I've known Brett for about 13 years now. Circumstances brought him home for the summer and to bide his time until he heads back to L.A. he had a couple of projects lined up. We were at the bar about a month ago when he approached me with his idea for a short film. I read the script and he asked me if I was interested in helping. The part that intrigued me most was the first costumes we see our main characters in. These characters have been wandering for months and are refugees of something horrible. I got very excited about how these costumes could really tell a whole story. There isn't much dialogue in the script so the surroundings and clothing really get to tell you a lot of the story. 

Read more about my process of distressing the clothing below...

The Our Fair City Launch parties are some of the most fun I have had designing. This time we were back in the Dfibralator space near Milwaukee and Ashland. Last time we were in this space we hung a huge cloud and really compressed the space. This time we decided to use the height to our advantage. The theme this time was an exciting combination of elements from the space race and elements from Chicago's world fair. What the team really wanted to capture was the feeling and excitement of impending progress. 

Read More about the style, theme, and other design elements below!

I have always been enamored by the world of independent films. They have a certain kind of magic that my theatre brain has yet to fully dissect. I am making more time in my life to explore the little things that have always piqued my interest and I look forward to working more in the land of film. 

The first time I was exposed to independent film making was back in senior year of high school...

            To find out more about my foundations and future in independent film Read More Below

I've come to a point in my Arbonne career where I want to meet people outside of my demographic. Specifically people who are not friends with twenty-something theatre people. Since I am a part of the theatre network here in Chicago, finding people outside of it has been hard for me. Which led me to explore the world of networking. Before last night I had never been to a proper networking event. I think the term networking is so boring and stodgy. It sounds like a bunch of pushy people who are talking to you about why they're SO great. I like to replace the word network with connect and then the whole endeavor becomes much friendlier.


                                                     To find out more about the event and what I learned read below... 

Back before Christmas I was looking for other avenues for my artistic skills. It was recommended that I check out Taskrabbit. It is a wonderful site to pick up some odd jobs and a way to fit some more money into your month. One of the posts that I was drawn to was a posting for a scrapbook. A young woman was looking for a crafty person to create a scrapbook for her father's Christmas present. I was intrigued from the moment I saw it. 

To Find out about my challenges and discoveries 
                                                               Read More Below...

Yesterday I attended one my favorite events of the year. I always look forward to the University of Illinois Theatre Department Portfolio Review. It's my chance to talk to current students in the program about what the theatre scene is like in Chicago and my experiences that I've gained working for almost 4 years in the "real world". My desire to pursue theatre has waned but my drive to help my former faculty and current students has not. 

For tips and highlights of some of the conversations... 
Read More Below! 

I am a woman consumed by wanderlust. This super brutal winter has broke the camel's back and proved to me that Illinois is probably not my forever home. I am in need of a slice of life from a bunch of new places. Illinois has been my home for 27 years and we have had a great run. But now comes the time to begin my quest to find a new place to make my home. 

      To find out more about my list and criteria Read Below!

Earlier in September I got let go from my full time job. It was a little bit of a shock but I was already planning an exit strategy of my own. I guess the universe thought my timeline was a little too slow and conservative. You just gotta roll with it and take it as it comes. Instead of looking at the things I've lost I am going to look at the opportunities I gain. 
                                                                                 Read more below...

I had the lovely pleasure of working my client Jackie in creating this "tickled pink" wonderland for her daughter Emerson's 1st birthday at the East Bank Club in the riverview room. This is my first kids birthday party and I had a blast! Emme's favorite part of the design was her name in lights. Who wouldn't be attracted to blinking, shiny, feather trimmed letters? Often the family members would take her over near the letters and she would just stare. It's nice that guests of all ages enjoyed the aesthetic :)

Want to know how I created some of these pink-a-licious items? Read on for more! 

After the crash in season three, our fair policies find themselves trapped in a world of rolling blackouts. The narrative of the the party is that the ever gracious, Vice President Davenport, has gathered all of middle management (our guests) for a fundraising party to restore the power. Our production team worked this angle and used this simple story to animate a part of Hartlife for the evening. Our sound designer, DJ Catnip contributed this wonderful soundscape that felt like hollow gilded age music with a brilliant dance backbeat. It truly was the pulse of our party. Our lighting designer, Brianna Johnson, really embraced the outage idea. We, in the world of the party, had too many lamps and not enough power to run all of them at once. This gave us a neat flicker effect and provided movement of light around the space. 

 Davonte Johnson, our amazing video designer, created the feel of a old time super scratchy film projector being shown to our loyal policies. Our bar featured two coffee style cocktails and our food spread was inspired by the algae supplements our characters endure, clearly ours were far more delicious! All of these visual elements added with the set dressing and layout created a wonderful place to spend a couple of hours supporting and celebrating Our Fair City's Season Four Launch.

                                        
                                            Read on for more details!