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Reina Style Consulting | Official Launch!

As Brianna says, "Whether we like it or not, the way we dress sends a message." So true. Thank goodness she's here to help. She's officially launched Reina Style Consulting. I got the official letter in the mail today and didn't hesitate for a moment before ripping open the envelope (obviously). So snazzy! She wrote a very nice, sincere letter to her friends and family announcing her new endeavor and inviting all of us to visit the brand new website (courtesy of Creative Pants, run by her husband and designer extraordinaire, Michael Showell).

More from Brianna:

"If you are wondering what a 'style consultant' does, you're not the only one. I begin with someone's personal style and teach them what looks good on their body type. We put together outfits from pieces they already have, add some key items and build a wardrobe that is appropriate for their lifestyle and preferences. Ta-da! Style slump averted."

To advert your own daily style slumps, be sure to follow Brianna on her blog or get a hold of her using the contact below.

To read more about the process leading up to the launch, read this previous post.

You can also follow both Brianna (@barstar12) and Michael(@showtimeisback) on Twitter.

And if you're not already, you can also follow me (@megjoyclark)!

Alumni Art Show at George Fox University

'Voices', the Alumni Art Show closing reception was last night. It was really great to be back at George Fox, catch up with friends and faculty, and soak up some art in the meantime.

This was my bay in the gallery. It featured a Portland Advertising Federation event poster (yes, that's Steve Sandstrom staring you down), a promotional snowboard, six business card layouts and two French Press wall art pieces. Quite the variety, but all the pieces seemed to blend together well. Showing design work in what is typically a studio art format proved to be a bit of a challenge, but with a little ingenuity, a few trips to Home Depot and Ikea and some X-acto knife action, I pulled it off.

My girlfriends Bari (super style consultant) and Winnie surprised me and popped in to the gallery! Thanks, ladies. You make me feel loved. P.S. Bari, did you realize the top I was wearing was one of your hand-me-downs!? Love it.

During the reception I got to catch up with my dear friend and classmate, Jessica Brittell. She featured a body of work she did for a local wine bar called Crush. Sadly, the establishment has closed, so Jessica recreated the atmosphere with her work and some props as a sort of tribute.

Adieu! Thanks for having me...until next time, GFU!

Alumni Art Show | You're Invited

Tomorrow is the closing reception for 'Voices', an alumni art show at George Fox University in Newberg, OR. Although I was asked to participate, gratefully accepted, prepped my work and delivered several pieces for the show, I still have not seen the show officially up in the Lindgren Gallery. Shame on me! I am planning to remedy this and will certainly be showing my face at the closing show tomorrow. I'd like to see your faces, too, so you're all invited to join me.

Meanwhile, to feed our imaginations of what the show holds, I've posted an article written by a dear friend, Leah Rupp. She works with her husband, Bryan of Bryan Rupp Photography and is taking classes at GFU, including a journalism class. Hence, the article:

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Alumni Artists Exhibit Work
by Leah Rupp

Newberg- On Sep 1, six George Fox Art Department graduates returned to their alma mater to show their work in the annual alumni art exhibit. An artist’s statement accompanies displays that hang on the walls of the Lindgren gallery beside Bauman Auditorium. The title of this year’s exhibit is “Voices.”

Artists include painters Olga Ceballos, Kathleen Jones, Chelsea Carbonell and Elizabeth Kuzmovick, as well as graphic designers Jessica Brittell and Megan Clark. Brittell and Clark faced the challenge of showing design work, which according to Clark “isn’t typically found in a gallery setting.”

In her artist’s statement, 2006 alumni Jessica Brittell said, “Design is complicated. It’s not easy to portray in exhibit fashion.” Her solution was to re-create a life sized model of the graphic and interior design work she did at “Crush,” a wine bar in Newberg. Viewers can flip through the menu, wine list, and other printed materials in the setting of a real dining room with place settings.

Clark chose to exhibit one of her favorite pieces, a promotional poster created probono for the Portland Advertising Federation. “I really like the strong concept behind it,” she said. “The creative director proposed a boxing theme and we all really got into it. We did a whole photoshoot - Rocky music and all. That’s why it’s a favorite of mine, because of the memories made in the process.”

Painter Elizabeth Kuzmovich said, “since graduating from George Fox in 2008 I have been experimenting with visual ways to illustrate displacement, replacement and ambiguity in
relationships.” Kuzmovich’s work includes acrylic, gouache, and watercolor paintings that she said are, “an approach to the human figure done less objectively.”

One goal of “Voices” is to inspire current George Fox art students about what the future holds. “I remember how much I revered those who traversed before me,” said Megan Clark. “My desire is to do for current students what viewing alumni work did for me.”

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Hope to see you there!

Sincerely,

Megan

Happy National Bosses Day!

Thanks to Patricia Bays Haroski, today is National Bosses Day. In 1958 she registered October 16th with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. She did so because she had forgotten her boss-slash-dad's birthday (which was October 16th, go figure). According to Wikipedia, it's a day for 'employees to thank their boss for being kind and fair throughout the year'.

But here's my dilemma: I am my boss. So any sort of thank you gift I give my boss, I give myself. Okay, so maybe that's not a dilemma. Maybe it's self-employment deviously masquerading as self-centeredness. And maybe that's the perfect excuse to give myself a gift!? I asked my boss-slash-self, "How can I honor you for the holiday?" And I got the perfect idea. It just so happens that my boss-slash-self's birthday falls on Friday, October 30. I always hoped to work somewhere that would give their employees their birthday off as a paid holiday. So my boss-slash-self and I had a little meeting and decided that yes, in fact, that is the perfect gift for all bosses who are also their own employees. In the spirit of Patricia Bays Haroski, I, Megan Joy Clark, give my boss, Megan Joy Clark her birthday officially off work from this point forward. (It might not be a paid holiday, but that doesn't mean it won't be a fun one.)

What won't be on the Bakery D'Amour coffee bags

Just like the last declined design post I shared, this work was done for Bakery D'Amour. And it's not that they're not going to sell whole bean coffee anymore or not put labels on their whole bean coffee bags....it's just that we have something else in the works that will do the trick. So for now, these are being archived into the StudioM declined design digital vault. But not before I send them out to blogger-land to be enjoyed. They need at least 15 seconds of fame.Stay tuned to see what we do end up slappin' on the coffee bags. It's going to be delicious.

Windlab Website Design Revamp

Windlab, the global wind energy development company, has undergone a digital facelift. With the help of Agileware out of Australia, the site's been lightened up and brought into alignment with the official Windlab style. And I think it's turned out quite lovely. The previous site design can be seen below.

Kudos to Skype for enabling all of us to communicate across countries, oceans and time zones. Without you, all this international business would be a lot harder to do.