Rachel E. Pollock's Blog: La Bricoleuse aggregate and more..., page 11

Making a Taffeta Drawn Bonnet || #VirtualJaneCon

 

I made this video as my contribution to #VirtualJaneCon, a virtual Jane Austen event held on YouTube and Discord.

Book Review: Get the Job in the Entertainment Industry

Get the Job in the Entertaiment Industry by Kristina Tollefson is a title in Methuen Drama's "Introduction to Theatre" series, and is aimed at those working (or intending to work) in theatrical design, technology, and stage management in the US.

This book explains why--in America at least--a solo creative artist in the entertainment industry has to learn about business topics like invoicing, business tax deductions, contracts/riders, and so forth, and makes a solid case for why ignorance in these topics comes at your own peril.

Tollefson begins by covering the various areas in which entertainment professionals might find work--theatres, theme parks, cruise ships, and more--and goes on to deep-dive into all of the things new-career professionals will need to find employment: resumes, cover letters, portfolios, and so forth. She answers questions like "What's the difference between a resume and a curriculum vitae (CV)?" and "How can I plan for retirement? Or get insurance?" She demystifies interviews and shines light into the corners of business accounting and necessary paperwork, and how and when to hire professionals (like tax preparation and entertainment lawyers).

The text culminates in a chapter of career profiles, snapshots into the lives and work of people with a wide array of interesting creative careers from Yale School of Drama faculty to a lighting specialist for the WWE.

The book is similar to Margaret Peot's The Successful Artist's Career Guide, and covers similar ground with a slightly different audience. Peot's book is aimed at creatives across artistic disciplines--illustrators, sculptors, textile artists, etc. And in terms of graphic design, Peot's is more "artsy," while Tollefson's is more "textbook."

This is a valuable reference book for early-career professionals, a potential textbook for relevant courses and workshops, and an excellent candidate for inclusion in a personal or institutional library.

Matrix Clays for Making Masks || #maskmaking

Book review: Dressing the Resistance

 

I had the good fortune to hear Camille Benda lead a session at the recent ATCA conference, and attendees received a special discount code for her incredible new book, Dressing the Resistance: The Visual Language of Protest Through History.

The book is exceptionally wide-ranging, from discussing dissident fashion in 1970s punk to revolutionary France and beyond. Many of the books Benda uses as references by fashion scholars like Aileen Ribiero, Dick Hebdige, and Valerie Steele were seminal favorites I read back when I first began exploring an interest in analyzing and decoding the language of fashion. 

Of particular interest were the sections on the significances of various colors in resistance movements in global cultures/contexts and the deployment of sartorical conformity as a tool in protest movements. Sections on the interaction between craft and protest garments--knitting, crochet, and millinery--are also fascinating, fun, and inspiring.

This beautifully-designed magazine-sized hardback book would make a great display volume on a coffee table as well as an excellent addition to a research library collection.

Nonprofit Pay Equity Research Tips

Book Review: Toward a Future Theatre by Caridad Svich

 

Toward a Future Theatre: Conversations During a Pandemic by Caridad Svich is an invaluable documentation of the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on theatre-makers across the US and UK. The book features excellent representation of different voices across various cutural and social demographics, as well as a range of theatre leaders--artistic directors, playwrights, cultural eventsmakers, directors, performers, and dramaturgs. I loved hearing how they all were coping with the pandemic's effect on the field in those early days.

I missed the voices of designers and production folx in the mix, but I think those would broaden the focus too much for the aims of this collection and would perhaps be another interesting compendium of interviews to assemble, perhaps in a sequel volume.

Highly recommend this title, my copy is full of highlights now and I brought it into my theatre's greenroom to share with my fellow company members as we move toward what our version of that future theatre is.

Turban headwrap with bow video tutorial!

Learn how to draft the pattern and sew this cute style.

All About Puzzle Blocks Millinery Webinar Recording!

 

If you missed the livestream of this webinar on puzzle blocks, you can catch the recording here! Happy to answer any questions in comments over on YouTube (or here, but I'll see them quicker over there). Thank you to the wonderful milliners and hat enthusiasts who attended, and to my fantastic chat moderator, Ilona Ames of By Ilona Millinery!

Support for Abuse Among Theatre Workers || #Together4MH

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

How to use an industrial covered button press