Seated Figure - Jamie K. McIntosh

After some big and exciting transitions over the past 6 months, I’m finally in a good place to create some art again.

Recently I’ve had the chance to do some figure drawing, for the first time since I was in college! It feels great to draw some things again, and I had forgotten how nice it is to do a quick art exercise and get some instant results. Start, draw for 5 minutes…. then sit back and admire ’cause you’re done!

I also photographed some pages from my sketchbook that I might share later – plans for a few quilts, a few wearable items, and some things that may never get created but were fun to try to plan. Possibly some 3D experiments soon.

Dress made from camping tent - Jamie K. McIntosh

But I can’t help myself from sharing one of them today, because it’s like money burning a hole in my pocket. The dress is made from a discarded nylon camping tent, and the necklace is made from shotgun shells.

This photo is one of the products of a great photo session with Liam Spradlin and model Brittany Dingeldein. I’ve got a lot of great things planned for my new collection of fantastic eye candy, but it’s still in the works! In the meantime, please be patient and be on the lookout for the next time that I decide to cave in and post some more “secret” stuff. (I’m only human!)

The Lexington Fashion Collaborative will be holding our Future of Fashion show this coming Saturday, May 28th! Now in it’s third year, The Future of Fashion 3 will be held at Buster’s, a music venue in Lexington, KY. Please visit the LFC website for specific details about the events taking place that day, participating designers, and ticket prices. Or, hop over to our Facebook Event Page.

I’m so proud to say that this show gets bigger and better every year. I mean, c’mon… this year we even have a *special effects* team! It will be an event that lasts most of the day, with booths for vendors and local boutiques, a textile expo in the afternoon, and separate afternoon runway shows especially for accessory and children’s designers to show their work. The main event and finale is the evening show, where 16 designers (including myself) will be showing their newest works.

See you there! (I’ll be the one wearing green plastic soda bottles.)

Jamie K. McIntosh - painted shoe sculpture

Yes. I know… I know!! I should have posted this to my blog a week ago. But I’ll most likely be doing something like this again in the future, so don’t dismay if you can’t fit this into your schedule last-minute

On Saturday the 21st, I’ll be teaching a “Paint a Shoe or Two” workshop at the Scott County Arts and Cultural Center in Georgetown KY. Join me from 11am to 1pm… bring a pair of shoes, your imagination, and ten dollars, and I’ll show you how to transform your shoes into works of art!

The workshop is inspired by some of the works of folk art that are currently on display in the gallery space. The gallery will be open, of course, and we’ll have plenty of time to hang out while creating some fun wearable sculptures! If you want your shoes to be wearable, we can just paint and decorate the surface. Or, if you want to go wild and create a fun sculpture from them, we can do that, too. Whatever floats your boat, wets your whistle, or teeters your totter…. we can make it happen!

Stay tuned for another blog post in a few days. I’ll be posting photos of some of my new wearables, to be modeled on the runway during the 3rd annual Future of Fashion show in Lexington, Kentucky. For now, hop over to the website for the Lexington Fashion Collaborative for more info!

This past Sunday, each designer who is participating in the show was asked to provide one outfit to be modeled for the poster and other promotional materials for the show. I’m sharing with you some behind-the-scenes photos, some of which feature the lovely Samantha, who modeled my dress made from vinyl records. The electric blue skirt is made from part of my neighbor’s trampoline, which was headed to the curb. You may also recognize her necklace, which I crafted from pop tabs and silver plastic.

Each year, this show gets bigger and better… with more and more people involved… and so many designers, engineers, photographers, hair and makeup specialists, stylists, and coordinators sharing their talents. I’d better go get to work!

As we speak, Mother Nature is dumping snow on us here in Kentucky, but I’m already thinking about flowers. Bright blooms, even if they’re FAKE ones, may be just the thing to help me pull through the remaining months of winter.

I’m rediscovering my fondness for origami by learning how to make some new flowers (which came in quite handy when our power went out for several hours the other day!) and I’m brainstorming on how to attach them to “stems” so that I can put them in a vase. The folding tutorial that I used for the origami daisy above can be found here. For the origami paper, I have a few out-dated wallpaper sample books which I’m repurposing, as well as the pages from books and magazines. After I get my fill of paper (and plastic) flowers, I’ll probably try making them from fabric.

I made the layered flowers above simply by using my new die-cutting machine (I’m hooked on it lately) and scraps of fabric and paper, which are connected together with tiny metallic brads. I’ve also decided that I’m going to need some new paper-cutting tools (of course!) to help me save time with all the cutting and gluing that will be in my future

These few are made from tan plastic grocery bags with other plastics inserted inside the layers … for instance, the red netting/mesh is from an apple bag, and I’ve also used part of a bread bag for some other color variation. (The bows on the outside are from ribbons that I previously received on gifts, and have re-purposed here.) The little handles are really cute, if you ask me!

I’ll also be making some matching mini-envelopes to match, with a little blank card inside, on which to write some merry greetings. I was thinking of listing these at my Etsy Store, just for the heck of it. Perhaps. You never know.

Well be using mostly soda bottles and plastic bags (my favorites!) with a smattering of other types of plastic as well. If you feel like bringing your own certain type of soda bottle and giving it a go, BRING IT! Otherwise, I should have plenty of materials on hand for everyone to play with. If you have any questions about how to make your own Artventions, I’ll be happy to offer advice in person as well.

I’ve created a Facebook Event Page just for fun, but no RSVP’s are necessary…if you have questions please call Sutra Salon (213 North Court Street) at (502) 570-5292.

Also in the plans for this fall is the Fashion’s Night Out event on Sept 10th, a few art presentations by yours truly, perhaps a fair or two, and the Art Fever reverse raffle and the Lexington Art League. Plus some secret stuff that we’re working very hard to get ready for launch … it’s a whirlwind around here!