The Last First Day of School

My dear friends,

School has begun! I have been struggling to maintain a regular schedule with these newsletters, as I transition back to classes, but I hope you will stay with me as I collect my sorts and find my footing. I really enjoy being able to set my ideas down here, and I am excited to see how this newsletter evolves and grows as this school year takes shape.

The week prior to school starting, I was really scurrying around, sketching like crazy, and working on my sketchbook day and night. I was feeling guilty I hadn't started earlier, worried I would disappoint my professor, and just generally upset with myself. It wasn't until Zach reminded me, "Isn't this supposed to be fun?" that I realized that all this shaming I was doing to myself was showing up in my work, I didn't feel good about it, so obviously what I was making showed this. The fix? A crappy 2000's rom-com and some paint. I love painting because it is almost impossible to paint without getting it everywhere. I use thick brushes, and let the edges go where they so please. I think this might be the fix-it-all situation this year, so please send all your favorite crappy rom-com recommendations my way. 

Collection Progress:

I have been really enjoying my Collection class! I have been making headway on my sketchbook, my concept as a whole, and my design ideas are coming along. All in all, I have just been having fun with it. I am trying to approach this process from a place of joy, and a healthy dose of hard work, and I find that the ambition follows. Above you can see a handful of my sketchbook pages.

Model tryouts are this weekend, and next week we will meet with our models, take their measurements, and start developing our pattern blocks for each of them. Below you can see the poster I designed for the model tryouts.

WORK IN PROGRESS:
*Digitizing my patterns - Have you ever had the experience in which you learn how to do something you never thought could be done? Something that feels impossible for a person to achieve and almost archaic to learn on your own? Like making pasta by hand, or weaving lace! This is how I felt about digitizing my patterns. It didn't feel achievable without high-tech software, or a skilled teacher. However, over the past few weeks, I have started learning the process with a little help from Youtube, and a free open-source software called Seamly2D. It's a slow process, but I am excited to build up these skills to one day soon be able to produce PDF printable sewing patterns of my designs.

*Organizing and decluttering my studio - I don't know how I manage to accumulate so many random and useless things. It's a slow process, and I am impatient, but I am trying to "trust the process".

*I've added a "photo archive" section to my website, this is simply a link to my Flikr that I've uploaded many of my NYC photos to. I would like for my photos to show just on my website, but Mailchimp is limited in its functions, which leads me to say...

*I am toying with the idea of converting this newsletter into a more official blog. My main reasoning for this is that I would like to have more control over what I share: Be able to post photos, recipes, one-off think pieces. I would also like for you all to be able to interact with them a bit more easily. As of right now, all comments are just reply-emails to me, which are much appreciated, but I would rather people be able to share with each other as well. If you have thoughts on this please let me know. This will be a slow process, and I will be sure to queue you all in as things evolve, but as of right now I would mostly just appreciate any thoughts you have on this!

Plastic Flamingos, Film, Brooklyn, July 2021

I'M CURRENTLY:

LOVING: Playing with my cats in the morning. I love our routine and getting to spend quality time with them every day.
FREQUENTING: The Saturday Farmer's market, and noticing how much joy fresh food can bring.
EATING: Melon for breakfast. Last week is was canteloupe, this week watermelon.
READING: Metric Pattern Making, hahaha. Not the most captivating read, but I am officially a metric convert. Centimeters here I come.
WATCHING: Bachelor in Paradise with absolutely no regrets.
DREAMING: About living in the country in a little round house.

 
Talk so soon, and I mean it!

Your Nosy Neighbor,
Nat