The time has come!

So I had my last day of my internship at Anthropologie this week! 

Over the last few weeks we had the head bosses of the entire company come into our store and do a walk through, and they said that of all the stores they had seen so far, our display was the best!! SUCH a huge compliment. I guess I can write off the 185 hours of yarn wrapping, foil tape tendril-making, ladder-standing, plant watering, hot-glue gun burns and glue-covered clothes as a win. But in all seriousness, being a part of the creative team for my favorite store was the best experience ever. I got to be a part of creating and maintaing the Anthropologie aesthetic. 

Often we had common material that we had to be innovative with, and manipulate it to become something completely different. This internship helped me significantly in terms of my art, because it opened up my eyes to installation art, and alllll the little details that go into it. I also learned the importance of cohesive aesthetics--how to make the store's appearance in terms of visual display be unique and comprehensible while not being predictable.

Our Holiday window, with all of our handmade yarn lanterns

this wall=many hours on a ladder and lots of tape

our zip-tie cluster

on the huge back wall of the store as you go downstairs.

My Process of making Art

I always find it interesting to see what goes into a piece of art. Sometimes we assume that what is on the canvas was an easy process, no stress; the artist knew exactly what they wanted and were able to effectively convey it. 

I'd like to meet that person.

As for me, there is a bit of a process that has developed since I began painting eight years ago. My process begins with finding the right image. I am currently interested in scenes set at night, and after living in Europe for a year, have a lot of inspiration photos from which I want to work from. When I find the right image, I begin my preliminary sketches, which are usually no bigger than 8"x10", with acrylic paint. I usually paint my final piece in oil paint, but for the sake of time and money, I do my sketches in acrylic (because it's cheaper and dries faster!) When I studied at the Accademia di Belle Arte in Italy, they called them “bozzetti”, which means sketches. With the first one, I look at the original image, the photo, and paint from that to get the idea down. Once the first one is complete, I lose the original image, and then work from my first sketch on two to four more sketches, experimenting with different colors and applications of paint, as well as eliminating information. I have had the tendency to include too much detail in my work, so currdently I am working on minimizing the amount of information going in to just the important stuff. 

This is my first sketch from a photo I took down in Napoli, Italy. I painted this first one from the photo, and then worked from that sketch on the next two. You can see the process of elimination, and by the final sketch, quite a bit has been eliminated.

first sketch

second sketch

final sketch

Once I have found a composition I am happy with, I begin work on the actual canvas. I start out with an under painting, where I paint the entire canvas one color and sketch out the general shapes with that paint. This allows me to be able to visualize the composition, as well as getting me started. I don’t really like painting directly on a plain white canvas—so doing my under painting helps me move past the feeling of messing it up. I like building up my paintings in layers, so when I actually start putting color on, I try and do it in vague shapes, and as I build up the layers, it gets more detailed.

My process really developed last year when I was going to art school in Italy. Before, I jumped straight onto the canvas without doing any sketches, and problem solved along the way. It wasn’t until last year did I discover the effectiveness of doing preliminary sketches before starting the final painting. It allows me to work out the kinks, experiment and make mistakes—and sometimes those mistakes turn out to be something I actually like.  

the underpainting, painted in burnt umber

blocking in the colors

the final piece

sparkly H O L I D A Y

Here is the first round of photos of our newest holiday displays! 

we created Jingle-Balls, which were hanging on a spring, so you could pull this card, and it would actually jingle!

the back left wall is covered in silver paper dots, individually nailed onto the wall. The giant crystal balls were made during our holiday crafting workshop!

classic paper chains!

I covered the back wall with beautiful iridescent circles (also individually nailed) and these amazing lights we also made. 

detail of the iridescent dots

this super cool display is behind the cashwrap 

from the back of the store, on the first floor (our store is 3 levels)

the backside of our newest window display. We handmade each one of those string lanterns. Lets just say I had glue in my hair (hands, arms, clothes) for days.

Holiday display photos coming soon!!

We have been like Santa's little helpers on crack the past 2 weeks at Anthro, decking the halls with holiday goodness. Since I going home next week for Thanksgiving, I am picking up two more shifts this week, meaning four consecutive days of a 4:30am wake-up. Yahtzeee!

I am bringing my camera tomorrow, so I promise I will post some new photos asap :)

holiday craft workshop

Last Wednesday night, we set up tables to have customers come and help us make stuff for our winter displays. We had about eight people come---such a cool opportunity for the public to get involved in our creating process (as well as a HUGE help for us! More helping hands=super). Not to mention we had cookies and sparkling juice. 

Our theme for our winter display is "Wanderlust". We are emphasizing on capturing light and reflection, and creating a 'city of light'. Instead of the typical crafty holiday stuff, we are trying to incorporate new and different materials to make shiny/sparkly/reflective/lovely things.  

Crystal balls were made with clear stirring sticks, some spray-painted purple, and stuck into foam core balls. 

Another thing we were working on is this giant cluster of zip-ties, which will be hanging above a table and lit up beautifully. Pretty neat, huh?

It's not even Thanksgiving yet and I am already in the holiday spirit! Not gonna lie, I was singing Christmas songs today when walking to the bus...

s h i n e

Our other window has finally been completed! We made a bunch of silver strips, attached them to yarn to create this beautiful cascading mass of shiny glory. 

neat-o

Signage!

So last week I got the opportunity to design and create some new signage for a few items in the store! I excitedly rummaged through the boxes and boxes (and boxes and boxes) of supplies in our art room, and decided to tie it into our window display and use the same colors of yarn. Then I busted out the typewriter--which by the way, I must give some MAJOR props to all of you who used those beasts. Mistakes are not fun. Lots of paper later, I succeeded in making four signs.