Happy Canada Day!
June 23, 2014After six months of preparation, production and post-production I am happy to finally share my Canadian flag inspired image and to say Happy Canada Day.
This summer, I am celebrating 15 years since I first came to Canada. This is an important milestone for me. I wanted to create something unique and special. Putting fashion and photography together allowed me to create this image to celebrate Canada Day in an unusual way.
Creativity has been a big part of my life since childhood. I worked as a designer for several national Czech beauty pageants and Czech celebrities in the past 8 years. A couple of years ago a well-known Czech composer and conductor Varhan Orchestrovic Bauer asked me to create a tailcoat looking like the Czech flag. He wanted to use it for an upcoming concert. I really enjoyed creating this piece for him not just for the challenge but because it has not been done before. I felt the same way creating the Maple Leaf headpiece too.
The headpiece is made with fifteen different types of fabric and trim and it is 18 inches high and 26 inches wide. It took over 50 hours to create as well as three trips to the Queen and Spadina fashion district to pick the right materials. I was on a hunt for the right shades of red, interesting trims and a variety of fabrics. I love creating unique headpieces; the bigger and more outlandish the better. When the idea to make the Maple Leaf headpiece occurred to me six months ago I was very excited about the perfect geometrical shape. I love working with symmetry. It was such a fun and exciting headpiece and project to do.
As an artist I like to have full creative control over my projects. My inability to take professional photographs was hindering my creative vision. In 2012, I enrolled in New York Institute of Photography to learn the field. I am happy that I can now do these creative shoots myself. However I felt this project could be a bit over my head so I asked for help from renowned Canadian portrait photographer V Tony Hauser. I am grateful that he helped me make this project happen.
The photo shoot was an incredible experience and I would like to thank again to all the wonderful people who made it possible and very memorable. Finally I would like to thank my family, who have been a tremendous support to me. My creative endeavors would not be possible without their love, help and patience.
CREDITS:
Art Director: V Tony Hauser | Photography: Marie Copps| Stylist: Amanda Lee Shirreffs | Model: Liliana Piekos | Makeup and Hair: Valentina Dang| Fashion Design: Marie Copps | Illustration: Getty Images | Music in the video: Robert Sands | Videographer and Editor: Michael Nguyen
