It's been a loooong time.

It's been a very long time since I posted but I'm back. Things have changed. I started back to college for a second degree, am quitting theatre and my husband has a new job... It's in Colorado. More to follow...

panache

The construction of all three shows I am working on is underway. With the exception of just a couple of garments, all the purchasing is done. Although I seem to be on top of things, the thought of fitting the three building schedules together puts me into a bit of a thought panic.
Tonight, I organized all items according to show and then actor, washed all fabric that needs to be painted, dyed or sewn and cut out all patterns. Before I go to bed I will cut out the fabric for one shirt and set things up to start printing tomorrow. My goal for tomorrow is to get the shirt sewn together, plus cut out a dress and apron. Sunday, I will print and sew together specialty underwear. That leaves Monday to sew the dress and apron. Wish me luck.
Attached to this post are my renderings for Panache being produced by the Williamston Theatre Project, Williamston, MI.

work, work, work

The last two weeks have been a challenge. Each day, I get up check my list of things needing to be done that day and start drawing, shopping, organizing, going to meetings and end the day with drawing. I am designing costumes for two shows (Bleeding Red and Panache) and doing a set design for another (Guys & Dolls). It's a great deal of work, very little sleep and stressful but I am enjoying it very much. Last night, I worked an all-nighter not going to bed until I had completed my rendering for Guys and Dolls.
It was 7a when I sent my final product to the director and executive director. Fortunately, they both love the design. I started with the set layout they had used for Evita and, since there is very little time to build, money to build with and the director loves Evita's layout, I stripped the old set and refurbished it. I added archways, doors, a cutout of the 1940's NYC skyline, etc.
Before the rendering was finished, a black and white line drawing was sent to the director & executive director. It's very difficult to illustrate my ideas with only this type of drawing but it is a good start to communicate the physical structure and see if it meets the director's blocking needs. Once this is approved, I color and add details to flesh out the design. Tomorrow, I meet with the technical director to talk about what needs to be done and all the intricacies of the set.

happy anniversary

The moments ticked by silently, counted in children's birthdays, weddings, picnics, movies, vacuuming, sorting socks, parent teacher conferences, smiles and tears. We celebrated twenty-five years of bonding, loving memories on the fourteenth of this month. Here's to twenty-five more years of us and the family we built! I love you, Greg. Happy Anniversary!

early to bed, early to rise

Last night, I went to bed at 6:30a and planned to get up in just a couple of hours to prepared for a meeting this afternoon. To my surprise, I slept clean through to morning and got up at 4:30a. Although I am not an early morning person, this feels good and I am hoping to get alot done today. If my schedule allowed for some sort of normalcy I would be more regularly rested. Of well, at least I love what I do.

it's 5 in the a.m. but i'm happy to have another web page up

That's right, I stayed up way to late but I am very happy with the progress I made this evening. My "Textile Arts" web page is up. Check it out: http://www.converse-doucette.com/converse-doucette-textile-art.html. I scanned in horse-hair (a type of interfacing used to tailor men's suits) and used it for the background and the navigation base. I, also, scanned in some yarn that I hand spun to use as an accent and divider. Craft magazine has posted two of my recent articles, one explaining how to make a neck-tie skirt and the other how to knit with vinyl yarn and use metal hardware findings as adornments, on their website/blog and I linked to them so that my readers (I hope I will have some) can take advantage of the free how-to. Let me know what your thoughts are.

my website is up... well mostly

omIt has taken me way too long but, alas, my website is up. There are still three web pages to be completed and loaded but I am no longer procrastinating. The benefits are already obvious as I was able to refer a potential employer to my online theatre resume instead of attaching a pdf of my printed document. It is more like a portfolio than a resume as the listing of jobs is interactive, bringing up photographs, sketches and renderings of my work.
In addition to the online resume/portfolio, I am writing a monthly "how-to" craft article and including links to some of my favorite theatre, craft, textile and misc. websites. This week, I have scheduled putting up my textile arts web page. This page will be initially simple but grow and evolve after I get the rest of the site up. SlixGrfx and photography will be the other two pages.
Thanks for checking out my site and I appreciate any feedback. It is a work in progress and I will announce additions and improvements as I go along.
http://www.converse-doucette.com/