my project journey
The Spark
The first step in a project is coming up with the idea!
The Plan
After that, you need to make a plan and try it out!
The Change
You'll run into problems & your project has to adapt!
The Future
Think bigger and brighter! Dream the best for your project.
1. the spark
The first step in a project is figuring out what you want to do. For me, this process was a lot of fun. I brainstormed a lot of different ideas before I found the one that I wanted to do. This idea came from something that I discovered last summer. I was experimenting with different types of art and I tried painting my first pair of shoes. I painted them to reflect my personality, and I found my passion while I was doing it. I knew that I wanted to do this project and combine it with "upcycling" in order to promote sustainability because my school had been focusing on producing less waste this year. Now that I had my idea, it was time to plan it and make it happen!
2. The Plan
After I had decided on my idea, it was time to think and make it happen. During this time, I got a lot of feedback and idea from my friends that helped me make my vision come true. I worked with my teacher to decide the best way to get my project out to my school community. After doing some research on the best ways to paint on fabric, I sent my school a survey to complete if they were interested in me painting their old clothes for them. I then sent out another survey to those who signed up asking them some "get to know you" questions that would help me come up with ideas for their items. I soon started to meet with my customers, discuss what they wanted their clothes to reflect, and begin to paint. I spent a couple of months working on different people's clothes and posting them on an Instagram account I made to showcase my project and inspire others. However, there was a problem that I had to work to adapt my project to... quarantine!
3. The Change
Adapting and working through a problem can be stressful, and at first, it was. Before quarantine was announced, I had been planning an in-person visual art installment to present my project. However, I now had to completely change my plans in order for a virtual presentation to be possible. The change to creating a website was intimidating and stressful, but soon I began to view it from a more optimistic perspective. This change caused me to do research on website and photo editing that I would not have done before. It gave me the opportunity to draw and edit photos myself (like the one to the right) to replace the art that would have gone with my clothes in the installment. Having the skill of making a website will also help me as I grow and learn more in the future.
4. The future
During this project, I was encouraged to think bigger and brighter. I found my passion in this project and I want to be able to take it further in the future. I want my clothes to inspire others to embrace who they are, embrace what makes them different from anyone else. My plans for the future involve spreading the idea "Embrace your nonsense" around the world and doing custom clothes for people all over the world. I would like my work to spread positivity and lift everyone's mood when they see it. Finding my passion and discovering how I can use it to help others and the planet is something that I was lucky to do during this project.
