A Painting Life

This is the culminating blog post for my external credit. When I arrived at GCE for the second term of junior year I was fully operating a menswear brand called MAX-SHERIDAN. To provide a bit of background, I began my clothing career in 8th grade when I created a brand named Melange. I released a total of 4 collections as well as a few individual pieces and had a presentation at street wear fashion week in NYC. I was a little over two years into my first brand when I came to the determination that I wanted to rebrand. I felt that my overall vision and direction had changed and I wanted a new brand that fully represented that change. I transitioned from my roots in streetwear to a higher end market in ready to wear menswear. My new brand MAX-SHERIDAN created a collection full of hand made garments ranging from minimal hoodies and sweaters to leather and suede jackets. The collection was presented in LA and had a phenomenal response. I continued the process of designing and sourcing throughout my junior year at GCE. I had created a wonderful menswear collection which I was very proud of. I had sourced all the materials, found manufacturing, and was working towards my first collection in over a year. It was during the summer between my junior and senior year when a major change occurred. I had faced a lot of difficulties with manufactures for my new collection. These speed bumps made me slow down and reevaluate. I decided to terminate the clothing for the time being and transition my energies and focus to a more personal and refined craft. I had made this decision after a long period of thought and conversation. Running a clothing brand required me to make too many decisions with the consumer in mind. I needed an outlet to express my emotions and internal world with no restrictions or boundaries. Since I was young I had always enjoyed the arts and producing various works. It was this transition where I made the conscious decision to devote all my time and energy into my craft. I have created a variety of artworks ranging from furniture, drawings, photographs, digital work, collages, and installations. This particular post is focused on the 4 month period beginning from the end of may until nearly the end of September. Among other works, I produced 74 painting ranging in size, theme, and medium. I used my passion and skills in photography to capture every one of them and arrange them in an easy to view slideshow. The transition I made from clothing to fine arts was one that reflects my experience at GCE. My work now is limitless and has the ability to let me say and and ask anything. I am so grateful of the wonderful opportunity I've had to be myself and grow into who I want to be at GCE. I hope that the 74 paintings presented here are only the very beginning of my painting life !