Don't Wait for Opportunities, Create Them!

Good Evening My Darlings,

I hope you all had a wonderful day today wherever you are in the world. It's past 11 PM here in New York. I've just returned from a midweek dinner and glass of riesling at Momo Caffe with my boyfriend, for some much needed rest and relaxation with my love. Sadly last night marked the end of my Blogging for Fashion Business course at FIT. But we all know that endings usher in new beginnings, and this instance was/is no exception. Our brilliant instructor, social media expert Dalia Strum, left us with some final words yesterday that kept me thinking throughout the day today. She said "don't wait for opportunities, create them" and I was once again reminded that the power is all in me.

Rosie Assoulin: Stripe Sensation

Hello My Loves, 

Once again I find myself working late night at my computer and testing my own creative parameters. Having illustrated these Rosie Assoulin figures for the upcoming Buenos Aires postcard, I wanted to explore some new compositional possibilities. Rosie is undoubtedly my most favourite new NYC designer. The construction of the garments for the FW14 collection and bold, graphic choice of color lend themselves to such interesting visual arrangements. I'm still trying to settle my final composition for the BA postcard, but giving these figures a test run is helping to clear my mind a little more on how it's going to settle. I just keep reminding myself...learn from everything, always a work in progress. Stay tuned because the postcard is almost ready!!

Much love,
Meag xx

Work in Progress: Postcard from Buenos Aires

Good Evening My Loves,

I hope you all had a fantastic weekend! I've been feeling SO inspired lately, with the redesign of Travel Write Draw, my Blogging for Fashion Business course at FIT, and some much needed critical feedback on my illustration portfolio. I've been painting, practicing, and experimenting more than ever before these days and I can't wait to share the results with you here. One thing I don't do often on Travel Write Draw, is showcase to you all the process behind my pieces. After painting the illustration for Postcard from Rio de Janeiro, and my FIT classmates wanting to know more about the behind the scenes of its creation, I thought it would be really interesting to show the steps that go into illustrating an original Meagan Morrison piece.

Above are four images I snapped this weekend while conceptualizing and drafting my upcoming Buenos Aires postcard. The creative juices are flowing, as are the watercolor inks, and I couldn't be happier. My process for this piece went a little something like this:

Step Into Easter, Step Into Spring...

Happy Easter Sunday Lovelies, 

I'm hoping you all had a gorgeous day with your family or a blissful 4/20 (depending on your choice of worship). I'm sitting here in my family's kitchen back in Stouffville Ontario Canada, writing as the sun is setting on a beautiful April's day. My relatives and sister have left to return to their respective homes, and I'm listening to the unfamiliar sound of silence - something I don't hear often, if ever, in crazy NYC.

Easter always makes me feel renewed. It marks the time of year where everything feels new, from the earth thawing from a cruel winter, to seeing your own bare legs and arms in Spring dresses or sleeveless tops again. This year, Easter brought a much needed return home and an even more exciting development, the update to Travel Write Draw!! After 3.5 years, it was due.

Perth Style x TWD #MBFW Australia Top 3 Looks

Good Evening My Loves,

I'm SO excited to share with you my collaboration with Jordana Ripp, of Australian fashion bible Perth Style, for our coverage of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Australia 2014 this past week. Jordana and I met through the blogosphere after she discovered my portrait of Kelly Cutrone about a year ago. When she made her way to NYC this past July, we promptly met for a fantastic West Village dinner at Cafe Cluny, followed by drinks, dancing in the rain, an interview with me on Perth Style...and well, the rest is history! With all the buzz swirling over Australian fashion these days, I knew exactly who to call upon to cover last weeks shows with me. I absolutely adore Jordana, and not just for her impeccable sartorial eye. Check out her Top 3 picks from the week illustrated below:

Alice McCall

Jordana: "Alice McCall is very feminine and sexy but with a youthful sort of seductive innocence that resonates through each collection. This AM look has flirty flow that I adore and is very much in that borderline effortless lingerie look that is trending at the moment."

Me: For each illustration I tried to find an element from the runway show that felt novel and iconic. With Alice McCall it was undoubtedly the watercolor, pop art, lip print she had appearing throughout the collection. It felt fresh and quirky which I loved.

Talulah

Jordana: "Talulah always produces fun pieces that just make you want to live at the beach. They have a strong swimwear and coverups line, as well as a ready to wear, that often have fun, prominent, intermingling prints. Talulah is such a great Aussie lifestyle example of fusing trending fashion with the laid back beach/holiday vibe. The look I chose was super fun, almost summertime festival chic - I thought the styling was really well done too."

Me: For Talulah it was clearly all about the funky layers of jewelry and that great, graphic print. To complement the illustration I took reference from their animal pattern to add a little more contrast to the look.

Toni Maticevski

Jordana: "Toni Maticevski's work is clean, modern, beautiful and detailed - very sophisticated and elegant. This particular look I chose is classic TM but I love that it's a little edgier with a mid-drift cut and exaggerated slit."

Me: Toni's show ended with his girls walking down the runway with flowers in their mouthes. It became a Top 10 "need to know" from #MBFWA on Vogue Australia. I knew for this illustration I had to incorporate the girls' edible orchids.

And there you have Perth Style x TWD #MBFW Australia Top 3 Looks rounded up. I'm so excited to show all the new content I have coming up for the blog (including a very imminent blog design update!!). Stay tuned.

Much love,
Meag xx

A Video Love Letter to My Followers...

TWD's Rio De Janeiro Top 10

Living Authentically

Good Evening My Loves,

I have a lot to share with you tonight, so let me start by saying that I have been marinating this post in my head and in my heart for the past week or so now, and I finally feel ready to sit down and write it. I'm here in my tiny little room in the West Village, cramped between fashion magazines, and yesterday's laundry, hovering over my computer in silence. I'm quiet because something big just happened today - frankly I should have expected it because the skies are calling for a very tumultuous April 2014. Regardless, I didn't see it coming. Today my team at work was called in for a huddle and our Creative Director announced her departure from our company, my company, and I was absolutely, positively, SHOCKED. Just when you think you know how everything is going to play out in life, a hurricane hits, and washes your sandcastle away.

Obviously I haven't known about this for even 24hrs yet so you're probably wondering how I've been conceiving of this post for a week then. Well I guess it came full circle when I asked her how she felt about leaving not only our company but New York as well. "Living here is like being in a constant swirl, inside the eye of a tornado, and now...I just want to be on the outside looking in" she said, along with classic, adorable hand gestures that only she can make. And suddenly it hit me, how much more of the madness can I take?! Clearly she is at peace to let it go, she's done her time here and she's ready to say goodbye. So after nearly 5 years here, what exactly am I still holding onto? What more do I feel like I need to prove in this city?

For those of you who don't live in New York, the only way I can describe it is like being in the most toxic love hate relationship you've ever had. It's the boyfriend (or girlfriend) you just die to be around, do anything you can to accommodate, just to have 5 minutes of their time (even if it means squeezing into claustrophobic subway cars or apartments), who only ever gives you just enough to keep you interested, but never enough to keep you truly fulfilled, is completely inconsistent (hello transit system!!), totally high maintenance, and expensive to date, and is always unfailingly wavering between the extremes (oppressively hot or cold, never in between). It's the relationship that should have ended years ago, but the chemistry is too much of a high to let it go.