Carnival Outfit Complete Look

 My first handmade carnival costume. I'm very proud of it. It took a lot of work but I can see why they charge so much for these things ($250 and up in the thousands). As I said in my previous post, I spent about $45 on fabric and embellishments for the entire thing. I used an old bra for the top and a swimsuit bottom. For the base of the headdress, I used a plastic 3-ring binder that I cut up. For the base of the arm and leg bands and the belt, I used canvas. It was put together with needle and thread and hot glue. My sandals were $17 from Ross and the belly chain and beads were things I already owned.

I took some photographs while making the body of the costume:

The headdress.

A part of the headdress and the belt.

Beginning stages of the bra.

Here I've added a few more things to the bra.

Beginning stages of the leg bands.

The finished belt.

The finished bra and belt.

The finished arm band.

The finished leg band.

Detail of the bra. You can see the tons of seed beads I used.

Detail of the sequins I sewed on and some seed beads that I sewed on.

Another detail of some strands of beads hanging from a ring that was stitched onto the bra.

The completed look.

Making My Own Carnival Headdress

Unfortunately, I didn't take photos while I was making this. I made it last weekend while sitting at my mom's house and watching a movie. It took me almost 4 hours and about $40 worth of crafting supplies: Rhinestones, ribbon, felt, feathers, beads, plastic, hot glue, battery operated lights and a clip-on fancy butterfly.

This is the entire piece. I am currently working on the body pieces to go with it (bra, belt, arm and leg bands).

Close-up of the feathers I used. The peacock feathers and the brown and gold feathers were expensive compared to the others (2 for $3).

With the battery operated lights on ($5 at AC Moore). You can see the butterfly (also $5) I used in the center. These two items were the most expensive, so of course you can forgo these two features and save $10.

With the overhead lights off, you can see how it would look at night. Very pretty and oh so gaudy. You can also kind of see it from the side to see how it goes on the head.

Another close-up view so you can see the rhinestones, ribbon, beads and mesh with rhinestones.

Tell me what you think in the comments below. I will get a picture up with the whole outfit in a couple of weeks. (Oooh ... Scandalous.)

Going Away Gift for Ellie

This is a signature/portrait quilted wall hanging for a co-worker who is moving. Our group, the Hospital Bereavement Committee, presented it to her at a Going Away BBQ. She loved it. I made the quilt top and another lady (Yvonne Allen) did the quilt sandwich and hanging strip. Everyone signed along the border.

Group Exhibition at Pine Camp Arts and Community Center, 4901 Old Brook Rd. Richmond, VA 23227

"Isn't She Lovely" 

A multimedia exhibit focusing on African-American female beauty featuring artists from the Richmond, Baltimore and Washington, DC metropolitan areas.

Opening Reception is scheduled for Friday, February 13th, 2015 at 6:30PM.

I, Unicia Buster, will have two art pieces on display at this show.

Please join me in celebrating all of the amazing talent featured in this show. 

"Field of Afros" by Unicia Buster.
Textile art, hand and machine stitched 100% cotton fabric
62" sq. quilted wall hanging
I finally finished this piece. Four-five years in the making.

From a drawing/sketch to a quilt. What a journey.

"Urban Beauty" by Unicia Buster
Archival ink on paper

Detail of "Urban Beauty" by Unicia Buster

Gallery event flyer.

"Who Are You?" by Unicia Buster - A New Echo Line Drawing (incomplete)

January 21, 2015 "Who Are You?" by Unicia Buster

This is my latest Echo Line Drawing. I feel like I'm still finding my way with these drawings and that I need to push them even further. I'm not quite sure how yet. I can see my earlier influences on my art. When I was young, I used to study anatomy drawings and artwork by MC Escher (http://www.mcescher.com/) and Dennis Winston (http://denniswinston.weebly.com/). I also used to draw a lot of line and shape drawings, what people are calling "Zentangle" (www.zentangle.com). I was doing these in the early 1990s. I'll post a few from my earlier sketchbooks. At any rate, those earlier influences are coming through my art now but still continue with my love of texture and design. I also see that I need to work on developing my shading and portraiture. But I believe practice makes perfect so I will continue drawing (as well as complete this one). MORE TO COME!

My early influences:

Artwork by Dennis Winston, woodcut print

Zentangle art from www.milliande.com, but before it was called zentangle of course.

"Sky and Water I" 1938 woodcut by MC Escher

On the JOB - Arts in Healthcare

 We had two successful events during the month of November that turned out  very nicely. We celebrated Arts and Health Month at the VCU Medical Center by having an Arts and Craft Sale and an Arts in Healthcare Day. We also celebrated Native American Heritage Month by inviting Native American dancers to perform.

Vendor table I set up for the Arts and Crafts Sale. I had the following on display: art quilts, echo line drawings, photography, hand-painted pillows, portrait pillows and a couple books of my work. 

Doing arts and crafts with a caretaker during the Arts in Healthcare Day.

Native American Dancers performing in the Gateway Building on the ground floor.

Fabric Handmade Dolls - popular!

Since the dolls I made, thanks to www.makeit-loveit.com, are so popular, I've decided to create my own pattern to make for selling. Not sure how I will do it but it will be a cross between a cabbage patch and a raggedy ann doll because I definitely like the facial details over the button eyes as well as the thickness over the thinness. We shall see.

Doll for Julia with real hair from her locs she cut off right before her chemotherapy treatment. I used fabric paint for the face and gave her a necklace. Makes a great legacy doll.

Third doll I made. I was a bit more lazy with the face this time, opting to buy stick-on eyes and drawing the lip with a fabric marker. I also got ribbon happy and decided to name her Unique. I also gave her "highlights." Currently, I'm working on her brother.

First doll I made in which I hand stitched (embroidered) her entire face. She has button decorations on her shirt and skirt. This doll was given to a cousin for Christmas who had just had a baby girl.