The most ancient, elemental fairy of the bunch (other than the Queen, of course!). She comes from a more pre-historic, volcanic time. As an elemental, she has a more mischievous, child-like demeanor.

The El Wire is pretty hard to see from this picture, but if you look close it's in the shape of a flame. For the forearm sleeves, I wanted to create the illusion that fire was coming out of her hands.

The material I chose for this costume had an explosive look to the pattern, which was a stretchy velvet material that had some sparkly gold flecks. I also used orange and red organza.

She's made of fire, so she doesn't need wings to fly. I did want to go for some kind of molten lava element here, so I found a pattern that fit and cut it into a fiery shape.

The director wanted one traditional-looking fairy, but still wanted El Wire woven into the costume. I went for a subtle glow here.

I used fake moss to cover the brown ballet flats. A really cool effect. Overall, I went for natural colors and floral/leafy patterns.

I used some fanned out fake ivy stalks for her "wings," the concept of which was meant to be suggestive of flight, that is, not necessarily functional looking. The idea was the fairies didn't need traditional-looking wings to fly.

Lily really did make the perfect woodland fairy! Sewed in some roses to add a contrasting color.

A fairy of the Victorian era, she has clock gears as clasps for her bodice, an ornate lock I molded out of clay and painted silver around her collar, a key necklace, and a magnifying glass in one of her pockets. Steampunk is all about the accessories ;-P

The under garment was a basic, loose, black, off-the-shoulder, knee-length dress. We sewed some stretchy, purple mesh fabric with a velvet rose pattern to the top and then made a pleated black collar, to which I sewed the lock I made.

The bustle was made from this metallic copper fabric. I wove some orange El Wire into it to give it an anachronistic glow. The train was a dark green, but we used the clock gears as stencils and gold spray paint to give it that smokey, industrial effect.

This is probably my favorite part of the costume. I wanted to go for an exposed, mechanical spine that would control the "wings." I used the gears and stacked them. The bat wings are "connected" to the spine via antique pen nibs.

Future Fairy is an android of sorts, so I sewed in some electronic components I got from an old computer and knock-off hand held gaming device.

Ready for blast-off!

Of course, the Future Fairy has a jetpack built into her body.

Future fairy needed some electric motifs.

I played the fairy from the future for the play. Made some ear-wraps out of electrolytic capacitors. Headdress was a loaner, but fit for the other-worldliness of this character.

The head piece was borrowed, but perfect to resemble both fire and autumn. It also has a regal air.

All hail The Queen! Titania is the mother of all fairies, so she inhabits all time periods. I took elements from all the fairies and incorporated them into her costume. I marble tie-dyed the white dress to make it look like it was in bloom with red and purple flowers.

The Queen's "wings" were made from fanned out blossom branches and I gave her a cape to differentiate her as royalty. The sheer teal color is meant to represent water, sky, and mist.

Queen Titania's El Wire wasn't really El Wire at all. It was a set of wearable jewel lights. It's actually quite breathtaking when you see it in real life. The Queen also has elements from all the other fairies sewn into the dress: flowers, gears, capacitors, and red bursts to symbolize both fire and blooming flowers.

The original huckster, I mean, trickster. His "wand" is a light-up drumstick from Blue Man Group.

Puck is lovably sinister, kind of like a snake. I went for a snakey pattern here for the El Wire. It's an organic, tangled look that fits his character.

Puck is a wild, rockstar fairy, so I went with some animal patterns and cut them into strips, alternating them and letting them hang off the bottom. His fringy forearm sleeve has a snake pattern. Finally, his vest is made from feathers and faux alligator textured paper on felt.

Puck, like Queen Titania, is a timeless fairy, meaning he inhabits all time. Most of his costume had a more "natural" look with the animal prints, so he needed some futuristic elements. Thus, I wire wrapped capacitors into his "horns."

For the lovers, I was lucky enough to use the director's old bustles and arm sleeves from a previous production. But the tops/dresses, needed some kind of unifying element, so I sewed these pieces on. It created a symmetrical asymmetry, as the arm sleeve were worn on the opposite side of the capped sleeve.

Side view of the cap sleeve. Various pieces of lace, patterned velvet, and ribbon.

For Hermia and Lysander, their costumes had red and pink motifs to serve as a visual cue that these two were a couple.

Helena and Demetrius had blue motifs in their costumes, again to serve as visual cues that they were a couple. The production was an immersive, interactive one, where the actors moved around a lot in a fairly small space, so they needed very obvious visual connections.

Cap sleeve made from patterned mesh, blue sateen, and white sew-on emblem.

A collage I made for a mix CD. Yes, I still make those.

A birthday card I made for a dear friend. We both love Alison Bechdel and nachos.

Direct juxtaposition of the urban and rural to inspire thought about the connection between the two, namely the connection between people. Also, to not forget that we need to take care of our cities just as much as the earth.

Mix CD Cover I made for the friends who helped me recover from a dark time in my life.

A mix CD collage. Art by Mike Allred.