bounce ideas off of and someone who is also good at what she does pushed me to try and be the best I could be as well. When I was at Haultain and First I had this idea, or daydream of the two of us traveling the world to see each other’s shows. Let’s hope that day isn’t too far away.
To see some of her work you can go HERE.

I can’t wait to see what the future has in store for me :)

Summertime in the LBC

Summertime in the LBC

What an experience these last few weeks have been. I wouldn't say things have exactly gone according to plan but I think that everything happens for a reason and while this outcome was not what I planned for, I am excited to take the time for myself to learn and grow as a person. I've realized that I have always been trying to accomplish things too fast. I want to accomplish as much as I can while I am still young, and there is nothing wrong with taking a little bit of time at it. I go into every new challenge expecting to ace it on my first try, but sometimes I think I forget to breathe while I do it. So, now I am going to practice breathing.
So what led me to this realization? A series of challenging events which made me really look at what my plans were and what I needed in my career, and long walks exploring the LBC. Here are some pictures of what I encountered along the way.

Dreaming a New Ending

Do you remember your dreams when you wake up? I'd say 85% of the time I remember everything.
Ever since I was little I’ve had these recurring dreams of people chasing me and trying to kill me, I always feel the strain of trying to run as fast as I possibly can. The strangest part is when my dreams connect together example: one night I had a dream that my mom was shot.. a few days later I had another dream that my mom shot and after I rushed over to her, she assured me that she was ok esp. since she had been shot before and survived and I joked through tears "I know -you're like 50 cent". So anyways in these strange dreams of mine I run for hours and hours always with a man chasing me, most of these dreams end up being involved somehow with my grandparents house. In all of these dreams it either goes until I wake up, and in some dreams I die, and then it starts over again (which I know people always tell me it is impossible for you to die in your own dreams but trust me I do).
So the other night I had one of these dreams, funny thing though. Someone saved me. I've never had someone save me before… Also I don’t usually recognize the people from these dreams (except close family), and I know exactly who was the person that saved me.

Saying Goodbye's

The countdown is on, with now less than a week to go, I am feeling the nerves set in. Last night was my going away party and even though I thought it would be different, it was just like every other party I've thrown. Maybe it is a consequence of my work habits. When I am caught up working I don't make time for anything (unfortunately this sometimes includes eating). This makes it hard to keep close bonds with many friends, and as my birthdays always show (and now my going away party) it means a small turn out, and some awkward periods of standing by myself. There is a lot of people that have made a huge impact on my life, and a lot of people that I am going to miss. I believe in "quality interactions" with people, and there is many people who I may not be necessarily close to, but to me some of the most meaningful interactions came from these people. Especially this summer I have made a lot of new friends. Thank you Calgary and everything you have given me. It is time for me to explore something new and unknown. I just pray it works for the better. Positive thinking, that is what has gotten me though and what will continue to help me grow.

I want to write a book.

All I know, is that it would start with Patsy Cline.

blending in the color

So here is an update of what I have been working on this summer, surprisingly Ive been doing color! lol. Since this time last summer I released my "first collection" which was jackets so I decided to go along with that theme just bigger. All I knew was that I wanted alot of color so I asked my sister "what is really colorful that isn't a rainbow?" and her answer - chameleons. The more I read about them the more interesting they became and this was the birth of my new six color repeat print. in a week and a half I printed 24 yardages. needless to say by the end I couldn't feel my hands haha. Anyways in my lack of posting I figured I could slowly catch up, by posting the things I have been meaning too. But this time I will refrain from posting them all in the same day haha.


Here is a breakdown of what my printing proccess looks like.

Parkshow 2011

Once again Paul Spenard did a wonderful video of my work at parkshow. here is a link to the video paul did for calgary fashion.

Calgary fashion for parkshow 2011

A Great Discovery

I don't usually do fashion posts, but I stumbled upon this designer and was incredibly impressed. Pauline Von Dongen is from Amsterdam and is only 2 years older than me and has accomplished soo much. Now with a Masters in fashion design she was been winning awards in Europe and creating quite a name for herself. Take the Time to check out her website, its quite fascinating. I love the way she plays with the fabric and texture, and worked on a video collaboration for one of her collections. She also doesn't categorize herself within "spring 2011, or winter 2012" is just per year. I can't wait to see what else she does.

Pauline Von Dongen's Website

Etsy

apiana que shop
hours.
24/7

The Art Gallery of Calgary

The Gallery Shop

117-8 Ave SW
Calgary, AB T2P 1B4
P. 403.770.1350

hours.
Tuesday through Saturday: 10 am to 5 pm
Sunday, Monday and Statutory holidays: Closed

A Little Help From my friends

Hey guys this is a call out to everyone who supports me, I currently am competing in an art compition with sunridge mall.. follow this link and it will take you to a place where you can vote for me. remember you can vote on every picture once a day so make sure to come back and help me win this!

sunridge contest

also, I stumbled upon this link which lists canadian designers and I made top 40 but this is all based on votes too, so if you like you can vote there too (I dont win anything with this one.. just bragging rights!)

canadian fashion

For Ainsley

This is a purse I made out of my test fabric for my grad piece. It has a printined silk organza lining, and a printed natural silk pongee exterior with leather detailing. I feel I will be starting up my etsy account soon.

Behind the Scenes of my Grad

Front of my Grad dress


Back of my Grad dress - the trim is made from my painted silk


The fibre majors made our own shawls. This one was made from my hand woven silk bamboo, dyed, and printed with the imagery from "The Three Graces vs. The Three Fates"

Photos of my grad piece
30ft of printed silk organza hung from the ceiling which leads to an antique bench which I have reupholstered using fabric that I wove (silk bamboo fibres)and printed. Seated on the bench is an embroidered silk lotus slipper accompanied by a sewing kit. The imagery is of various lotus slippers on the bench, and the scroll-like hanging is of the x-ray of a bound foot. I like to work with the idea of hiding the ugly behind something beautiful or as I like to title it "Covering up the Ugly Truth with the Beautiful, Embellished and Lavish".