On the Band Wagon

     Let's talk about Sherlock shall we? I can't help myself. In the course of 10 days I have watched all 6 episodes. I mean look at those cheek bones, who could tear themselves away? I have found this show genuinely entertaining, albeit a little campy ( I mean carnies, dominatrix AND an evil nemesis? Come on).  However this modern adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes is truly great. It illuminates a charming friendship between Dr. John Watson and Sherlock in a realistically humorous and human relationship. The show has had an impact on the fashion industry as well. Belstaff, the designer for Sherlock's iconic coat put the trench back in circulation by popular demand before the end of the second season.

    Also designer Paul Costelloe is moving to meet demands for what is being called "Sherlock Chic" . GQ called it " the smartest sartorial reinvention since Matt Smith decided to sport a tweed jacket and bow tie. " Liberty London designed Sherlock's suits; iconic, crisp and with a hint of vintage. Sarah Arthur, Cumberbatch's wardrobe designer, expresses delight that audiences have loved the look "I found these Spencer Hart suits which were classic, beautifully cut, the cloth was fabulous and when he put it on he thought it was perfect. It was actually the first thing he tried on!". Hart seems to epitomize his style on "Understated Cool". It requires selective shopping, the right fabric, and most of all self confidence. 

The Winter Blues and Browns

Skirt, Socks: Gap
Coat: H&M
Hat,Scarf: Forever 21
Shoes, Bag: Target
Sweater: Thrifted

  As a past serial floral fan I am learning the value of darker/ simpler looks. Winter has let me fully explore blues, blacks and browns, always complimented by my huge oatmeal scarf. The challenge I have found is wearing these darker colors and not the darker attitude, as silly as it sounds. I try to lighten each look with wavy, beachy hair, minimal makeup or my oatmeal scarf. So far so good.
    I was talking with Stephanie last night about the value of happiness, or the place suffering has in the world. A concept I have been discussing much of this school year with the help of "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". I told her that after going through so much growing up, I feel like the shininess of the naivety of childhood is gone, I mean hell I even dress differently now let alone act and think differently. Much more cynicism and questioning, many more blues and blacks. Not that the world isn't still amazing and impressive of course, there's just a little bit of a grit on the lens of adulthood.

Mother's Milk

I went and saw Hoon Lee, ceramisist and performance artist at the Schneider Museum on campus. I saw him  speak earlier this week and even had the courage to approach him to discuss an aspect of his performances. Lee's performance usually include using milk to serve a penance to his mother, to racial differences, and gender issues. Tonight he washed raw clay molds of strange but edible objects (roosters, sheep heads, cabbage heads, corn cobs, giant snails). After the mail performance he invited anyone to wash an item which . Lee and my ceramics professor Robin Strangefeld went to school together on the east coast. It's pretty inspiring to think that friends we meet now in art school could potentially be internationally celebrated. It must be a kick to be professors now and inviting each other to be visiting artists at their respective schools.

Caught Off Guard

My friend Amy of http://www.4monthsatsea.com/ and I had a great blog oriented Skype date last night. This really is a whole new world and a very engaging new frontier. Her latest project was a purse content glamour shot which I had never seen before. I thought it was a great idea and definitely indulges in everyone's nosy side. I wonder what one would take away from my bag. Busy but distracted is pretty dead on :)

Come Rain or Snow

Jacket and Scarf: Forever21
Boots: Steve Madden
Bag: Target
Dress: Sugar Shack

 Needless to say after a few weeks of 95 degrees in India with groggy humidity, waking up this morning in my Oregon home to snow was quite the shock. Today was a productive day of LBH (laundry, blogging, homework). My friend Stephanie and I are neighbors and on a mission to encourage and photograph for each other's blogs! Check her out at http://www.truest-sentence.blogspot.com/
We wandered around campus and had a great time despite the freezing temperature. We even watched football and Stephanie played Call of Duty today with some of our male neighbors,the girlies are branching out!
This outfit exhibits several of my go-to items: boots (red zippers on back), chunky scarf and bag. It was an easy, even lazy chic day.

Reading on a Jet Plane

As one can imagine, traveling 30 hours each way to and from India I had plenty of time to catch up on reading. Here are a few recent favorites I'd love to pass on:

Haround and the Sea of Stories
Salman Rushdie
  A very charming story about Haroun and his Father the Sha of Blah and their efforts to maintain the art of story telling via adventure.The Sea of Stories is being poisoned and Haroun and his friends must save it. Whimsical and special.
Thanks of Sam Niver

Barrel Fever
David Sedaris
  My first Sedaris read, his first book is absolutely hilarious. His stories are less like writings and more like acting on a page. Sedaris creates entire tangible characters in a matter of paragraphs adapting speach patterns and mannerisms that are brutally dysfunctional. A great pick but be warned that it is grim... in all the right ways.
Thanks to Jensen Blaine

The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Milan Kundera
  An instant favorite. This book poses a question that has become a theme in discussion for me of what is happiness and how do we define lightness (happiness) and darkness (burden). Is life worth living despite it's hardships? Are those hardships worth engaging in in order to create a more layered/adult/full life? A phenomenal read. Dense, a little slow sometimes but absolutely incredible.
Thanks to Raffi Mercuri

The Sun Also Rises
Ernest Hemingway
  I picked up a collection of Hemingway short stories last year and loved it, this is my first full novel of his. His writing is slow but enchanting, absolutely masculine and true. This story teaches of social dysfunction and living your life to the fullest.
Thanks to Brandi Stepp

Man's Search for Meaning
Viktor E. Frankl
   A heartbreaking read about life in a concentration camp. As Frankl explains though it is not an emotional account of internment life but rather a psychological observation and report of how survivors found meaning in their lives despite the atrocities they encounted. An inspiring book.
Thanks to Evan Ream

So yes the theme of my reading over all was "how are you going to live your life?" which very well may be the theme to my year so far. It's a great theme for college in general. Among these "look yourself in the mirror" types of course there must be humor. These folks also share shelf space with Scott Pilgrim 1-6 by Bryan Lee O'Malley, Bossypants by Tina Fey, Moonwalking with Einstein by Josh Foer, Several Shell Silverstein books, as well as all of my art collections.Balance of course.

A Picture of India

I just returned from an incredible trip to India. I went with my parents who are doing anthropological research in Tamil Nadu. We traveled to Bangalore, Thrivandrum (Kerala), Thiravannamalai (Tamil Nadu) and Pondicherry. We stayed in Amritapuri Ashram and Satya Chetana Ashram. It is really hard to explain how the trip went. Simply I can say it was unreal, being subjected to so many unfamiliar things at once without a break really is shocking. The shock was definately challenging but so fantastic. We bathed out of buckets, slept on the ground, and ate minimal meals. The most significant fact about it overall is that we found these aspects so novel when much of the world lives like this. I ran back into the arms of materialism when I returned. Not in a "so relieved" type of way, but rather with total appreciation. Believe it or not our parents are right that we are totally ungrateful children. After being around complete abject poverty I understand the simple luxury of material wealth. Here are some photos from the trip, I tried to show some that covered a little bit of everything.

Inauguration

Greetings Readers,
  Wildish is a space dedicated to my work, travels, crafts and occasionally outfits. For the initial post, let me introduce myself. My name is Eden, I am an art student in Oregon. I decided to do a blog honestly because I admire so many others. I really enjoy how charasmatic a blog persona can be. Each blogger I follow seems really engaged in their world be it through outfits or projects. Along with being very active, they like to share their activities and opinions in great, creative ways. I am more motivated now more than ever to really live. Call it an overzealous approach to the new year if you will, but  I think that after a very difficult 2011 its about time to recharge, be light, and share what I love. So I hope you enjoy it as much as I hope to.
 Always,
  Eden