Fashion Diary | Andrea Mai

P SAYS “I LOVE YOU” ON EVP – July 1, 2022

I hope your summer is going well. Mine has been really busy, filled with days spent in the garden. I have not had time to really do EVP, but I recently got an iPhone 11 for making videos. I’ve noticed that EVPs can come through pretty good on it. I also have a SmartLav mic from Rode that I think would work well for EVP, because it’s frequency range can pick up 20 hz. But I haven’t had time to review EVP using the mic yet.

I noticed this gorgeous pink and purple sunset one evening, so I ran out to take photos. I also did this quick video of the sky. When I was making videos, I could sense P telling me he loves me. When I reviewed my video, I heard him saying it.

Here is the video, it’s at the end of clip that he says, “I love you”. It’s very quick. I can hear someone else saying something before it, but I can’t make out what was said.

Here is an edited version of the audio, where the volume was turned up and filtered.

That’s all from me or now, wishing you a beautifu summer!

These recordings were recorded using my iPhone 11, on July 1, 2022.

IT’S BLOOM TIME – Art and Life Update

Not only is May, my birthday month, but it’s my favourite time of year for its seasonal blooms. It is as if everything springs back to life from the winter hibernation. The warm weather brings seemingly immediate growth to plants that laid quietly dormant from the winter months.

Though this time is exciting, I am currently feeling overwhelmed with so much that needs to be done in the garden, and life in general. It becomes an urgent priority to get seeds sown in, and shop for plants before the planting season ends. Canada’s growing season is limited, so one must make the most of the time when it comes.

These last few weeks have been occupied with going to plant nurseries and garden centres to find the best selection of plants for my garden. In addition, there is always something that needs attention in the garden, whether it is weeding, pruning, watering, planting, and of course harvesting. I also do research to make the most of what I am growing. This year, I have added sage, catnip, lavender, green perilla, and violas to my herb garden. I have also added in a mix of edible and wild flowers from some surprise variety seed packs. It will be interesting to see what comes from it.

I tried eating viola for the first time. Its fragrance is divine. I put one in a glass of water and I could smell it every time I took a sip. Then I ate the flower, and it was crisp. Its flavour was floral, grassy, and slightly peppery.

Last week, I was weeding our garden vegetable beds, and discovered a single violet plant, tucked away in a corner. I felt it was a blessing, as for several months now, I have been wishing for violet. I have never seen them in person, as they don’t seem common in my area. I even bought seeds to try to germinate them, though I heard they can be difficult, they will have to wait for autumn sowing. Perhaps it was P who brought me this, carrying its seed in the wind, hoping to create this “ocean of violets in bloom” that I dream of. I had been researching its medicinal properties and uses, and wanted to add it to my stock of herbal supplies.

I have taken care to transplant the violet in a better spot to propagate. I plan to collect its seeds and sow them in a designated area.

I have a lot of things I need to do for my art projects and my shop, but I have to take the time out to work on my garden, which is the source of my shop inventory. I will be adding dried violas to my shop when I have gathered a lot. So a lot of things have to go on the back burner for now. Because as we all know, the blossoms don’t last forever. You just have to enjoy them while they’re there.

I never thought I’d wear Crocs, but here we are, they make them in Lavender color, the only color I’d wear them in. Perfect for gardening, an anti-fashion fashion statement.

My garden has become my sanctuary and source of inspiration. It is a place where I unplug from the world, and focus on nature, and my inner thoughts.

Monet is one of my favourite painters, he created his works in his garden, the source of the subject matter for most of his famous works. I hope to have something like that in the future for myself.

Wishing you all, a beautiful summer!

ART UPDATE: MY ECO-FRIENDLY PACKAGING DESIGNS

I’ve been busy updating my Etsy shop, adding new products, and my revamping packaging. It started out with running low of thank you postcards, and I was going to order more. BUt I noticed the price of printing has jumped out substantially. I decided to get creative.

Over the years of being in business, I’ve adapted a philosophy of “use what you’ve got”, instead of buying more stuff, akin to the saying, make lemonade when life gives you lemons.

My art supply stack of card stock has gone unused and neglected. I decided to design thank you cards with the card stock. Each card opens up with a thank you note attached, which can be easily removed. The customer can then use the card in the future to write a note to someone else. The card has two sides,one without my promo info, so it can be flipped to just the picture side.

I also decided to create a design for my mailing envelopes. I use these resealable envelopes with the hope that the customer will reuse it for something else. My thought is if I make it really pretty, it will increase the likelihood of not being tossed out. I am also printing the return address directly on the envelopes, so that I am halve reduce use of labels by half.

While doing all this, I ended up finally finishing a product design that has been sitting on the back burner. I’ve been wanting to redesign my Arnica Balm labels to relaunch it on Etsy. Up until now, I have only had this balm on offer to personal friends. I’ve been working on this formula a long time, designed to relieve muscle aches and bruises. Now I am really happy with the new design.

I’ve designed my labels to be printed on fine qua;ity paper. I found the paper was sturdy enough to withstand wear and tear. It is glued on using an adhesive that works on glass. The great thing is that the labels and glue come off easily after soaking in hot water. No sticky gummy mess to deal with! My hope is that customers reuse the jars instead of tossing it in the recycling bin.

I also designed a label for my Lavender essential oil roller. I never travel without lavender oil. I learned my lesson from the past. You never know if the place you’re going to will have mostquitos, or you get a pimple on the way there! Better safe than suffer on a long journey!

Originally, I wanted to design a print for kraft paper wrap for gift orders. But it turned out that my printer cannot deal with the task. I don’t want to order it custom, as I don’t normally use tissue wrap in my orders. I consider it non-essential.

Instead, I created a gift wrap design, which features plain tissue wrap, a lace cut-out obi strap and embossed logo sticker seal. Embossing is a great way to customize stationary items, and it requires no ink! The obi strap is made from scrap remnants of photo paper that would have been thrown out otherwise.

Long time readers of my blog will recognize the line drawings on my packaging. They are my channelled drawing with P. I’ve long wanted to incorporate them into my designs.

So far, I feel that the start of 2022 has been a productive one. They say that how you start the year on the first day will project into the rest of the year. I was packing orders on New Year’s day. Perhaps the saying is true?

I even had the energy to design this gift bag for my shop. I’m going to be offering premium gift wrapping options for my customers buying presents.

My philosophy for designing packaging is to keep it simple, and as minimal as possible. A lot of times, I will try to find ways to reuse packaging that I receive in orders. I also keep in mind how the end user can reuse the packaging. I also consider durability of the packaging, so rather than being recycled, reuse is preferred. I still use plastic in my packaging, but it is used for the purpose of keeping items fresh, or to prevent damage during transit. I’ve had samples of those biodegradable clear plastic protector bags, and I’ve got to say, that I am not a fan. They break apart easily around the edges and folds, as they are not as flexible. Some of these packaging products that are said to be environmentally -friendly are not long lasting.

Recently a friend asked where I got the name for my shop, Dreamer Gallery. I chose it for several reasons. I like the feeling the word dreamer evokes. But the word “dream” is also in the letters of my name. ANDREAMAI.

Anyways, hope to see you in my Etsy shop here.

FRIENDS IN SPIRIT, JUST HANGING OUT – EVP November 27, 2021

Do spirits get lonely? My answer is, they don’t seem to be, in my observation. If they are, it is by choice, because they don’t have to be, there is just so many of them over there. However depending on the attitude of the spirit, they might create a situation of isolation. I once captured an EVP where the voice of a young boy moaned, “Why is no one here?”. Others were able to hear him and they advised him on how to break out of his isolation.

To my knowledge, P is doing very well, and he is happy. He is surrounded by so many friends by his side. I often hear him having conversations with others. They seem really joyous, reminiscent of the joy of friends hanging out as children.

Here are 2 clips from my most recent EVP recording session with the EVPmaker. It sounded to me like P had visitors with him.

Someone asked him about his dog. He replied, “That’s Mia”. You can hear him in the background between the gibberish. Then at the end of the clip, Mia barked, as if to respond! She is so cute.

I had my collection of silk scarves hanging on the rack in the room. P told the guests, “Andrea make them scarves, silk scarves”. I’ve often noticed P showing my work to his guests. I’m really touched that they take an interest.

These recordings were recorded using my EVP Wrist Recorder 3 on November 27, 2021.

ART UPDATE: PRINTING PHOTOGRAPHY ON SILK SCARVES

For the past few months, I have been working on a collection of individually printed silk scarves. I’ve been experimenting with a process involving light activated dyes and film negatives. If you are interested in any of the items, they are for sale on my Etsy page. They are all one of a kind and unique (like a snowflake), never exactly the same as each other, not even the colour.

It took me quite some time learning to work with these dyes. A lot of testing was needed, as you do not know what colour is going to turn out until the final wash. When the dyes are applied, they are almost colourless.The colour develops as the dye is exposed to light. Film negatives are laid out on the fabric to create a resist against the light. After the exposure is complete, the fabric is washed to remove excess dye.

I created these rose motif prints using my photographs of English roses that I created while I was in London a couple years ago.

I also used French-style lace to create a design.

I also created a pictogram print with my prince autograph necklace.

This process I’m working with has me excited. I’m looking forward to the spring when the peonies in my garden will be in bloom. I’d like to make a peony print.

mage above: “Negatives” by Andrea Mai.

ART UPDATE: PRINTING WITH LIGHT ACTIVATED DYES

I’ve been experimenting with light activated dyes for a couple of weeks. It’s been an interesting experience. The dyes react with UV light, and so different printing techniques can be applied. It’s an interesting medium for me to work with, as both a photographer and a textile artist, I get to print on both paper and fabric. Here are some of the results from my experiments.

I painted the dye onto silk. I created folds and placed it under some lace and exposed it to light. It created this interesting mosaic effect.
I printed on some silk satin and dyed it a light lilac color.
I made it into a hair scrunchie and it’s for sale in my Etsy store.
The UV printing has given me an opportunity to revisit my photo catalog and reimagine them in a new way. When working with photographs, a negative has to be created by inverting the image and printing it on acetate or translucent paper. I’ve been printing on tracing paper with a laser printer to try it out, as it is more economical. This is my Prince Sun photo that I sell in my shop as a print. It is a photo of Prince’s gate from his former Toronto home.
I made a print on paper, and fabric (seen on the bottom right). There is a color variation that occurs depending on what material you are printing on. I like painting the dye in an irregular shape. I find that it gives it a dream like effect.
I made a photogram on cotton fabric using lace and my Prince necklace.
I used the fabric to make a face mask.

The Solar Fast dyes come in different colors. Depending on the material used as the substrate, the colors will turn out differently. The same purple dye used on silk looks very different on cotton. Results can be unpredictable, which can keep things exciting, but difficult to replicate, so every print is one of a kind.

Image above: “Mont Blanc in blue” by Andrea Mai.

ART UPDATE: EXPLORING NEW ART TECHNIQUES – PHOTOGRAPHY, SILK PAINTING

In the last year or so, I have not had much opportunities for taking photographs, at least not the kind that I like doing, which is landscape photography. I still do a lot of photography, but it’s for product presentation. I live in the suburbs and don’t find many places inspiring here. I have limited mobility, as I don’t drive. The pandemic has stopped most travel, and I don’t get out much any more. I don’t see things getting back to normal any time soon.

I have a huge back catalog of photos I’ve never published from over the years. I’ve been going back to them to rework them in new ways. Really playing with them, more than i the past. My photography style has always been to keep things as natural as possible. I always try to frame my images in camera as precisely as possible. I am playing with elements like exploring different cropping, re-colouring them using transparent overlays, and recently, making them in GIF animations. It’s a brought a new way of looking of working and re-imagining my photography.

I’ve also been focusing more on my silk scarf painting. I developed my own process for applying colour in a way that is similar to tie-dye, but its final result is more like water colour in overall effect. I enjoy working with colour.

My background was originally in fashion design in university, so textile design is an area of great interest to me. There was actually not much focus on surface design when I was studying fashion in school. There was more of an emphasis on creating textile designs on a computer for mass produced printing, and no hand work techniques were taught like dyeing and screen printing. I had to learn these things on my own. I was always very interested in surface design, as I love printed fabrics. I did a lot of my own silk screen printing when I was in high school. I actually want to get back into doing screen printing, but I can’t find the equipment I had, it’s stashed somewhere and I can’t find it! I might have to buy new stuff, which is kind of costly when you add everything up.

I’m getting ready to try some new ideas with some techniques I researched. I’m planning to use my photographs in print design for textile items. I’m excited to try something new, while incorporating my older works. I’m looking forward to the warmer weather. Winter always seems less productive because of the cold.

If you want to see more of my silk scarves, they are posted on Etsy for sale. They are all one-off unique items, as they can never be reproduced to be the same again.

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