All professors were in awe for her Master in pin-up art

[Mystery Benelli]

Yessir! I finally made it and am now an official Master of Arts diploma holder. And a double one, too! One diploma is a Master in art critique - that's the Master of Pin-ups one ;). The second one is sculpting. Look on MySpace for Mystery Benelli and you will be able to see the pictures. I didn't want to post them here cause they are not pin-up stuff... and I suppose it wouldn't be okay to post something unrelated.

My work on the diplomas was sometimes fun and sometimes and awful grind I wished to be over with. It was getting like that mostly with the sculpting part - same long boring and annoying procedure on all 13 sculptures. I discovered by the way that powertools are not women-friendly - they're too big for a female grip! It was particularly evident after approx. 9 hours of work per day with angle grinder or power drill in my poor little hand. BUT - I made it!

Reading about pin-ups, looking at all those pictures, drawings and paintings was more than fun and I truly LOVED it! It was easy to talk about it with the board at the exam too. A funny thing happend that both me and my graduation audience chuckled about - the board would ask all the people to leave the room so they can debate over the quality of the work and presentation. This time it took them so long to finally ask us back again that we were near placing bets on whether they're drooling over the pin-ups or eating up all the cakes I prepared for them.

But all is well what ends well - and so did my adventure with Art Academy of Poznan. I did something what was stirring at the back of my head for a looong time, did what few had opportunity to do (be a student of Art Academy that is) - I learned my lesson. Learned that not all dreams are so sweet when they come true for one thing and for another I got to realize what I'm capable of, sure broadened my intelectual horizons and got into things I never would have otherwise. But I'm NOT going to miss it, no sir! The only thing I could miss was the Academy's coffee machine with most delicious Latte I had so far. Now it's time to really start being adult. And it's perhaps the only thing that's just slightly frightening. Slightly.

[Mystery Benelli]

Yeah I find it quite weird too. On the other hand, few ladies wear hats really and they're never fancy. The milliners were in the funeral business.
I recently read about one new generation Polish milliner lady [works in Warsaw though] who said that the millinery business is really very small and the wood blocks are no longer produced - and stop being manufactured as early as in 1960's... The ones she uses were sort of inherited together with the workshop which dates back to 1930's or 20's even.
There is a chance I could come by something like that in a curio shop though. Thanks for the hint! I will sure start looking around those!

[Mystery Benelli]

Yeah I find it quite weird too. On the other hand, few ladies wear hats really and they're never fancy. The milliners were in the funeral business.
I recently read about one new generation Polish milliner lady [works in Warsaw though] who said that the millinery business is really very small and the wood blocks are no longer produced - and stop being manufactured as early as in 1960's... The ones she uses were sort of inherited together with the workshop which dates back to 1930's or 20's even.
There is a chance I could come by something like that in a curio shop though. Thanks for the hint! I will sure start looking around those!

[Poppy Fields]

I'm pretty sure you can get a spray starch, or so I've heard. It's used by "good" housewives who do things like starching and ironing their husbands' shirts, so I don't know anything about it ;D If the glue and paper works though, just keep going! It's disappointing and ridiculous that none of the milliners would take you as an apprentice. You might try looking in 2nd hand stores for blocks if you're really interested in playing around.

[Mystery Benelli]

Thank you for your kinds words, Poppy and Daddy!

I've also haven't had the opportunity to work with blocks. However I found what looks like a real promising guidebook and once I'm more settled with what my future might be I'm going to look into it more attentively. Right now I'm letting my odd ideas go. I know it's probably not very professional but when I need a rigid construction that won't show I use paper and starch glue. Won't get out of shape unless it rains bad. I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to spray that starch glue of mine instead of smearing it on.

I've tried to convince several hat makers in my city to accept me as an apprentice (to have an opportunity to work with wood blocks) but they refused. Oh well. Another thing is that they are mainly making mourning wear... Got nothing against that but I don't suppose strange hats are welcome for such events. Not in Poland anyway.

Oh yes, there was a lot of that 'Playboy' idea around pin-ups in my case too. Well, some knew at least that bit :).

Thank you for all the hints. I need to document my 'hats' - was planning to shoot a little photo session with some friends of mine but the master degree preparations got in the way of that. Not sure if I will be able to get to all the girls I wanted to shoot it with. Plus one of the professors keeps my desings 'captive' lol - they were supposed to go to the academy's annual show but they couldn't figure out a way to display them. We don't really have a fashion major - there is costume design but they don't have any stands that would help display hats.

Wishing you all the best and a lot of hugs to you!

[Poppy Fields]

I run into the same misunderstanding and lack of knowledge of pinup here too sometimes. I've had people look disgusted and ask "Like Playboy??" And then the explaining begins... :)

Oooooh millinery! I say go fabulous or go home! Made a few hats when I studied fashion, but without blocks, it's a little difficult. Don't discount the demand for Philip-Treacy-and-beyond styles. Women who buy hats that aren't from the mall are usually looking for something outrageous and wonderful. It's a niche market, but a market with style and $$$. If you feel comfortable, post a few pics in your albums or in the Dressing Room section of the forum; I'm sure you'll get a warm reception!

I'm from a Land Far Away too and had an idea of the cultural wonderland I was moving to. Things aren't quite what I expected... Then again, it's NOT California! Best of luck with all your future plans!!

[Edson Carlos]

Sweetheart of course its fine to post unrelated photograph etc, as long as its yours, show your stuff! The more people see your work the more they will want to do pinup with you ;)

[Mystery Benelli]

Thank you very much!

Yes, I was lucky enough to find a satisfactory number of professional looking sources to put in the paper and fortunate enough to have the mentoring professor agree for me to choose a topic like that. I was also pleasantly surprised at the exam that I wasn't the only person who was familiar with pin-ups. Pin-up girls haven't been and are not very familiar to Poles - each time someone asked me about my master paper I had to explain the concept from scratch.
My paper was based mainly on American sources and I'm very much in debt to my BF who lives in California and helped me out with getting the books I needed.
As for my qualifications... Well, I don't suppose they're much in demand. I have several ideas really - all include self-employment. Millinery is another thing I'm greatly interested in - but my ideas are a bit on the wild side. Philip Treacy's ideas is what my works fall close to - they're not inspired by him, it's just the same degree of hat madness ;).
I plan on visiting my BF in California this summer... Who knows, I may be tying the knot if all goes well. It seems in USA life is a bit different for creative people - but I can't tell first hand and it may very well be just an impression I'm getting from The Land Far Away [Poland].
I had a look at the pictures of your works you have on PL - those curves are delicious! You're great!

[Poppy Fields]

Wow! Congratulations! A master in pin-up art - where do I get one? ;D That is so great that you could focus on an area of art I wouldn't think would be given much credit at an "academic" level. I'm interested to see your sculptures too. What are you planning on doing with your qualifications? Do you have an art job lined up at all?