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My first pair of handmade boots!

More handmade boot pics below - but first a brief history:

I decided I wanted to make a pair of boots about two years ago, as I was inspired by the book How to Make Your Own Shoes that I posted about HERE. As suggested in the post, I did ask for that book for Christmas, and I got it (thanks Santa!). Technically I had made 2 pairs of shoes previously but I didn’t really feel that they counted.

I applied the techniques that Mary Wales Loomis outlined in her book but I found it a bit difficult to apply to making boots. For one thing, Mary suggested that you cast one of your pairs of pumps to use as a shoe form, so I went ahead and poured some plaster in my favorite old busted up pair of boots…only to realize after cutting the leather off the plaster that if you made your boot on this plaster form, the boot would never come off. However I did now have a cool set of plaster boots.

Moving on I tried to adapt Mary’s patternmaking techniques to bootmaking to no avail, but luckily I had this cut up pair of boots with chunks of plaster stuck to them. So I pulled all the layers apart to make patterns and to try to make sense of all the materials that were used in the boot, some of which were quite different from what Mary had suggested using. Mary spoke of a helpful man at a shoemaking supply store, so I sauntered into Kaufman’s shoe repair supplier on Bleecker after a tip from a friend. I can’t say that anyone working there was particularly jazzed about helping someone who knew absolutely nothing about shoemaking, but I managed to get more or less what I thought I needed. It was no small bill either, I might add. Fast forward to me sawing through incredibly thick compressed sole leather with a weird knife, hurting my wrist and afraid I’d cut my foot off if the knife slipped (note: sitting hunched on floor working with sharp tools you don’t know how to use must be avoided). I also attempted to created a stacked heel by painstakingly cutting out several different layers and sizes of heel shapes, gluing them together, and sanding them BY HAND (yikes). (I didn’t end up using those heels btw.)

After I finally finished cutting them and dying the edges of the soles, I came to the realization that they were waaaaayyyy too thick to be useable soles, and several of the other structural parts I had concocted were sketchy as well. I decided to put it aside for a bit and consult the pros. So I finally took a shoemaking class at FIT (Footwear Design and Construction I). What went down in that class is kind of another story, as I made two pairs of shoes that I feel proud of but not eager to wear. They each had their issues, the first being a mule (yuck) and the second being a bit ambitious and confused gold bootie. I don’t have a decent photo of either, and that says a lot. All the while, I was eager to apply what I had learned to the ole pair of boots that was still awaiting construction. I went back to the leather upper, which I had already stitched together, and made some changes. The rest of the materials I totally remade - the innersole, counters, toe box, sock lining, etc. - while I made my second pair of shoes in class.

Shortly after the class ended I lasted my boots, or molded them onto the shoe form, which I didn’t have when I was attempting the boots for the first time (note - it’s impossible to make a pair of shoes without a last unless they are simple sandals or uber baggy freeform type things). The only thing left to do was deal with the sole, so I got a belt sander and sanded away…much to Collin’s dismay as I accidentally coated everything in his studio with teeny leather shreds. I augmented a pair of heels with Sculpy to make them fit the last a bit better and covered them in suede. But I still lacked the dye and wax to properly finish off the sole and couldn’t find the right products at Kaufman’s. Luckily my friend Kirsty from shoe class (who also makes really nice girls dresses) helped me get the job done. So I can finally say that I have achieved this goal of making a pair of handmade boots. Wooooooooooo!

Before embarking upon this adventure, I had wondered to myself why you don’t find more readily available information online or elsewhere for making shoes. And I learned that the reason is that it has a million different steps, which change drastically depending on what type of shoe you are making, and that it’s difficult to learn without taking some sort of class. There are a few books out there but they cost a bundle, and I think it would be difficult to learn the techniques without having access to the tools and seeing them demonstrated.

Hopefully I’ll be able to set aside some time in the future to make another pair, but it’s tough without access to the shoe lab. For now, I’m just going to enjoy this pair. I already wore them out once in celebration of my birthday, and not only did they not fall apart - they were actually comfortable! So cool.

See thumbnails below, and the entire set on FLICKR.

Kate Bush Dance Troupe at The Kitchen

The Kate Bush Dance Troupe performed at The Kitchen November 5, 6, and 7 as part of Chase Granoff’s piece The Art of Making Dances. Chase’s piece featured himself and Jennifer Sullivan as the main dancers as well as a group of dancers who performed during several segments. Our contribution fell at the end of the piece and we performed just one song - The Dreaming. I made an additional costume for Renata, as she rejoined the group for this performance. The evening also included i need more by Nancy Garcia and was curated by Matthew Lyons. Matthew also conducted an interview with me, Jennifer Sullivan, and Samara Davis about The Kate Bush Dance Troupe that is included in the book Chase produced as part of his piece. The book is also titled The Art of Making Dances.

We were really stoked to be included in this show, and it was funny, because we had earlier joked that KBDT was blowing up and that we’d be at The Kitchen before we knew it. It was an awesome opportunity and really cool to perform in that space, so “big time” compared to the loft/party type locations of our previous performances. Unfortunately I don’t yet have any photo or video of the performance to share save for a mobile phone pic and some photos of us before and after the show. Check out the review from the NY Times and check back for more documentation in the near future.

Also see posts on our first and second performances.

photo by Timothy Hull

pics by me and Collin

See the full set on Flickr HERE.

Newest and Perhaps Greatest Symphony of Science

A few days after I posted about the two previous Symphony of Science videos I saw this third installment in the series. (It’s all very confusing to me because I feel like I saw them a year ago and wrote a post about them and then fell into a time warp and came out and there was a new video but I had neglected to write about it.) At any rate, Our Place in the Cosmos is a notch above the rest IMHO. In it, Carl Sagan speaks to our cosmic responsibility, the fact that we must push on to survive, not just for ourselves, but because we owe it to the cosmos from which we came. He also has a great line in the refrain: “One of the great revelations of space exploration is the image of the Earth, finite and lonely, bearing the entire human species through the oceans of space and time.” (Sounds more charming auto-tuned, oddly enough.) It probably sounds corny, but both points bring me to tears thinking about them, especially when presented by Sagan, a figure both familiar and nostalgic, as my friend Jeremy and I geeked out on Cosmos in high school. In the amazing documentary For All Mankind, a few astronauts comment on that view of the Earth from the moon as the ultimate reality check, the biggest and most beautiful gift of the big picture they could have imagined, and that always stuck with me.

Just realized all episodes of Carl Sagan’s amazing video series Cosmos (from which this video borrows heavily) can be seen here on Hulu. Yesss!!

New Halloween Costume for ‘09

This year I had an idea for a costume a few weeks before Halloween and decided to throw it together to become some sort of space rocker, a slight variation from my normal Halloween attire. I originally envisioned this costume being long-sleeved and totally covering the wearer in striped material, including a big hood or collar that would come up over their head. At first I tried to use some plastic tubing to form a circle, but it was nowhere near strong enough to support a collar. I decided to explore the world of foam and ended up stitching together several strips to form a sort of hood/half-helmet shape. I then covered it in the same material as the rest of the costume. The main bodice was copied from a pattern I made for a similar jumpsuit, though the arm pieces were a new addition. It ended up working out really well except that the seam tore on my upper thigh on Halloween nite. Luckily it wasn’t terribly noticeable as I was without a long coat.

See more pics from Halloween 2009 in my flickr set.

Bonus pics of me with my coworker Michael Armstrong as Lady Gaga. Photos by Michele Crowe.

Recession Runway at Nada/Fall Collection at the NY Art Book Fair

I’ve participated so far in two art runway shows that Jennifer Sullivan organized. Last May she mounted Recession Runway hosted by NADA at Bumble and Bumble, and I showed off the costume I created for my performance last March in Wisconsin. After wearing it a few times, I practically forgot that one of my breasts was nearly exposed and I felt more confident in it. I made the whole ensemble for under 40 dollars, including the fabric and applique. Not too shabs.

Pics below also include Jennifer Sullivan and Monica Abend. Photographed by Brina Thurston, who made Monica’s costume.

I was away on my honeymoon when Jen hosted Fall Collection at PS1 in October, but our fellow Kate Bush Dance Troupe member Kate Scherer modeled one of the costumes I created for the troupe. Kate did an amazing job and clearly represented the spirit of KBDT on the runway. Photo of Kate below by Dan Perrone.

W.A.R.E.S. Goddess Headdress Workshop with Jennifer Sullivan

In August, Jennifer Sullivan had a show at Heist Gallery called Manhattan Miniseries (With Sweaty Palms) during which she hosted many collaborative events. Jen and I worked together on this workshop, where we led participants in the creation of goddess headgear. Here was the description of our venture:

Wearable Art Research Empowerment Studio (W.A.R.E.S.) Episode
In this episode, artist Erica Magrey and I will guide a free Goddess Headdress-making workshop in the gallery space. Beginning with an informal discussion and a PowerPoint presentation offering some inspirational source imagery, we will guide participants through the process of using simple materials to make their own empowering wearable art. Emphasis will be placed on the expression of each participant’s unique inner strength and beauty through their creation. The workshop will culminate in goddess portrait photo shoot in the gallery space. Additional accessories, props and costume items will be provided, but participants are encouraged to bring craft materials that inspire and interest them.

The workshop ended up being super fun and we got great results. Here are a few of the participants headdresses (Renata Espinosa, Kate Scherer, and Brina Thurston).

See the whole set HERE.

Jen also included the photos in the first issue of her new wearable art zine http://www.jennifersullivan.org/threads.html, made in collaboration with Jenn Brehm.

We had made this cool promotional image that I forgot to post in advertisement of the workshop, so here goes:

Playing Catch Up

Join me in my time travels while I go back and add some news and items from the last few months. Just wanted to put a warning out there in case you are wondering why I’m announcing the news of the past. Enjoy!