Team Member: Susan Lazear

Susan Lazear

Susan Lazear is a Professor of Fashion at San Diego Mesa College. There she teaches various courses related to fashion, textiles, fashion technology, and costume. She has a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Science degrees in Clothing and Textiles. Susan is also the owner of Cochenille Design Studio, a software company that develops and markets software and design-aid products for textile and fiber artists (www.cochenille.com). She is an active fashion designer, and exercises her skills in the form of sewn and knit clothing. Her love of photography and writing have led her to publish articles in numerous textile/craft publications. In addition, she has authored two books on Fashion Design using Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator. Susan’s world travels have allowed her to view fashion and cultures, documenting their clothing and costume as sources of inspiration to current fashion.

You can reach Susan at slazear@sdccd.edu
or via her website at www.cochenille.com
or, her personal blog, http://susanlazear.blogspot.com

Team Member: Osbaldo Ahumada

Osbaldo Ahumada

Osbaldo Ahumada is an innovative fashion designer who focuses on fantasy and sculptural pieces of wearable art. He was born in Sinaloa, Mexico and moved to the United States to pursue study in Fashion Design. He achieved his goals, and graduated from the Fashion Program at Mesa College in San Diego. Osbaldo has won numerous awards for his designs, including Best Fantasy and Best in Show Industry awards from the California Fashion Symposium (in 2007 and 2008), as well as numerous awards at Mesa College’s Annual Golden Scissors Fashion show. Ahumada loves art, and translates his love of sculpture to clothing through the use of unique fabrics and non-traditional materials.

Team Member: Duke Windsor

Art and music have always played an influential role in Duke Windsor’s life. Windsor worked as a Combat Illustrator for the United States Marine Corp until 1982. Recognizing that art was his calling, Windsor decided to open his first art studio in 1986.

In 1999 Windsor began a series of paintings focusing on the alleys of North Park. A decade later, deciding something had to change, Duke enrolled in the San Diego Fine Art Society's Artist Mentor Program. Under the guidance of mentor Yoram Gil and using his early cityscape subject matter as inspiration, Windsor created his current more stylized interpretations of the urban landscape. The Mentor Program allowed Windsor to make a ground-breaking transition in the execution of his works, pushing him to experiment with techniques and a visual language bordering on abstraction.

Duke currently lives and creates in North Park. For more information about his past or current work go to: www.dukewindsorstudio.com or contact him directly at dukewindsorstudio@cox.net.




Duke Windsor: Mixed Media Artist

La Femme Noir Team

Here are the team members of our group.

Left to Right:

Susan Lazear (documenter)

Duke Windsor (artist)

Osbaldo Ahumada (designer)

Andrea Marx (educator)

Interestingly enough.. we are all or have been involved in some form or manner with Mesa College. Duke and Osbaldo were students, and Andrea and I (Susan) teach as Professors in the Fashion Program.

We have been meeting since late summer, and have planned our project. More to follow on this.

Who is La Femme Noir? Art Meets Fashion

This blog belongs to La Femme Noir, one of the teams involved in Art Meets Fashion in San Diego, California.

The team is composed of the following people:

Artist: Duke Windsor

Fashion Designer: Osbaldo Ahumada

Documenter: Susan Lazear

Educator: Andrea Marx

As a group, we will combine art and fashion to create paintings and fashion garments according to our theme which is La Femme Noir.

Art meets Fashion is a project in the works in the San Diego area of California. It is sponsored by the San Diego Visual Arts Network and Focus. To learn more about this project, visit their site. http://www.artmeetsfashion.org/

Various teams have been created to participate in the project. Each team has chosen a theme and will be creating collaboratively between now and February 15, 2011.