Art Portfolio 2012

I finally have my portfolio together! Yay! It feels so good to finally have everything in one folder. It's taken me forever just to collect and photograph everything. Here are some of the sewing/photography/video works that I have done over the past three years.

Artist statement/statement of purpose:

I work with a lot of different mediums which are all connected, but my main love is Fashion Design. I love the feel of working with the different textiles when sewing and seeing a blank piece of fabric be turned into a 3-dimensional piece of clothing that someone could wear. I’m a very visual artist so when I’m creating I’m constantly thinking about who would be the wearer and where the garment would be worn.

I also work a lot with photography and film making as well. Clothing and costume design is such a big part of both of these areas of my work. When I work with each medium I don’t look at them as separate, but something that’s interconnected to tell a story. Clothing has the ability to completely transform an image into a different place in time, or help create a certain mood that I was trying to capture in a story


Masking Tape Dress: 2012.

Foil dress: 2010.

Draped hand sewn gown: 2010.

Hand beaded lace gown inspired by leaves: 2010.

Vintage style, handmade piped swimsuit with boning: 2012. The pattern is hand drafted.

Pleated bow dress with pockets in the side: 2012. Design and pattern are my own.

Vintage inspired dress with covered buttons down the back: 2012. Design and pattern are my own.

Fully lined chiffon keyhole dress with hidden pocket in the side: 2012. The pattern was hand drafted.

Fully lined oversize collar jacket: 2012. Hand drafted pattern.

Chiffon piped gathered dress: 2012. The pattern is Hand drafted.

Floral cotton pocket jumper dress with buttons in the back: 2010.

Fully lined baseball jacket: 2009. (this was actually my first jacket pattern that I ever drafted).

Navy sailor coat with white piping detail: 2010.

1950s inspired bow coat: 2011.

Couture red feather cocktail dress: 2012. Pattern was hand drafted.

Vintage style chiffon necktie blouse: 2012.

Hand painted print carnival dress with a bow waist: 2011. Pattern was hand drafted.

Vintage inspired winter wool coat with white piping detail: 2011.

Vintage inspired cotton button swimsuit: 2012. Hand drafted pattern.

Hand painted floral boots: 2012.

Chiffon dress with lace inset and gathered detail: 2012.

Gathered pocket dress with horizontal pleats 2012. The pattern was hand drafted.

Peach jersey tank top with lace details: 2010. (This was the first blouse that I ever made without a pattern).

Self portrait photography: 2011 - Hear the Silence.

Self portrait photography and handmade lace dress: 2011 - In Search of Neverland.

Self portrait photography and handmade sailor dress and coat: 2010 - The Life of a Sailor.

Self portrait photography: 2010 - Late for the Ball.

Self portrait photography and handmade jersey summer dress: 2010- Bedtime in the Forest

Self portrait photography and handmade sewn coat and hand crocheted scarf: 2012- In the Dark.

Self portrait photography 2012: - Fire in my Bones.

Self portrait photography: 2012 - Writers Block

Self portrait photography: 2011 - Baby you Can Drive my Car.

Self portrait photography: 2012 - Pretty Bird.

Portrait photography: 2012 - A Drop in the Ocean

Portrait drawing: 2010.

Self portrait drawing: 2012.

Portrait drawing: 2010

Life drawing sketch: 2012.

A short film: 2011 - Hide'n go Seek.

Short Documentary: 2011 - Cookie Baking Weekend.

A self filmed video: 2011 - Dreams are Sails. (this was actually the first film that I ever made).
Dreams Are Sails from Esther Boller on Vimeo.

A self filmed video: 2012 - Where I don't Feel Alone. This film is dedicated to my brother Daniel.

Where I don't Feel Alone from Esther Boller on Vimeo.


Thank you so much for following my art work over the past three years. I've really appreciated all of your support and kind words of encouragement (:

I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

You belong with me, you're my sweetheart - The Lumineers

Wow, can you believe that it's almost Thanksgiving already? I feel like it's been ages since the last time I've posted something. I have many new sewing projects that I need to show on here. I made this dress earlier this summer, but I just now got around to photographing it. It's made from a printed chiffon that I bought from Wal-mart. I drafted the pattern using my own measurements. I wanted to experiment with creating a ruffle skirt since I've never made one before. I only had 1.5 of a yards of fabric though, which wasn't enough to make a full gather skirt; so instead, I sewed the skirt together using elastic thread in order to create the effect of a ruffle. I shirred the waist and the raw edges were finished off using bias tape which was made from the same chiffon fabric.

Well on another note, I finished collecting all of my work together for my portfolio. I've been working on it for months and it feels so good to finally have everything together and it's finally ready for college applications. I've narrowed my decision down to four colleges. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, The Fashion Institute of Technology, Parson the New School for Design, and Pratt Institute. I'll be applying to their fashion design programs.

I'll post my final portfolio sometime this week for you to see (: There are about 60 projects in my full portfolio, but there's a specific number that each college wants me to send so I've had to narrow it down quite a bit. I'm hoping that I've done enough work and that the colleges will like everything. I'm so nervous so wish me luck!

Also last week was my monthly sewing tutorial over on the Drifter and the Gypsy. The tutorial was on bias tape and you can check it out here.

I hope the middle of your week is going well and that you're having a lovely evening!