Today... some Suede Jewlery

From a previous project I had a small chunk of suede left over and so I decided I would play around with it and make some jewelry. So far we have a large necklace and hanging earrings to be posted on My Etsy Shop later tonight. Hope you like it :)

Art Nouveau

For this project we had to choose an era from the past 150 years or so that demonstrated a substantial influence on society and that would be our inspiration. After doing research into many of my options it was evident I should choose Art Nouveau because the ideas were flowing effortlessly. I had a lot of fun with this project, so much that all of my subject notebooks were packed full of Art Nouveau inspired doodles. I was also taking an Art and Architecture class at this time which went a long way to keep my inspiration fresh as I learned about all different aspects of the Art Nouveau movement.
The Art Nouveau era is hard to define in some ways because it was so closely tied to the Arts and Crafts movement, and the Industrial Revolution. The dates are also hard to define, even though the movements popularity was short lived there were many great artists practicing the style long before and after the historical dates.
Here is what I found the most inspiring (works and quotes)

Organic/Functional Architecture

Viollet-Le-Duc

Henry van de Velde

Antoni Gaudi

Alphonse Mucha

Tiffany's Dragonfly

.... and many more contributed.

Another very exciting aspect to the project was the requirement to use environmentally conscious materials. Here are two local  (Toronto)  sources I really appreciated during this project. Toronto Hemp Company and Americo Original.

                                           

First Design Project.

For our first design project we were very free to choose almost any inspiration we pleased. This project was handed out just before Steve Schiavello and I attended Nuit Blanche downtown Toronto with some friends. I drew inspiration from the city at night and the creative mood of the event, and I found an interesting color scheme in the photos I took. I had forgotten my sketchbook and when I got home from the late night event I was up another couple of hours frantically sketching and jotting down notes before they escaped my mind. 

For the project we needed a "Mood Board" which contains color chips, fabric swatches, and our inspiration, accompanied by a "Design Board" which contains our 5 top designs. My project was received very well and along with a few of my peers' projects, was chosen to go on display. For the display my professor required a third and smaller board with examples of fabric drapings that contributed to our creative process.

Here's what went on display....