May I? 10 on the 10th

Answering 10 questions! This is a fun monthly thing instigated by Marsha In the Middle.
Link to Marsha's answers for this month.

1. Can you whistle?

Yes! One of those ear-piercing NYC Taxi hailing whistles!
My pal Shawn (a native of NYC) taught me in 9th grade.

2. Can you touch your toes flat to the ground?

Yes, I just tried. I had to bend my knees a teeny tiny bit.

[Ha! can't post the video because Blogger thinks it's obscene!]

3. Can you remember all of your teachers from Kindergarten to graduation?

No. 1st through 4th grade are lost to the mists of time.
I only remember my Kindergarten teacher because there's a photo:

4. Can you ride a motorcycle?

Conceivably yes, as a passenger, but I'd rather not.
My cousins were very much into motorbikes as young teens. I only rode with them a couple of times.

5. Can you groom a dog?

Maybe, again, I'd rather not. I can groom a cat!

6. Can you remember the first vacation you ever went on?

Do family trips to summer lodgings count? The first house I remember (I was five?) I later randomly revisited when I was fourteen with friends that lived on the farm. It was an eerie experience!

7. Can you create things from scratch (knit, paint, weld, etc.)?

Oh, yes! Perhaps my most ambitious thing is the shoes I made!

8. Can you wire an outlet?

Maybe? There's a YouTube for that!

9. Can you remember your first job?

Unforgettable! I delivered pizza for Skip Perry's Pizza in Goleta, CA. I got to know the greater Santa Barbara area really well. Delivering to UCSB students was the worst.

"Ham, Pepperoni, Bell Pepper Pizza" Lithograph, 1975

10. Can you upholster a chair?
I upholstered a chair and an ottoman once with canvas that I silkscreened.
[Can't find photos]

Lately, I've been visibly mending the couch. Some parts are surviving Mr Lou the Antimender better than others
(that is carpeting on arm on left which Lou has turned into a yeti).

Linking up with...

Marsha's 10 by 10

Shelbee's On the Edge
Rena's Fine Whatever

Chris Francis at the A + D Museum

Chris Francis, my favorite shoe artist, has some very unusual footwear on exhibit at the A + D Museum in downtown LA.

Chris Francis, Cages In the Sky

Inspired by Brutalist architecture, he challenged himself to create impossible shoes.

Chris Francis, Hard Cuts and St. Vincent's Default

Chris Francis, Tower Blocks

Chris Francis, Hardscape

Chris Francis, Invisibleism

I sketched these while Chris was explaining his design process during a curatorial walk-through last month.

The installation is part of the group exhibition Come In! DTLA, up until 6/23/16.
The A + D Museum is located in the Arts District, 900 E. 4th Street, Los Angeles, CA 90013 (enter on Colyton).

52 Pick-me-up: Amber / Passion

•••

Time to talk about my newest Fashion-related Passion: SHOES!
No, not shopping for shoes, or wearing shoes -- MAKING SHOES!

I took a one-day workshop with Chris Francis at the Craft and Folk Art Museum in July.

Chris explaining our first steps

My sketch and fabrics.

We were issued bases and a footbed for a platform shoe and began by covering them with fabric

After that, it was time to tackle the straps

And that's when I fell down the shoe rabbit-hole -- I decided that I had to have red binding edging my straps.
Maybe it was the tub of contact cement talking.

It took a long time sewing it all together and this is how far I got with my shoes:

I discovered that my platform bases were not the correct size about 30 minutes before the workshop ended, which was disheartening. I didn't even get started on the ankle straps and now can't remember what I had in mind. I also don't wear shoes like this -- why spend all this time and effort on something that I won't wear?.
All the pieces have been sitting in the bag that I brought them home in.

I have not given up, however!
For days after the workshop, I started having vivid dreams about making shoes.
I looked at my bag of "culled from the closet and stuck in the garage shoes" with fresh eyes -- I had a bag full of parts to Frankenstein into new and better footwear!

I signed up for the Shoe Design class at Otis, and yesterday was the first day.

Words of wisdom from Alvin Fels, our instructor

I feel this will go well.

Wearing anything Amber? Have a Passion for something or someone?
Link and tell!