Welcome to Part 2 of The Client and the Creation: Leslie Gelber!
In the last post you saw a few words from Leslie on her vision for her apron and why she chose ACC to make it come to life! This time around, we take a look at the final product and I go over some of what my vision was and how I tackled creating this apron.
Like she mentioned in the last post, Leslie is working on a line of clothing based on a childhood story of a little girl finding a trunk full of textiles and children’s toys in an attic. Additionally, her tagline for her brand is “grown up clothes with a playful approach”, she really truly is an incredible artist that knows how to bring out the playfulness in life. With that information in hand, and with this denim apron that was waiting to be painted, the biggest question was, how would this little girl in this attic find these toys?
While I don’t know the exact story that Leslie has in her mind of this girl going on a toy finding adventure in the attic, I was once a curious girl, and can imagine that it would be both exciting and maybe a little scary to be in an attic of unknowns. As a little girl, I would probably pry open the box, little by little, and in seeing dolls, plastic plates and dishes for the dolls, and these teacups, I would excitedly spread these toys all about and examine them in all their glory. And that is exactly how I painted these pieces onto the apron.
Playing with the layout.
I started with the top pocket panel. These vintage teacups really stuck out to me as needing their own space on the garment. The colors were also more vibrant than the pinks and skin tones of the dolls and dishes, so I wanted them to be able to live in their own space.
The bottom panel I wanted to look as though she had just discovered all of these pieces and wanted to spread them out to take them in. Before she plays she needs to know what toys she has at her disposal!
The brushstrokes around the apron, as well as the dusty, slightly messy feel of the backgrounds on each panel match the dusty attic theme, but the toys are the real focal point, as they would be for the girl in the attic.
And there we have it, the finished, Toys in the Attic Apron.
Big thank you to Leslie Gelber for her trust in this piece, it was so fun to make, and use a little child-like imagination. Follow along with Leslie’s clothing line adventures at www.lesliegelber.com as well as on Instagram (@lesliegelber). Stay tuned for more Client and The Creation stories as we continue this little adventure, and let me know what you think or what you’d like to see more of in the comments below!
Be well.
Abby
