Why I’m saying goodbye to making tshirts…

I just spent this last month moving out of my printing studio because I’m not going to make tshirts anymore. And I’ve already gotten several concerned calls and emails asking “why? oh why?”

My business took a big hit when the economy went sour. Eventually my business started becoming a very expensive hobby.  And this “hobby” began to affect other members of my family in a negative way. Well, I just couldn’t do that.

So I had to make a choice. Do I love my clothing line enough to sacrifice my quality of life? To give up other things I love like buying books, art supplies, going to the movies, etc.

Sure the economy would eventually recover in about two to three years and I would start to make a profit again. But I don’t care to wait since my clothing line isn’t where my passion is; being an artist and working on a new creative project like surfer girl saves the world is. In the end, I will always choose the most creative path. That’s what an artist is supposed to do.

So that’s why I’m saying goodbye to making tshirts. Thanks for your support and for being a loyal fan and customer.

Please visit my other blog surfergirlsavestheworld.com. I will be documenting the creative process of making my first super hero graphic novel.

Redesign of my online design portfolio at ciaradesign.com

Ciara Elend's Online Design Portfolio

I have recently redesigned my online design portfolio. You can now see samples of my branding and logo work, collages, posters, and Foaminals. You can also download Press information from the site.

It would not be better…

Fail Better by Herter Studio Books

“It would not be better if things happened to men just as they wish.” – Heraclitus

“To be an artist is to fail, as no other dare fail..” – Samuel Becket

“My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure.” – Abraham Lincoln.

“We only think when we are confronted with a problem.” – John Dewey

“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” – Truman Capote

“Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth

Someone finding a date in one of my shirts?!?

So as I’m scanning through another issue of Time Out, I see this lovely lady wearing one of my shirts as she is trying to get a date. I went online to get a better picture of her and had to post this picture of her wearing the Sunnyside tee.

This Tshirt is no longer available. Ciara ran her clothing company brands Ciara Couture and Queensbound from January 2007 to December 2010. She has ceased all clothing brand operations as of January 1, 2011.

Men’s Queens, New York Graphic Tshirt

Men’s Queens, New York Graphic Tshirt

This Tshirt is no longer available. Ciara ran her clothing company brands Ciara Couture and Queensbound from January 2007 to December 2010. She has ceased all clothing brand operations as of January 1, 2011.

Women’s Queens, New York Graphic Tshirt

Women’s Queens, New York Graphic Tshirt

This Tshirt is no longer available. Ciara ran her clothing company brands Ciara Couture and Queensbound from January 2007 to December 2010. She has ceased all clothing brand operations as of January 1, 2011.

Men’s NYC Graphic Tshirt

Men’s NYC Graphic Tshirt

This Tshirt is no longer available. Ciara ran her clothing company brands Ciara Couture and Queensbound from January 2007 to December 2010. She has ceased all clothing brand operations as of January 1, 2011.

Surfer Girl Hero Sketches 1

Along with my Surfer Girl Saves the Gulf tshirt campaign, I will be coming out with a graphic novel adventure – hopefully with more than one. As with many of my projects, I show you my artistic process. So this one is no different. I will be posting you sketches and notes of what we’re working on. The first one here is a sketch of her uniform, her wetsuit and surfboard, adorned with the logo I designed.

On surfing boards and clothing, you will see the ying yang symbol alot because of what it stands for in Taoism.  “In ancient Taoist texts, wu wei/wei wu (effortless doing) is a paradox and is associated with water through its yielding nature. Water is soft and weak, but it can move earth and carve stone. Taoist philosophy proposes that the universe works harmoniously according to its own ways. When someone exerts his will against the world, he disrupts that harmony. Taoism does not identify man’s will as the root problem. Rather, it asserts that man must place his will in harmony with the natural universe.”

When I designed Surfer Girl’s logo, I wanted to created a symbol that embodies the idea of ying yang and also had a “s” in it. I love the way it flows and mimics the flow of water and waves.

Making art is like writing a love letter…

I have two younger brothers and they are like my children. I helped raise them and I love them to death. We all get along really well together. Chad is the older one and he is more book and science minded while Calvin is the artist. Chad is a social butterfly, has tons of friends and is outgoing. Calvin is a musician, super talented artist, and is on the shy side. Calvin is in his second year in college studying art.

I never really noticed that Calvin was very shy until one day Chad said to me “I wish Calvin would open up to me and talk about art and life the he does with you.” I was flabbergasted. I had never really thought about it. Oh, crap. That’s right Calvin does open up to me because I am another artist and I understand what’s it’s like to be another artist.

See what Chad didn’t understand at that moment was that Chad is kinda guy’s guy. He played football in high school. He was popular. He likes sports. The last thing any artist wants to do is show art to that “guy”. No matter how nice that “guy” is. And Chad is a really nice guy.

So I explained to him like this “oh Chad, don’t feel bad. Making art is like writing a love letter. You’re so raw, you can only show it to so few people, and you feel like crying all the time. And most of the time it’s so bad, you end up  throwing half of it in the garbage anyway.”

I also explained to him as he gets older, he’ll get more comfortable with himself, he’ll begin to open up. He’s learning to become a man. He’ll see. Just give him time.

The secret is out…and out again…

New York Magazine let the secret out by ranking Sunnyside, Queens the number 3 best place to live in New York. Then the NY Observer repeated it.

People also asked me why I love living in Queens so much. I always answered because I loved my neighborhood Sunnyside. No on ever recognizes the name. It’s not a very well-known neighborhood. It’s a family one with one of the very first planned housing communities known as the Sunnyside Gardens. We have beautiful tree-lined streets with mom and pop stores and well-kept up pre-war apartments. The graffiti is kept to a minimum because  a group of volunteers do cleanups. For a long time, Sunnyside has been a long secret from the Manhanttanites so rent and real estate prices have been very reasonable but now the secret is out. I just read on the my Sunnyside user groups that the real estate open houses this weekend were unusually jam packed.