Oh. My. Goodness.
Just completing an entry by the start of April was the target I set myself when I first conceived to enter in the World of Wearableart. The 25th Anniversary Show in 2013 saw my first attempt at putting together an entry. Gary was the product of my imagination. He made it to the stage as a finalist in the Weta Workshop: Crazy curiosities of the creature carnival section. Placing third in my section in this year’s show is almost too beyond my expectations I can barely fathom what just happened!
WoW 2014. This year I completed two entries in two separate sections: Children’s (one colour) and Bizarre Bra. A designer I met last year at WoW, and have since claimed as my friend, suggested submitting a bra to help with the chances of selection for judging.
I had a rough idea in my head how I wanted my creature to end up looking. I start with feet. The feet determined the character and kinda set the mood for the rest of the body. It was while I was working out the first foot that I thought they looked rather like Hobbit feet. I came up with the garment’s name “Hobart” from this. Shhh! Please don’t tell Sir Richard Taylor though!
The hands and arms were created next along the creation path. The head and face were next. I’ll be honest. Hobart looks much more alienesque than I had anticipated. My original sketches had him looking far more ancient, mystical and peaceful. It came to be that I was creating a teenage yeti, not the old wise sage as I intended out to make. Which as I type this I realise it was pretty silly of me. It is the children’s section after all!
The body. The back flowed easily down from the head. Including all the scales which I had made separately proved challenging. In the end I was thrilled with how they looked. He has to have a tail and a chubby belly. I had designed the costume to be in 2 parts for ease of access for the performer. As I progressed I worked him out to be just a one piece dude.
Fast forward to current day. I arrived home from Wellington last night. Hobart would have been bouncing about the stage at TSB Arena as the plane’s wheels hit the tarmac. My WoW journey is nearly at an end for this year. Hobart and the WoW show have a few more performances yet to perform though. I bring home the joy of having placed in my section. I was on the stage and accepted my award from the Dame Susie Moncrieff. I have interacted with all the designers from New Zealand and the rest of the world. I fan grrrled out and met the wonderfully talented designers I admire David Walker (Lady of the Wood), Lynn Christiansen, Shaun Purucker, Svenja and Michelle Yeager & Tim Merz. My head is swirling with possible concepts for 2015. I’m tired but happy, thrilled in fact!
And! Hobart made it in to the 2015 WoW Entry Kit booklet! Holy moly!
To say that I was shocked and delighted is an understatement. More accurately flabbergasted and ecstatic! The show this year was very different to previous. Very different, but just as spectacular. I was able to learn that the model in my garment is named Laura. Laura was simply A W E S O M E. The choreography for PABLO and his “imaginer” a young boy brought the character to life. It was fun and whimsical. You can watch the highlights from the show HERE.
