For my 3-dimensional design class, I had to design and make an object that could be a permanent or temporary home for a living thing. Voila, the Storybook Arbor Apron. Yes, this is very "art school," by which I mean an object that isn't likely to be found in the real world. Still, I had a blast making it.
I started with the concept of the body as a trellis for a Concord grape plant, then played with the notion of kids and grapes and magical vines. I rewrote "Jack in the Beanstalk" as a story about "Jill and the Grapevine," a tale in which the heroine outwits the villain by getting him to climb the vine then trapping him in the clouds. Then I gessoed/dyed the fabric, hand-wrote the story on two sides (the one not pictured is in a nice grapey purple, as you see in the detail shot up top), engineered a pocket to hold the actual grape plant, which ties to the body while you're wearing it, and embroidered certain letters for emphasis (again, the detail shot), such as in an illuminated manuscript. I sewed the whole darn thing together (which involved getting reacquainted with my sewing machine) and then made a pamphlet that explains the project, talks about Concord grape history and care, and tucks neatly into one of the illustrated pockets on the flip side of the apron.
I conceived the thing as a kind of elaborate prop for a children's story hour.
Whatcha think?
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3 comments:
Wow! Very impressive, and I like the idea of using it as a prop for a story hour....
This is so creative. I love looking at your sketches but it's been really fun to see you stretch with the craftier stuff. Really makes me want to break out of my artistic shell and expirinent some.
Interesting - you could grow your spices and pick them for cooking while you're standing at the stove.
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