Fashion Month Recap Part 1…

thegirlsofNYFW-joanna-baker Now that fashion month has come to an end, it’s high time I update the blog with all my sketches and events!! I’ve never drawn this many looks before during fashion month and it was definitely a fun challenge to keep up with my favorite shows… there were so many great looks and only so many hours in a day! First up, the shows and events here at home in NYC…

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I was invited by the lovely Karissa, founder of Thrive Causemetics to attend the Assembly New York fashion presentation. Thrive did the hair and makeup looks for all the models. Her brand has an amazing story behind it and for every cosmetic product sold, she donates one to a woman going through cancer treatment. I went back stage to test out the products before they hit the stores and even got a brow touch up by Karissa herself! She is super sweet and I’m so glad I got the chance to see her beauty products in action. I sketched my favorite look from the show, a wide leg, cropped jumper but I had my eye on the trench coat too!

Meanwhile, some of my favorites were coming down the runway… Oscar de La Renta, Carolina Herrera, Monique Lhullier, Zimmermann, Delpozo, and Marchesa.

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I couldn’t get enough of the entire look head-to-toe at Oscar. Carolina did amazing things with pleats. Monique Lhullier and Marchesa were all about embellishments. The pretty dresses at Zimmermann were a dream and everything at Delpozo was, as expected, completely exquisite. I love illustrating the details, but my Delpozo girls definitely took the longest to sketch! =)

Final Walk at Raul Penaranda NYFW from Joanna Baker on Vimeo.

I was also invited to the Kia Style 360 NYFW Lounge to see Raul Penaranda’s Spring 2016 show. This season, he was all about the tech fabrics, body-con silhouettes, bright colors, and high energy! The show was a lot of fun. But true to form, there were some flirty dresses and frothy gowns added into the mix. My favorites were the chambray chevron dress and beaded sequin skirt, I got the final look on video and you can see a glimpse of both! So proud of Raul, we used to work together in the corporate design world awhile back and it’s amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it. He is such an inspiration and a reminder that you can make whatever you want happen with hard work and a relentless drive!

Okay, that’s it for now! Stay tuned for part two coming soon =)

~Joanna <3

Wishing for Fall…

fall-wishlist-joanna-baker New York Fashion Week kicks off tomorrow and although fall clothes and sales are everywhere, New York is definitely still in a summer state of mind! It may be ninety degrees outside but that’s not stopping my day dreams of oversized coats, cozy scarves and the cutest red booties for the season. This tee adds the perfect touch of metallic and I’m in desperate need of some new Hunter wellies!

I’m excited to be able to attend a few events for fashion week while I work through commissions and keep up on the latest fabulous things strutting down the runways. Be sure to follow me on Instagram for of-the-moment sketches as they happen =) I’ll be busy, busy, busy! On your mark…. get set…. sketch!!

~Joanna <3

East Village Pop Up Shop!

Happy Saturday!! The past few weeks have been very busy… lots of things in the works and I feel like I’m going, going, going! But the most exciting thing right now is that you can shop my art in person today and tomorrow at 56 East 4th Street in the East Village!! So far it’s been great, I’m collaborating with five other designers and makers in the cutest little space ever…

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We have yummy smelling handmade vegan candles, vintage clothing (super cute denim cut offs!), graphic tees & tanks, edgy jewelry, and pretty makeup… not to mention all my art prints, stationery, coasters, tote bags and journals!

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Stop by today for lemonade, cookies, and champagne! We’ll be celebrating this gorgeous summer Saturday from 11:00am – 8:00pm and would love to see you there! If you can’t make it today, we’re also open Sunday from 11:00am – 6:00pm.

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Happy weekend, make it a good one!

~Joanna <3

P.S. There’s a pop up shop deal happening on all art prints – buy two of the same size and get $10 off! It’s the perfect way to start your new gallery wall =)

New Originals…

Happy Thursday!! It’s almost the happiest day of the week and I wanted to let you know first thing that I just added new originals to the shop! You choose the frame =) Once they’re sold, they’re gone for good. Wouldn’t you love to have these beauties hanging on your wall?

I have some exciting shop news that I’ll be sharing at the start of September along with a big reveal of a project I’ve been working on recently. It will truly be a labor of love when I’m finished and I can’t wait for it to make its debut! Stay tuned and stay cool… fall will be here before you know it!!

~Joanna <3

A Pointe Story…

seniorthesis-3-joanna-baker If you follow along on Instagram, I confessed my recent obsession with all things ballet. This is nothing new and I get the ballet bug every once in awhile but this time it’s really sticking with me…

Ballet was a large part of my life growing up, I danced for fifteen years and then pretty much abandoned it when I went to college. I haven’t danced since. I don’t really know why, maybe I was just enjoying being lazy for awhile =) But ballet has left such an impression on me and I still think it’s one of the most beautiful forms of art. I based my undergraduate senior visual art thesis around the study of ballerinas in motion…

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The final installation consisted of sixteen ballerinas created with pastel and charcoal in various stages of fragmented movement, frozen in time, suspended from the ceiling, and surrounded in floating white tulle. Beneath the images, on the floor I arranged some old pointe shoes my roommate and I had been holding onto from our dancing days. The heavy sand represented the gravity and weight that is always present and ever challenging but somehow the ballerinas effortlessly float above it. It took forever to install my work in the space and I had a labyrinth of fishing wire above holding it all together but I look back on it now, seven years later, and still feel its relevance in my life and in my love of ballet.

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I’m really excited because we just purchased tickets to opening night with American Ballet Theatre at Lincoln Center in October. Fingers crossed we’ll get to see Misty Copeland dance. I’ve started practicing ballet again in my apartment… (I just ordered a new pair of ballet slippers!) and am working up towards feeling strong and confident enough to take some beginning classes at the Joffrey ballet school. Maybe someday I’ll be able to dance pointe again. I’m obsessively watching all the videos on New York City Ballet’s website, I just saw this amazing documentary, and I’m pretty sure the number of ballet dancers I follow on Instagram is starting to outweigh the number of fashion bloggers. It’s been ten years since I stepped foot in a ballet studio but I think I’m about ready to go back. Here’s to rediscovering past loves and following your heart wherever it may take you.

Have a wonderful and inspiring weekend!!

~Joanna <3