New Job

Ok, so it finally happened. I got a job in the field that I graduated for! This has been a busy and exciting few weeks as I have been traveling back and forth from Toronto to Oakville, but you know what? I dont care! The time I spend driving home each day I think about how grateful I am that this opportunity has come to rise.

So let me explain how this came to be. For about 2 years now I've been on call for freelance work for an Advertising Agency called SPOKE! helping to design advertising pitches for their clients or whatever else they needed me to do. I've been bugging the owner for a while now joking around asking when he was going to hire me because I was dying to work for him. The atmosphere and people who work here is super cool and relaxed but we all get shit done. (for example a few people are playing Tetris right now :p on the PS3 they bought for the office) I also already know a few of the people here from when I cooped at their previous job, but alas there "wasn't enough work for me to work full-time" so I had to keep playing the waiting game.

Then one night after a fun and relaxing night with my bf down at lakeshore watching the huge waves crash over the shore, we were driving home and I saw I had an e-mail on my phone Spoke. I dont think I even fully read the e-mail, all I saw was "work part-time" and something else before I started screaming with utter joy freaking my bf out. I told him in one breath what had happened before calling my mom, freaking her out with my screaming the news at her followed by us both bawling over the phone. She had been hoping and praying for me all these years to find a job but understood the market wasn't the greatest for opportunities right now but was so proud that she could say I had found something.

I bought myself a new Macbook Pro with 13" screen for the job which was well overdue and I have been working hard getting stuff done for the company so I can show 'em what I got! So...I'll update once thats all said and done.

After all his all I have to say is that I want the world to know that I do, honestly, believe now....that everything happens for a reason. I cant thank people both living and dead, enough for this. The ones closest to me has offered so much support lately tht it made me realize that when times get tough, they will always be there for me.

Read My Fashion Illustration Interview

Nicole DeCaria | plaidmag.com

Drawing Influence Art Show

So, the day has come and gone with my first art show. I was super nervous/excited and sweating buckets in the tiny venue but I made it through.

The night began with horrific traffic and trying to bear through my mothers fits of stress as we drove to pick up my boyfriend then head to the venue. She always needs to be early for everything and freaks out if for some reason we'd be late. Although after some patience we made it to the venue 15 minutes early before the supposed opening time to discover that they were only 1/2 finished setting up?...

I, in all honesty, was quite upset over this seeing as they only had one of my pieces up and the others were "misplaced" somewhere, but luckily after a casual stroll down the block and about an hour later they had everything in order and the show was a great success. I had to remember that this was their first art show and with that there is always some form of chaos and time restraints that come with something like this. Heck, I remember what it was like the first time I did a convention, I underestimated how long it would have taken o set up and was still pinning up things in my booth as the people walked by.

I chatted with many lovely people such as editors, bloggers, and art lovers and I loved to see such positive feedback from everyone. One editor tweeted: "Love the chubby legs on 'What Shall I Wear' by Nicole DeCaria" which then got a response saying "So I'm happy when a designer or artist remembers that not all women have skinny and "weak" legs." This made me so happy. Srsly. One gentleman who writes for BlogTO, eyeweekly and other local papers said he loved my work and would like to purchase it if it doesn't sell by the end of the show. (exciting!) I think though, I was the only artist that showed up...kinda weird lol but at least I could give insight to my work if anyone asked.

I am seriously grateful that Plaid Magazine found me online and gave me the opportunity to showcase my work to the public, get my name out there, and have the chance to network for posssible job opportunities. I also thank my aunt and cousin for helping me with getting my outfit and accessories together for the show, and just for spending time out having fun. I'm thankful for my mom, cousin and boyfriend who came to support me even though it was somewhat of a late night for them as well. I don't know what may come of this, but here's hoping its a good one!

It's Been a Long Time

well not that long really. August was a terribly busy month with Fan Expo prep and showtime. I always thought 3 days wasn't enough because I was having so much fun! Although when I actually did the 4 days I think it was more than enough. Here's a picture of me at the table with our wonderful merchandise which we pretty much sold out of almost everything. The big hit was the My Little Pony-tize yourself. We made a killing with tons of repeat customers.

We had lots of fun and I cant wait til next year! (funds permitting)

So now that that's finished, onto the next set of events: a fashion illustration art show I'm being featured in: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=122712391162059 . It seems to be a small venue but any kind of exposure is good exposure. I will be attending a fancy smancy wine and cheese kick off party on the 22nd and the show runs all week displaying wonderful pieces by other talented artisans as well as my work. I hope, in all honesty, that I can either get a contact for a full time job, or some major freelance work down the line. I'm very thankful for a wonderful site entitled Freelanced.com seeing as since I posted my work on there the fashion magazine found me and inquired whether I wanted to be part of this in the first place. I will be shopping for my attire this weekend with my fashionista aunt and cousin as well as hair accessories, which is a must for me. I LOVE hair pieces! (or what they call fascinators) I'll post pictures of what I finally choose ;)

Another big event (2 days later none the less) is my best friend's wedding. I've known her since we were both 4 years old, and had many many wonderful experiences together. I'll be in the bridal party (obviously) sporting a wonderful Alfred Angelo gown in eggplant purple with a victorian lillac sash. I love how this outfit looks on me and compliments my figure. Once again pictures to come. I'm going to be looking for some kind of wedged shoe to wear seeing as I want to be comfortable as well as classy and it has to be silver s...I'm not sure how much luck I'm going to have with that. Oh well.

Good News

So...it seems my work is finally getting noticed publicly. A Fashion magazine called Plaid (http://plaidmag.com/) has contacted me recently and wants me to be a part of their art show entitled "Drawing Influence". Its happening on the 22nd of September and will run for the whole week. Me and 4 other local artists will have their work shown as well and I'm really looking forward to meeting with them. I'll post more information once I get it from the programmer.

Things have been uber busy now since the deadline to send in the pieces is in......5 days. I have all the prints done and framed but I'm doing an original piece for the show and its gonna take me a while. With Fan Expo prep, art show prep, work, etc life has been flying by it seems. I can only imagine if I had client work to do on top of all this I think I'd be tweaking a little...lol.

Fan Expo Excitement & Wing Making!

I'm so excited for the upcoming Fan Expo this August 25th-28th at the Convention Center in Toronto I'm about to burst. Once again this year I will be selling my prints as well as cat ear headbands, t-shirts and other fun stuff along side my good friend Rosemary. Table's have gotten quite expensive so were both sharing the table costs.

Every year I like to dress up even though I'm stuck behind a table, just because it's like my favorite holiday (Halloween) but in August. The outfit changes each year but this time I purchased a beautiful dress off of e-bay and cannot wait to receive it in the mail. It was about $150.00 after shipping and will be here sometime this week if not the next. *anticipated joy*

Here's what it looks like:

from the e-bay store "Victorian Choice"

So, with this dress I will be wearing my long black curly wig I've had for ages as well as my lolita top hat headband for full effect of the victorian/lolita look. I also decided I wanted to make little angel wings to go with my outfit (cuz I have an angel fetish apparently) and it was a bit of work to do but I finally accomplished what I wanted and they turned out great. I'll be hooking them onto the back of my corset so they don't move around and so that they don't look like the mainstream wings with the ribbon and the center piece joining the two wings together. I recorded the process just so, if you want, you can try it yourself :P

First take a stencil and make the basic wing shape cut into matching crafter's foam pieces.

Then, take either a coat hanger or any kind of wire (I used really thick jewelry wire from Micheals) and bend it into the basic shape of the wing. This will help it not to flop over and let you curve the wings if need be.

Then (carefully) cover the wire with ribbon so it doesn't move around. I suggest using the same colour ribbon as your wings/fabric or it might show through. This was the only ribbon I could use, so I just had to cover it up more :p

Cover the back of your wing with feathers starting with the bottom layer then working your way up. For the larger feathers I had to cut the tips into the pointed/oval shapes that I wanted then added on the small fluffy feathers on top.

Finally, the other side. I wanted to incorporate red into the inside of the wings so I added them to the middle layer of feathering and added the black fluffy ones on top.

Once all the feathers are glued on you can carefully bend and curve the wire underneath to have a more natural look to the folding wings. The wire I bought bent quite easily with nothing popping off or snapping so it was a pleasure to work with. So there you have it! Pretty little angel wings you can wear with anything on anything.

I'll be posting pictures of my completed outfit once I get everything so look forward to it. ;)

Once Again..

So, starting on a new project have been meaning to do for quite some time now...in between my full time job (again) I wonder how long it will take me to finish?...