Architxtr

The zine for all things design

architecture interior design art photography life STREET ART pg 10

MARCH 2021

fashion

ISSUE NO 2

architxtr

architxtr a nexus of design for the want to be artist ar-chi-tec-ture “the art or practice of designing and constructing a building” “the complex of carefully designed structure of something”

tex-ture “the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or substance”

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Editor’s Note

“Boarders”

“What is Street Art?”

Featured Artist

“Neighborhood”

“We Were Here”

architxtr T.O.C.

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page 38

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Entrepeneur of the Month

Featured Photographer

“Diorama”

“Aberdeen Market”

Renovation Station

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Design Competitions

architxtr

EN2021

DOING THE

NEW BEGINNING After just graduating college with a Master of Architecture degree, gosh doesn’t that sound fancy, I had no idea what I was going to do next.

See this degree was a six-year long commitment and a goal of mine since the 7th grade, so every goal and decision I made revolved around getting through school. My vision, however, seemed to stop there. I just assumed I would get an internship at a great firm and work my way up. That was until February 14th, 2020 when I found out my husband and I were expecting a baby in October.

With eight months until graduation and possibly my hardest two semesters yet, being thesis project and all, I would have to make some new decisions. Would I be a stay at home mom? I have so much respect for SAHM, but that life is just not for me. Would I find a firm to work a nine to five every day? This is a hard one to answer because this was the original plan, however I want to be with my baby. So, what now? I focus on school, prepare for graduation, life with a new baby, and all while in a freaking world pandemic of course. October, I gave birth to Layla and December I graduated.

If you know anything about architecture school, you know there are portfolios created and submitted every year or so to advance into the next portion of the program. I really enjoyed the design aspect of this and would probably spend

THING

more time looking at magazines for inspiration than past portfolios. Sorry Bob McLeod. There lies the idea for starting my own magazine. Of course, my passion still resides in architecture but also art and interior design and wood working and photography and traveling and... Dang how do I combine my love for all of these while still being able to be in Layla’s daily life? Boom. My ultimate dream job.

Here is to a new year, a new job, and a new family. Welcome to the artsy mess that is my brain, I hope you find something useful and learn something cool.

Marquessa Pichette Mother, Wife, Editor & Chief of architxt

EDITOR’S NOTE

EDITOR’ S NOTE 2021 7

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BOARDERS

“Boarders”

by Pedro Kouba @pedrokouba www.pedrokouba.com

architxtr

| WHAT IS STREET ART? | What does it do for the C O M M U N I T Y ?

What is street art and what does it do to the space and the impact on its community?

Google’s definition : “Street art is unofficial and independent visual art created in public locations for public visibility. Street art is associated with the terms ‘independent art’, ‘post graffiti’, ‘neo-graffiti’, and guerrilla art.”

The important term in this definition is public, there is no experiencing without someone to view it. When viewing the graffiti, it really is more of an experience because there is no plaque explaining the title and reason for the art. It just simply is and we as the viewer need to decipher its meaning. There is something exciting about that. Wondering who did it, why and when was it done? Was it at two in the morning, were the cops chasing them down even though it was too late and they already made their mark?

“Street art can be a a for the disenfranchised to leave their mark. A way to lay claim to a space. To communicate and to have their voice heard. The street’s for of advertising. A primitive act (markings on the “wall” dates back to the caveman) it is destructive regardless of its beauty if not approved by the property owner.” - Stuart Cardenas Graffiti, disruptive yes. But necessary? Also yes.

-Marquessa

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STREET ART

When it comes to a building being ‘tagged’ by an artist, there is opportunity for the architecture to become a part of the art. The paint follows the lines of the building, having texture added to the art naturally by the materials of the building. The building also creates the canvas and invites the public domain to experience the art just as the art invites to view the building. They work in harmony together.

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FEATURED

Featured Artist Zack Sladden @z_sladden

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FEATURED artist

architxtr FEATURED

“Graffiti is super interesting to me, not only the graphic application, but the meaning underneath it and the communities it’s spawned. I have many inspirations from artists, games, architects, musicians, etc. inspiration is everywhere. I think the thing that may most be graffiti-esq in my work is the fact that I use whatever I can at my disposal. Anything can be a modeling material if you use it right, even the trash and scraps from someone else’s model (that can be the good stuff). You can learn from the “junk models” and strip away all the unnecessary stuff. And you’re left with something cool (most of the time). It’s a fun process that I really enjoy, I try to bring collaging (which is basically what I’m doing) into many aspects of the design

process. It’s about listening to the piece and understanding its properties in a way that you as the designer can use it most effectively, and once you understand the rules of the game you can bend and manipulate them to do other things.

So, a lot of my work was using what I had around me and would often have me going into the rubbish bins to find things to work with. It forces you to see things in a new way of possibilities. It gives you constraints to work with and therefore flexing your creative muscles in a fun way. It’s like being a kid again. *disclaimer, I am not a graffiti artist, I do love graffiti and wish to understand it is principles in my own work, but the people who go down under the veil of night are the true artists. I look to them and many other people for inspiration.”

FEATURED artist

Zackery Sladden is from Seminole, FL and went to Seminole High School where he focused on art and won an honor award at a student exhibit at the Dali museum.

He then proceeded to attend SACD in Georgia for sculpture and learned design basics, where he was introduced to the rich graffiti culture in the urban environment. He changed majors and moved back home to attend St. Petersburg College where he studied under Susan Elftman.

Zack graduated and applied to the USF School of Architecture and Community Design program. He was a graduate teaching assistant under Mark Weston for 2 years there. His thesis work was mostly about exploring the subculture of graffiti, urban movements of reclamation, perception of space, and subcultures.

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FEATURED artist

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FEATURED artist

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FEATURED artist

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FEATURED artist

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WE WERE HERE

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NEIGHBORHOOD

“Neighborhood”

by Pedro Kouba @pedrokouba www.pedrokouba.com

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DESCOM

THE LUMEN PRIZE FOR DIGITAL ART PRIZE: $4,000 first place $11,500 total prize fund ENTRY OPEN: February 21,2021 ENTRY FEE: $48 for two works REQUIREMENTS: Open to artists worldwide CLOSES: June 8,2021 This digital art competition is organized

by Lumen Art Projects Ltd, a nonprofit organization that’s deidcated to providing new opportunities for digital artists around the world. The contest guidelines are relatively loose-the only requirement is that the submitted artworks must somehow engage with technology. Categories include Still, Moving Image, XR, 3D. interactive and Artificial Intelligence. Finalists are also eligible for the People’s Choice Award and the Lumen Gold award and all women finalists are eligible for the Rapoport Award for Women in Art and Technology.

You can enter at the website below and also see past award winners.

Julieta Gil Nuestra Victoria / Our Victory 2020 Gold Award

Liliana Farber Terram in Aspectu 2020 Still Image Award

www.lumenprize.com

Søren Krag Deux Mille fleurs/Two Thousand Flowers 2020 Nordic Award

For the Splash 23 contest, Artists Network is looking for original watercolor paintings.

Each entry must be renderd predominantly with watercolor; however, some minor use of other mediums may be acceptable. Top winners and a selection of other winners will appear in a special edition of Waterolor Artist magazine.

You can enter at www.artistsnetwork.com/art-competitions/

PRIZE: $2,000 first place $1,000 second place $500 third place

ENTRY FEE: $35 before March 15th $45 after REQUIREMENTS: Open to artists in US and Canada CLOSES: June 14,2021

SPLASH 23

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DESIGN COMPETITIONS

ENTRY OPEN: February 21,2021

architxtr

EOTM

A&H BABY BOUTIQUE |THINGS for BABY, CHILDREN and MOM BY KATIE XIONG|

photo curtosy of Adventure Mom Photography

Not only have I had the pleasure of talking with Katie about her Facebook store, A&H Baby Boutique but I also had the pleasure of attending high school with her. Katie is one of the sweetest people you will ever meet, and I am so happy to support another mom in her small business endeavor. I also have made multiple purchases now from her store and I must say

the quality of the bows, the headwraps especially, are extremely high quality and exceptionally well made.

The construction of the items is made with intent of a true artist. The items in her store are perfect for your little ones, baby shower gifts, and I have even purchased an adult headband for myself! I cannot recommend her products enough.

-Marquessa

A | A & H is a baby boutique that sells bows, clothing, toys, and other accessories for babies. It initially started as just a bowtique but has slowly grown into so much more! I started incorporating handmade and customized clothing last Spring and since then have started adding handmade pacifier clips, various teething items, baby bibs, swaddle blankets, and more! My goal is to continue to grow and expand this boutique to incorporate more items for babies and children!

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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH

Q | What exactly is A&H Baby Boutique?

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EOTM

Q | How and why did y A | I started making bows when I found out I was pregnant with baby girl #2. I have always had a love for crafts and thought, hey! Why not give making bows a shot? As I’m sure you’ve heard, girls are NOT cheap to have haha so it was a win win! I got to craft, and my girls would have all the bows they could ever need!

“

I had never planned to turn it into a fullblown business but here I am a little over a year later and it has bloomed into all things baby versus just a bow shop!

”

Once Hadley was born, I realized it was a good thing I got hooked on making bows because she was not very blessed in the hair department! haha My first daughter, Azaylea was born with a full head of thick, perfectly highlighted hair. I used to joke and say she was fresh from the salon! Hadley on the other hand is always mistaken for a boy because of her lack of hair so my love of crafting easily turned into a bow obsession! I eventually found myself with a lot and I mean, A LOT of leftover fabric and had many friends and strangers ask where I got all of Hadley’s bows from so once they found out I made them I started making them for close friends. This soon turned into sending a lot of the same pictures and options to people so I decided to make a Facebook page where I could send everyone to find available colors, prints, and styles of bows I made.

Once I made the page it just continued to grow from there! I had never planned to turn it into a full-blown business but here I am a little over a year later and it has bloomed into all things baby versus just a bow shop!

Q | Where did the name A&H come from?

A | The name was inspired by my daughters Azaylea (8) and Hadley (20 months). When I first decided to make a Facebook group I went back and forth for days on what to name it. Of course, at that point I had no idea I would soon turn it into a full side business, but I still wanted a name with meaning behind it. It might seem plain and cheesy to some people, but my girls are my everything! They drive me to be a better person and to continue to want more out of life! My girls are my why, the reason I started this and the reason why I am still here today dreaming and building my business!

So, although it might seem like a very simple name and one that much thought wasn’t put into, it means so much to me and really represents how and why my business was created in the first place.

you get started?

Q | Why only a facebook store, would you start your own website? Maybe Etsy?

A | I currently only have a Facebook page, but a website is in the works! Like I mentioned before, this started simply as a hobby and I only intended on making bows for my girls and close friends and family and then it blew up!! I was still able to maintain everything on the page and was hesitant to grow A & H at first since I was still working full time and wanted to still have time with my family.

You could say keeping A & H as a Facebook page was my way of containing it, or so I thought. Haha After adding handmade clothing and continuing to grow plus the pandemic putting strain on work and home life, I found myself super overwhelmed!

I was still working my normal daytime jobs, trying to be teacher at home, balance time with a new baby and staying up all hours of the night to make bows and clothes. This made me really step back and think okay, what do I want from this?

ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH

After taking some time to refocus on my family and decide what I wanted my business to be, I kicked off this year with a new vision and am going all in! I have been working super hard on adding new items handmade and other items that are not homemade to turn my business into an allaround baby goods boutique. It has been very scary, challenging, and time consuming but I have already seen so much growth in two short months!

The support I have received is unbelievable!

My dream now, is to someday have A & H be my fulltime job and having my own website is the first step in making that possible! I will keep my Facebook page to post new items and communicate with my customers, but a website will help in so many ways! It will make finding the items I offer in my shop easier to find and allow people to browse at their leisure. With my page growing and new items being added weekly it is getting harder and harder to navigate my group. So, while having a Facebook group served its purpose for a long time, now is the time to make the transition to a website for this little shop of mine!

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EOTM Q | How do you market yourself? Is it just word of mouth? Is it difficult to find customers?

A | Right now, my business is marketed by word of mouth and I recently added a handful of moms and their little ones to represent my business. I have an Instagram page for my business, ahbabyboutique, but other than that I have not done much else with marketing. There are a couple Facebook groups specifically for the items I hand make that I will post in when people post in them looking for items and that has brought new people to my page but majority of it is word of mouth.

I will say, since adding reps to my Facebook page has helped build my business tremendously! My reps advertise the items I have and in return they receive different discounts and a personal code to hand out to family, friends, and new customers so they can earn a discount on their purchases as well! I am all about making my items affordable and giving my customers discounts!

Since the pandemic the market for the items I sell has become super saturated but, I have a great customer base and love seeing other people succeed so it just drives me to continue to find ways to make my business stand out! I am hopeful that once my website is up and running, I will be able to advertise more and hope the website will help bring in new customers!

Only time will tell what is to come, so in the meantime I will continue to hustle and work towards my dreams!

Q | What fabrics do you use? Why? A | The main fabric base for my bows is Bullet or Liverpool. They are very similar, but bullet has more of a texture to it. I fell in love with this fabric because it is incredibly soft and has great stretch to it! I don’t have to worry about the ends fraying and the bows are just beyond beautiful! Plus, I can use the same fabric to make clothing with!

I have slowly been incorporating ribbed knits, nylon tubes, stretch velvet, vegan leather and cotton in for my bows and have found they make beautiful bows and allow for different styles of bows but Bullet and Liverpool are still my favorite!

A | Oh boy! This is a tough one haha there are so many different fabric prints and solids out there! I am part of many different groups that make their own custom seamless designs that I can purchase and have made into fabric so sometimes I go that route and other times I buy fabric that is already printed. I try to pick colors and fabrics that I think my customers will like based off previous prints I’ve offered. Sometimes I will do polls in the group and pick the top few from the poll and order those as well. Solids are always a hit and I love finding different shades of similar colors so most of the time I just go through a list and pick a couple in each shade and save the rest for my next fabric order.

If you ask my boyfriend, he’d say I have WAY too much fabric, but I don’t think that’s possible haha Q | Can you explain how they are made?

A | For my bows I cut the fabric into strips. Depending on what size bow or headwrap I make determines how long or wide I cut my fabric. I make my standard bows 4” and then I offer smaller bows in 3” and 2”. I’ve had a few customers who like big bows, so I’ve also made bows that are 5-6”.

When I make my hand tied bows, I take the strip, fold it over twice at 4” long and then from the center of the folds I make 4-5 pinches. From there I take the

remaining fabric (I call it the tail) and I wrap that around the center and pull it through to fasten the bow. To finish the bow, I add on a nylon headband or an alligator clip, whichever one is requested by the customer.

I offer multiple styles for headwraps, so some of them are tied like my hand tied bows but I use a board for sizing and others I cut the strips and sew the headband to make a twist or a knot headwrap.

For the clothing items I make I purchase different clothing patterns from shops, cut fabric pieces, and sew them as I get orders in.

Cutting all the strips and pattern pieces are probably my least favorite of the process but sewing and making bows is so relaxing to me! Plus, the finished product makes all the prep work worth it!

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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH

Q | How do you pick patterns and colors?

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EOTM

“As of right now I am a one woman show! From cutting all the fabric to tying bows, sewing clothes, or making custom shirts/tops, I do it all myself!”

Q | How long does it take to make a bow? Headwrap?

Q | Do you have help making the items?

A | When I first started it took me awhile to get the hang of tying the bows without losing the pinches but now, I can make bows pretty fast. From cutting the strip of fabric to the finished product it takes me under a minute to make multiple bows now.

A | As of right now I am a one woman show! From cutting all the fabric to tying bows, sewing clothes, or making custom shirts/tops, I do it all myself! I absolutely love knowing that I personally get to be a part of each item I sell because at the end of the day my business represents myself and my family and I want my customers to know I am fully engaged in my business.

I will say, I am very particular and want my customers to have the best quality so while I can make bows quickly, I also make sure I take the time to fluff my bows and retie any if they aren’t to my standards. I definitely spend more time inspecting my bows and making sure they “stand up” nicely than it takes me to make the actual bow.

Headwraps take a little more time for certain styles. My bow headwraps take about the same amount of time as my bows but the headwrap styles that require me to sew take a few minutes for each one.

All in all, it is definitely worth the time I put in to see all of those cute babies and their moms in their bows and headwraps!

For the new items that I have recently added to my shop that I don’t make myself I do a lot of research in finding good vendors to work with and make sure the product I am receiving is made with the best materials for my customers! I spend a lot of time talking to reps about the items I am interested in, learning about what they are made of and I personally inspect each piece when I receive these items to ensure they are good quality. Anything that is not up to my standards I return or if I am unable to return them, I eat the cost. I refuse to sell something in my shop that I wouldn’t buy from an outside shop for my own children. Quality is very important to me!

Q | You have added t-shirts, onesies and bummies but then you also have toys and now cups and bibs, will there be any more new additions in the future that we can look forward to?

A | Yes!! Since I made the decision to expand my business from bows to bows, bummies, and shirts to now, all baby items there will be a continual growth on items that will be added!

My customers can look forward to an expansion on clothing items, both handmade and ones I will purchase from vendors. I am also working on adding mealtime items like food grade silicone plates, utensils, and cups to go hand in hand with the silicone bibs and snack cups that I have already added. More accessories like hats and toddler jewelry are in the works, more Montessori style toys that incorporate learning into play, and a couple fun items for moms also!

I am and will forever be grateful for the support of my family, boyfriend, friends, and customers! I would not be where I am today without any of them. Who knew a fun hobby could turn into something so amazing!

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ENTREPRENEUR OF THE MONTH

It is definitely a very exciting time for me as I work to build my brand and my business, but it also presents many challenges! There will be a lot of learning as I grow, as far as items that work well with my business and items that might not be as cohesive in my brand that I am building but that is all part in taking the leap to build your own business. If at the end of the day I can say I am proud of myself and set a good example for my daughters to not let fear get in the way of chasing their dreams or allowing setbacks to determine the future, then I have accomplished what I wanted to when I made the decision to grow my business!

architxtr

DIORAMA

“Diorama”

by Pedro Kouba @pedrokouba www.pedrokouba.com

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FEATURED

Featured Photographer Abby Keil @abbyrkeil

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FEATURED photographer

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FEATURED

My name is Abby Keil, and I am a recent graduate from the School of Architecture and Community Design at the University of South Florida. Throughout my education, I have had the opportunity to travel to a number of destinations across the globe.

While traveling, I found a passion for photography because it gave me a chance to capture a still moment in time where I was. Landscapes are some of my favorites to capture because every place I’ve visited has so much character. In the last couple of years, film photography has become a hobby of mine because it has allowed me to value each and every photo that I’ve taken. I hope that my photography brings joy and inspiration to everyone, as it makes me appreciate all of the moments and memories that I have had the pleasure of capturing throughout the years.

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FEATURED photographer

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FEATURED photographer

Featured Photographer Abby Keil @abbyrkeil

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FEATURED photographer

Featured Photographer Abby Keil @abbyrkeil

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ABERDEEN MARKET

architxtr RS

We started with the kitchen, which was a surprise to me. It happened organically that we would paint the cabinets, however that turned into also painting the hardware, the walls, and redoing the counter tops. Over two weeks and three weekends we “renovated” the kitchen in the most affordable way possible. A “renovation for dummies” and on a budget. If I had an unlimited budget and time, we would have knocked down a wall, created an island and replaced all the cabinets. Well, that just was not realistic so we bought a can of white paint for the upper cabinets and this beautiful rich Kelly green for the lowers (I happen to love to two-toned kitchen trend.) We kept the original hardware because its original to the house and not in bad shape just needed some cleaning and fresh coat of brass spray paint. With these newly finished cabinets the beige linoleum countertops just wouldn’t do. Ideally, I would put in a butcher block for the counter which you can find for pretty reasonable pricing at Ikea or Home Depot, but the amount of work removing the old counters and cutting a hole for the sink... yikes.

With a four-month old and a husband who now commutes an hour each way to work, the butcher block would have to wait. So, we got a wood lookalike contact paper and stuck it down! it is easy to remove so I would consider it renter friendly if you are in the market for updating your rental or apartment. The contact paper also was less than ten dollars a role (we used three) so you cannot beat that price. Will it hold up forever, no but it isn’t meant to, its waterproof and easy to clean and that is good enough for now.

RENOVATION STATION

There was a piece of would that connected the cabinets on either side of the window. I am not entirely sure why it was there other than to be a poor excuse for a decorative, non-useful window treatment. So, we knocked it out and it instantly modernized the kitchen. Someday I would love to update the appliances, but they work, and the black doesn’t look that bad so we left them.

In a couple of months my daughter will start to eat solid food and we will need a pantry solution.

There is nowhere to put the pantry items, which are currently taking up cabinet space. Shelving or a built in will be coming soon but for now I am pleased with the look and function of the new kitchen.

-Marquessa

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If you would like to be featured feel free to submit any art/photography/articles to architxtrmag@gmail.com follow us on instagram @architxtr.magazine

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