Academy of Art University President Elisa Stephens, Design Icon Award Recipient Dakota Jackson, and School of Interior Architecture & Design Executive Director Laura Blumenfeld
Last night, the School of Interior Architecture and Design hosted their first annual Winter Show. The evening showcased student work and honored famed Interior Architect, Dakota Jackson. Jackson is known for his whimsical yet architectural designs, creating beautiful furniture that reflects true artistry and craftsmanship. Dr. Elisa Stephens presented Jackson with the School’s first Design Icon Award, for his commitment to design excellence and innovation throughout his impressive career. “Dakota Jackson’s work and unique perspective are a constant inspiration to our students as they prepare for careers in design,” said Dr. Stephens.
Executive Director of the School of Interior Architecture and Design, Laura Blumenfeld, was very excited about Jackson’s visit, saying, “This will be a wonderful opportunity for our students to learn from one of our industry’s most revered design professionals – he really is a design icon.” Jackson spoke about the history of furniture design and his career in the industry, offering inspiration to the design students and even quoting Bob Dylan. The evening was absolutely wonderful, and everyone at the Academy of Art University was truly honored to bestow the Design Icon Award upon such a talented and creative individual.
Thomas Palmer, who loves spiders. His drawing for the London Zoo.
It appears that artistic talent runs in the Palmer family. Gladys Perint Palmer’s 5-year-old grandson, Thomas Palmer, recently won a drawing contest at the London Zoo.
His mother, Grace O’Connor, who teaches drawing online, wrote to Gladys:
“His drawing will be on the London Zoo’s Christmas card and he won a trip to the zoo for the whole class to meet Santa.
Thomas was Person of the Week (at school) for winning and his drawing was on all the digital noticeboards…
When I congratulated him the first thing he said, remembering what I had promised him, ‘Don’t forget, you owe me £20 for winning’ and this morning he said he will offer the original for sale at £200.”
Thomas is a young artist in the making – with a mind for business, too. Congratulations – we can’t wait to see what you do in the future!
Today we bring to you a new column, Instruct/Influence, in which we will be chatting with the amazing instructors at the School of Fashion. Hiding underneath that school teacher exterior, there lies a bounty of hidden gems - some of the best fashion tales you’ve never heard. Our directors and instructors have worked with the best in the biz and have some sartorial stories that we could only dream of, and we wanted to share some of those experiences with all of you. We begin the column with Briana Kranz, one of our lovely Fashion Illustration instructors who has a new art show opening this weekend!
You attended the Academy of Art University as an undergrad – what was your favorite class when you were a student?
Yeah I studied Graphic Design and Illustration. And I took a lot of Carol Nunnelly’s classes, her fashion illustration classes. And there was just a spark in her class and I knew that that was the direction I wanted to go in. In illustration there wasn’t really a lot of that so I had to kind of find my way to fashion illustration because my school was a lot more traditional, as far as all of the foundation classes. I really liked the freedom of her class.
The techniques and the style are really fast and direct, not as sketchy. It was really nice to see someone who was really talented. The way she draws is so direct, you know she really thinks with every line she makes and I saw that and thought “That’s how I want to draw.”
What are your favorite subjects to draw?
Shoes! I love drawing and painting shoes.
And what materials do you prefer?
I do usually pen and ink and then watercolor on top of that. I started off playing around with ink, a pen and a nib. And then tried steel tipped pens and those really stuck with me. And it was really interesting because they are water soluble, so when I painted the watercolors over the ink, it blended into the paint. It creates a really cool effect and you kind of work with it and work around it. I just tried it one day and it kind of set off a light bulb.
Grid suits are a teaching tool developed by School of Fashion Executive Director Gladys Perint Palmer, to help teach students how to draw the body. As the name suggests, it is a body suit with grid lines drawn on it, helping students to draw the body proportionately and accurately. Illustration Coordinator Carol Nunnelly took the grid suits home the other day to wash them, giving them their own little adventure: from drying in a garden, to the body, to paper.
Top Row: The Gridsuit hanging in Carol’s garden, and being modeled by Mia Paschal
Bottom Row: Drawings by Natalie Chiu Sze Wai (L) and Kristina Fielding (R)
We hope you all enjoyed yesterday’s presentation by Gladys Perint Palmer! The Executive Director of the School of Fashion recounted her experiences from the Fall/Winter Haute Couture shows in Paris this past summer and shared a few tidbits from the fun at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.
The insightful presentation took students behind the scenes of the maisons de haute couture in Paris. This past July, Gladys took a tour of Atelier Lesage, a famed embroidery workshop that creates beautiful embroideries for many of the top houses including Chanel, Dior, and Givenchy. This “backstage pass” was arranged by Laure du Pavillon, formerly of Christian Lacroix, who was an honored guest of the school last May. According to GPP (and we must agree), it is this dedication to preserve these types of traditional crafts that makes Paris THE center of fashion – where it is still an art. Du Pavillon recommended School of Fashion graduate Hyunjeon Jeong for an internship at Atelier Lesage, after he saw her work at the annual Graduation Fashion Show. After a rigorous screening process, she was offered the position at the Atelier.
Delicately embroidered chiffon and inspiration boards at the Atelier
Stitching the beautiful embroidery and the School of Embroidery next to the Atelier
We were honored to have Fashion News Live backstage before the Academy of Art University’s Spring 2012 Fashion Show at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week! Fashion News Live reporter Michelle chatted with designers about their collections, inspiration, and how they were feeling just before the show! She even spoke with School of Fashion Executive Director Gladys Perint Palmer and Academy of Art University President Dr. Elisa Stephens about the University and the different programs at the School of Fashion. Here are all of the videos from backstage and one highlighting pieces from the Spring 2012 Collections!
Highlights from the Academy of Art University Spring 2012 Collections
Master of Fine Arts Graduates David Doerr, Lisa Nguyen and Juhyun Vivi Park
Today’s Monday Morning Photo is a special edition – a hybrid with our fave – Picture this by GPP! Enjoy these beautiful and inspirational works of art!
September 11 is the best day to visit the Metropolitan Museum in New York. Though it is Sunday, the place was empty.Here are some of my favourites. – GPP
Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640). Probably Susanna Lunden.
Another High Alert Day in New York! There were more parades, maybe less fashion, as trade union members strutted down their runway. The police were in their element and so were visitors to the Plaza.
Non Traditional Employment for Women
Non-Traditional Parade
Fort Hamilton High School supports trades union....
Follow the jump for more pictures and illustrations by GPP! Read more…
Official Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Banners - Illustrated by GPP
The day has finally arrived and we couldn’t be more excited! Tonight at 8 PM EST/5 PM PST (or maybe a few minutes later – you know how fashion shows are!) students from the Academy of Art University will show their Spring ’12 collections at Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week. All of the designers have been working so hard – we cannot wait to see their spectacular designs!
You can catch all the action at http://academyart.edu/fashionshow/ where we will be streaming the event live. There will also be a live Twitter feed, so be sure to Tweet it up about the collections and your fave looks! And don’t forget to include the #AAUSS12 hashtag to make sure your Tweet is part of the party!
Tune in and support your fellow students!
For more information on Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, click here.
Thomas Palmer, who loves spiders. His drawing for the London Zoo.
Top Row: The Gridsuit hanging in Carol’s garden, and being modeled by Mia Paschal
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