PATTERNS AND TONES

"Julian Balme" from Home as Hat  COLOR AS COVER Without knowing it, color plays a vital role in our lives. It permeates our consious decisions from what we decide to eat, what we choose to wear, and of course to what we buy. Color communicates meaning and sets the tone. It is assigned meaning by the culture we live in. It also permeates our subconscious. When we see our country flag flying, the combination of colors, we can actually feel the weight of their meaning embedded in their hues.Whether it be our country, our team, our style, or our philosophy, color's visual cues are the most influential senses we have. I chose the combination of red, white and blue since this is the first portrait taken for this series outside of the United States.  I selected these colors to discuss how color itself becomes a cover, a shelter that we wear whether we are conscious of it or not. We don't often discuss color as a vehicle for taking shelter but it can be a blanket or a...

Susannah Mosher for Home as Hat BONNET AS SHELTER "Style is a way to say who you are without having to speak." - Rachel Zoe There are as many styles of head coverings as there are entries to the home. The bonnet is one hat that was you don't see too often anymore but was extremely usefully during periods when people were not as protected from the elements as we are today.  The bonnet started life without a brim. Less used to shade ones face from the sun, this bonnet was widely worn during the 19th century to protect ones hair and face from dust and dirt. The head covering evolved to eventually extend the brim to protect the individual to sun as well. While doing a bit of research on bonnets, I came across a variety styles I never even knew existed.  A calash, for example, is a collapsable bonnet, while t he coal-scuttle or sugar scoop bonnet were structured from straw and were stiff, limiting the view of the person wearing it. Thes...

Julia Rivera from Home as Hat HABITATION IN A HEADPIECE "People will stare. Make it worth their while." - Harry Winston Style is a state of mind. We inhabit our dwellings the same way we reside in style, casually by ourselves and fabulously for special occasions. This week I began looking at the local Spanish Revival architecture prevalent throughout California from 1915 - 1931. With an eye towards the more flamboyant, I came up with the idea of incorporating this lovely architectural style with its surrounding vegetation. As I began to sketch out how I would approach this hat, it reminded me of the costumed hat of the Brazilian bombshell  Carmen Miranda .  Miranda embellished her bejeweled headpieces with colorful beads, satin ribbon, baskets and of course - fruit. She was actually appropriating the head dresses  the Afro-Brazilian culture in the north-eastern provence of Bahia in Brazil. These market women often carried...

Jonnie Green for Home as Hat THE HAT IN UNIFORM "Elegance is not standing out, but being remembered." — Giorgio Armani The facade of our dwelling is very revealing of who we are on the inside. It immediately shows what our tastes are, our economic status, and whether we welcome others into our lives or not. I often walk around neighborhoods looking at the variances each front yard displays and wonder how each selection of plant, fence, pot and door mat was obtained through the experiences and tastes of its owner. Large swaths of America are covered in various shades of beige tract homes. I suppose uniformity is comforting to a large majority of the population and its economic benefits of the housing development helps to keep homes affordable. This notion of uniformity in architecture led me to think of the implications of the hat in the context of uniforms people wear at work. The uniform, much like tract housing, provides a shield of protection against i...

Kelly de Martino from Home as Hat Hood as Hat "When in doubt, wear red" - Bill Blass When I began to think about how I was going to approach stitching this Home as Hat, the overwhelming feeling of a hood emerged. I began to think in earnest about the implications of the hoodie as another form of a covering, a form of protection which was heavily laden with symbology.  The hood is a mysterious hat that allows one to partially cover not only the head but the face giving the wearer a deeper sense of anonymity and protection. Little Red Riding Hood, the ancient folktale also known as " Little Red Cap ", immediately came to mind as I selected the crimson red thread. The tale was first written down in the 1600's and was popularized by The Brothers Grimm in the 1800's.  The red hood has been in interpreted in many ways as a symbol of menstruation, the sun and the natural cycles of the seasons,as well as the ritual of going through puberty, and sexual...

Me and Tura Satana at Cinemania Photo Credit: Jon von It's not everyday you get to meet and greet a celebrity you really admire. But I not only got to meet my idol but was quickly flipped on my back and pinned down by the legendary pussycat  Tura Santana  in three seconds flat! I met her at  Cinemania , one of the most incredible cult video stores in Northern California. They were known to host actors at their shop and in the summer of 1995 they had booked the screen siren Tura Satana!  Early in her acting carreer, Ms. Satana had appeared in a cameo as a Parisian prostitute in the Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine romantic comedy " Irma la Douce ". She was then cast as an exotic dancer in the Dean Martin, Carol Burnett and Elizabeth Montgomery comedy " Who's Been Sleeping in My Bed ". But it was her role as Varla in Russ Myer's 1965 cult classic " Faster Pussycat, Kill, Kill !" that brought fame and notoriety. Cinemania was run b...

"Water Refractions No. 3" Studying light and how we perceive it has held a life long fascination for me. Much like my Sun Shadow series , I have recently been looking at how lines bend in nature, this time through the flattening of perspective in water refractions. Removing color often flattens an image and helps me to explore the interior of the image more quickly. So in this set of images, I decided to remove the color from the original photograph and then added a single color back in. These recent photographs taken at the Gerrish Swim and Tennis Club helped me to explore the undulating lines refracting in the water. I was captivated by the light rays penetrating the water which bent the objects, in this case the darker line tiles below. The constantly moving water was creating new patterns every time I looked down. Since the angle changed every time the water moved, the refracting light made the lines look different every time. My boss David Hockney has spent ye...

"David Nudelman No. 1" In honor of the 7th annual Rotfest  I thought I would run an interview I recently did with the Superstar of San Mateo, the one and only Mr. David Nudelman.  David took Hawaiian time out of his day to provide us with the history of his musical evolution, his philosophy on marijuana and  tales of debauchery in his hometown of San Mateo, CA. T aking place tonight in San Francisco at the  Hemlock Tavern , Rotfest  will be feautuing a who's who of the San Mateo Sound from the legendary Phantom Surfers ,  3 Stoned Men , and Smile God Loves You to San Francisco's own  Midnite Snaxxx , The Peddlers and Beth Allen 's tribute band 3 Stoned Women! I'm proud to present to you images I took of Dave back in 1994, shots of San Mateo's most notorious rock n' roller! Julie Green June 4, 2016 "David Nudelman No. 2 Julie Green: How was it growing up in San Mateo? David Nudelman: San Mateo was a fun place to grow u...