Monday, February 22, 2010

I WAS JUST MINDING MY OWN BUSINESS...

original piece from november 13th 2009 fashion show

derek lam 2010 fall/winter collection

FRINGE IS IN THE AIR!!!
I am WELL aware that our piece is no where as nice as Derek Lam's (only due to high quality manufacturing) but I just found a strange and strong resemblance...I don't know maybe I'm just drunk

Sunday, February 21, 2010

SPOTLIGHT SUNDAY: MELISSA CROTTY

Melissa (also known as Millie) and I have been best friends for a very long time now...we met at the Philadelphia Community College where we were both enrolled as art majors...we had a lot of classes together and hit it off immediately. So...I wasn't going to go into our "story" but I'm feeling its importance...the first day we met was in a class, one of us was late, let's say it was me..and there was only one seat left in the class and it was next to Melissa. We started chatting and discovered we both had butterfly tattoos and voila' it was an instant friendship!! haha...Well that was really the beginning but there was actually a lot more depth to it!
I have always really admired Melissa's work, she would consistently have this natural, organic quality to everything she did...her work has always been super clever and you can tell it really comes from the heart. She has been a pure inspiration to me in so many ways in my life and I feel very grateful to have been with her throughout her ceramic career. Watching her grow and find her path within her work has been such an exciting journey...from functional to sculptural to jewelry...she is ever evolving. Anytime she is at a craft show there is usually a gaggle of people over her work because it is truly like no other and I love that!! So I am proud to present...

MELISSA CROTTY

Please describe your work dahling....

My ceramic work merges between utilitarian design and sculptural play. The bright white of the porcelain functions as a stark backdrop for my inlaid sketches and brightly colored interiors. Combining sculptural additions of slip cast figural elements, insects, and whimsical shapes instigates subjective narrative to each functional object. I build each piece from thin porcelain slabs, allowing my forms to morph while drying and firing. This encourages warping accentuates the poise of each piece and helps complete the composition by unifying my forms with the sculptural additions and surface design. I enjoy the idea that my creations will enter someone else's home and enhance their everyday experience.

And it does, people love your work, they really do..I feel like I've seen people going crazy over it numerous times...buying entire displays! What is your first memory of knowing you were interested in ceramic and that is what you wanted to pursue?

My first memory of my interest in ceramics was in high school when I took Miss Perini's ceramic class in tenth grade. I was pretty unfocused as a teen and really wanted nothing to do with school but when I enrolled in that clay class that was my reason for going to school everyday. I didn't touch clay again for a while after school but when I was in my early 20's and trying to "figure out my life" I dove head first back into clay!! I began a full time apprenticeship in Western New York with my friend and Mentor Elliotte Hutton and have been creating ever since.

What or who are your major influences/inspirations that you continually use?

My major influences and inspirations are my friends! I have a really awesome network of creative people around me that inspire and push me everyday! My studio building is packed with artists in the same position I'm in. We all work a "regular"job and make art which is a challenge but seeing people work hard to fulfill their passion is an inspiration.

I love that answer, it's not something you hear very often...I feel like that is what I mean when I say that you can really see that you put your heart into your work, you are a very caring person and wear your heart on your sleeve! So I know you work in ceramics but this is a blog driven by fashion and beauty...sooo what fashion trend past or present really pisses you off??

UGGS and sweatpants...get it together ladies, you are in your pajamas and slippers!!!!

HAHA!!! I second that sister! xoxo







You can find Melissa's work online at:
shopmissmillie.etsy.com coming soon porcelain jewelry

In Philly:
amberella gallery... the piazza @schmidt's
square peg gallery... 108 s 20th st
vix emporium... 5009 batimore ave west philly
nice things handmade... 1731 east passyunk ave

And at these upcoming events:
Past,Present, Future 35 Years of Clay at Community College of
Philadelphia, March 31- April 3 2010, 1700 Spring Garden St, Phila
Art For The Cash Poor... TBA

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

ALL APOLOGIES

So here are some looks from the Richard Chai Love Fall 2010 collection...I am not digging this AT ALL! Maybe because I have lived through the grunge era and it was kind of exciting the first time around AND I was in my late teens/ early 20's and I didn't want to dress up then...but not now! We have come so far! Don't remind the youth of today! Don't let them think that it is OK to wear sneakers with a gown...because it's not!!! Believe me, I am a BIG fan of a crazy layered look but I just feel there has to be more structure or thought to it...this looks like one of those moments you should look in the mirror before you leave the house and take off the first thing that jumps out at you!


What do you guys think of this look??? Feeling it at all?

Friday, February 12, 2010

THE ONE, THE ONLY MR. ALEXANDER MCQUEEN...







R.I.P. FEARLESS INNOVATOR....THE FASHION WORLD WILL NEVER BE THE SAME WITHOUT YOU

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

CURLS, CURLS, CURLS!

Lately I have been noticing something that makes me very happy, I think the desire to have stick straight hair is passing!! I've noticed girls just letting their waves go a bit and I love it! I have naturally curly hair...really curly hair and it's something I have been battling with all my life. As I have gotten older I have really accepted it and love being different but it hasn't always been like that...when I was younger I used to try to brush it out...holy frizz!! As I matured I embraced it for a while but then the whole "straight hair" trend was happening and I wanted in on it too! I would either get blowouts all the time or straighten it myself with my amazing GHD straightener...but now that tool has had a lonely life in a drawer. My hair is waaaay too long to straighten now...it's out of control! You know, I didn't have anyone else in my family that had curly hair (I got it from my Italian grandmother who passed when I was little)...so I really didn't understand it...as I matured a bit I started really looking to celebrities for comfort. Here is my ode to curly hair...
Ok..so an older pic of me when I looooved my hair....

Jimi Hendrix...my idol in so many ways..I have always felt a special kinship with Jimi...my last name is Hedrick and a lot of people used to call me Jimi when I was growing up because of my last name AND I had crazy curly hair...he is one of my style icons and one of my favorite musicians EVER! I am in love with his crazy afro...it's kinda what I look like in the morning!

Carol Kane! I always remember watching "License To Drive" (I know, don't judge) and being obsessed with her hairdo in that...I couldn't find a pic but she had a crazy afro top with long thick braids on each side! Besides enjoying her in any movie she is in, I love being mesmerised with her tendrils!

SLASH...What else can I say except amazing rock and roll hair! When GNR first came out I was sooo in love with Slash (well, I still am) but I felt like he was the only person in the world who knew what it was like to have my hair! This is closest to what my hair looks like currently!

Karen Elson...one of my favorite supermodels...I love curly hair and I love red hair...enough said...I am a total sucker for her ethereal look.

Alison Goldfrapp...I have been totally digging Alison for her styling...she has a very vintage quality to her look and I love it...I just recently saw her perform on Jools Holland and could not stop drooling over her cropped chaos of curls!!

And back to moi currently...my hair is the longest its been since high school, but I'm kind of digging it...it's crazy... but as SOON as I get some money I am getting my hair "did"...but something closer to the cut of top pic!...also, I just realized I am always posing to the left! What the hell? I really need to work on that!

****I would love to hear any of your curly hair stories or any curly hair icons you have! Drop me a line Dahlings!****



Sunday, February 7, 2010

OH SPRING, WHEN WILL YOU COME?

I am still obsessing about warm weather...and with that I crave for change...change in my wardrobe and change in my makeup. I am currently fixated on this look from the Dior 2010 collection. I am always so nostalgic for vintage beauty...and these looks created by the genius that is Pat McGrath are right up my alley. I love the modernness of the pastel pop of eye color against the classic red lip and pale matte face...and notice the white liner inside the bottom of eye...an instant eye opener! There is ALWAYS something that excites me about a slight tweak to something old to make it new... Oh, how glamourous!!


Monday, February 1, 2010

SIMMER DOWN, HOT PANTS!

I am just completely crushing on all the super hot pants that are popping up for this spring...they are one step above the basic skinny jean, with textures and cutouts that are 70's rock and roll but 80's wild! Even those leather shorts are not something I would normally consider but that sexy lace up front makes me want to yell... I LOVE ROCK AND ROLL!
click to see more detail
left to right: Phi cotton denim cut out pant, Alexander Wang lambskin leather shorts, Balmain smoking hot leather pants, Irina Shabayeva criss-cross pant, Rodarte side zip textured pants