The Children Are Our Future
July 31, 2009
When my niece, Jasmine, approached me and told me that she wanted to go into fashion design, I was shocked, but then again, not really. You see, there has always been something creative about Jasmine, just waiting to burst out. Seeing this, her Mom, and my childhood friend Tracee, decided to enroll Jasmine in some fashion design classes at Pratt Institute. Unfortunately Pratt didn’t have any Summer offerings in fashion. What they DID have, however, was an intensive summer program in jewelry design. This past Thursday, I had the opportunity to check out the work of 11 year old Jasmin Rucker, of JR Designs. Needless to say I was EXTREMELY proud and very much impressed by the creativity, innovation and skill of Ms. Jasmine.
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- On Jasmine’s first day she was instructed to create a wire worked name plate. Awesome job for the first day.
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- Leather and wire earrings, necklace and bracelet. The leather is rolled and bound by jewelry glue. Jasmine told me that all of the materials came from items that could be recycled, like pocketbooks, sweaters and scraps.
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- This concept is based off of the movie, The Wizard of Oz. This is Glenda, The Good Witch’s gift to The Wicked Witch; A set that consists of earrings, a necklace and a bracelet. The hats are made of wrapped velvet ribbon and the yellow, grey and black wire coming out of the hats represent magic. Awesome!
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- This concept is called Day and Night. See the sun and the moon? The moon is made of shell and the sun was created by wrapping yellow wire around a round object. Jas told me that initially she wanted to paint the balls yellow but didn’t have the time, so she wrapped them in yellow wire. Quick thinking and great idea Jasmine!
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- I LOVE the colors of the materials used here. This set was made with grey material from a sweater and gold wire, which Jasmine wrapped to resemble a flower. Loving the cuff bracelet too!
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- The teachers at Pratt even included concept boards into their curriculum. This tool will be beneficial to Jas for conceptualizing her collections in the future.
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- The concept board for White Fuff
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- The concept board for the Wizard of Oz concept, Dark Magic.
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- The concept board for Day and Night.
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- The designer, Jasmine Rucker, and a portion of the JR Designs collection. The rest was at home because there wasn’t enough room for it all. Creativity is a powerful thing!
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- Jasmine after being presented with her certificate of completion, but my girl isn’t finished. This is only the beginning!
If you have a child who expresses an interest and passion in something, by all means, encourage it. The sooner a person finds and develops their gifts, the better and more rewarding a life they’ll have. Two thumbs up to Jasmine’s mom, Tracee, for encouraging her child to go after her passion, whatever that passion may be.
ARJ on Etsy
July 21, 2009
Yes, yes ya’ll!!! You can now buy ARJ pieces on the web via the Etsy site. I will be adding items to the Etsy store regularly, so make sure you check back often for updates. Oww!
Afro Punk Block Party 09
July 19, 2009
The Afro Punk Block Party in Clinton Hills was THE event to attend. People, young and old, came out to peruse the artistry that was on display and to hear some of the underground sound called Afro Punk. ARJ had a first hand encounter with the energy of the day as a vendor for the event.
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- Clinton between Myrtle and Willoughby was poppin!
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- My organic display. Made from rice and pods that were falling from nearby trees
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- Sade and Mootzie at the ARJ table
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- Yours truly after the ARJ table was set
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- ARJ’s right hand, Sade, assisting a customer
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- Peruser Karina Sharif rocking an ARJ tribal piece
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- My three favorite pieces. It was hard to part with these
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- Organic earring display
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- My large earring setup
Needless to say, it was an awesome experience. Afro Punk Block Party will definitely see me next year. Check the photo gallery for some of the items that were on display.
