Born to do it.

Good Evening! This marks the completion of my second week of work. I was on the point stitch machines the entire week. I am having a lot of trouble getting accurate and clean point stitches. I am assuming with more time I will become a pro at it. While I am still learning, I am trying not to get so down on myself for not being perfect. It is easy to get down on yourself when you aren't instantly good at the things you do.

What I am finding is Shinola is a diverse work evironment. There are all kinds of people old and young, every ethnicity, from many different backgrounds working together to make one final product. The timeless wearable, A watch.

After work this week I was helping Eric Schantz from Saginaw paint a mural in a charter school on the East side. Painting at the school reminds me of a lot of my previous work. In middle school I was painting on large pieces of canvas, backdrops for school plays and murals on the sides of laundromats. I later in college did work on the Brightmoor Farmway that involved a lot of large scale painting as well. There is nothing more exciting than a fresh area to paint that is multiple times larger than you.

On one of the last days I worked on the mural in the school with Eric there was an open house. Students, teachers, parents, everyone was in the school while we painted together. People were talking to us. Telling us how much they loved the new art in their school. This moment reminded me of how happy art makes people. How important artists are to the world even though we are so undercredited and not respected in our western culture.

Art is important.
Art is something we need.

Similar to the mural I'v been helping paint a couple members of the Heavenly Dogs art & design collective painted canvases live at the Motor City Gumball Rally closing ceremony in Campus Martious. I photographed and took video while chatting up by standers about the DIM Battles happening in september. You will be surprised the amount of support the public has for art and artists. It is always interesting to talk to people walking by to get their ideas about art into the conversation.

What I am really trying to get at here is I miss painting. I miss making art and I miss painting large scale. I am a born artist but I think my real purpose in this field is to paint as large and possible and as colorful as possible. If all goes well over the next couple years I will be working on Shinola's creative team as a designer of products or on their highs fashion photography. I will also be painting in schools around the city. I am hoping Eric and I work together a lot more. Painting is a part of my life that I can't not endulge in.

My look this week is classic with a splash of plaid and color with a studded edge. Thank you to Melania for the fantastic photos and a good time. Little black dress is from Banana Republic, shoes from aldo, pants from Uniqlo. I am thinking of getting more into the modeling side of fashion ontop of remaining involved with the photographic side. So get ready for some strange inverted roles around here!