Costumed play acting. It’s like what they do at Re-enactments, but with any favorite character from Film, TV. Cartoons, Comics, Video games, you name it.

In 1974 I was 11. Someone took me to a Star Trek Convention to hear Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner speak. There were maybe a handful of fans wearing the red or gold Enterprise uniform shirt. But I saw no Klingons, or Uhuras  in the audience, just a lot of “Trekkies” in ordinary 70’s clothing. Maybe that was the day crowd…

My daughter is the one who loves Cosplay. She eased us into it slowly. Or maybe we eased her into it. After all we were the only adults she knew who dressed up as Pirates for Halloween and shot candy at the neighborhood from an air cannon. And it probably doesn’t help that we live in the SF bay area and Dad attends comic conventions whenever he can to rub elbows with his favorite comic book writers.

My daughter attended her first “Con” with my husband. It was is the second largest comic convention on the west coast, and my daughter insisted on making a new costume for it. Designing started during winter break, and because of school and work commitments, I was finishing details on a costume, days before they were to leave. Walking around the convention floor in her pink with gold trim Zelda dress, carrying a home made harp, my daughter was continually stopped by Zelda fans. “Did you make it yourself?” “Can I take your picture?” “Cool Zelda costume!”

She was hooked.

Many Cons later, my daughter regularly scans Cosplay sites and shops for wigs and prosthetic ears on line. She has painted her face and arms gray, made Paper Mache horns, and is an ace at makeup application. Her costumes steadily get more ambitious and elaborate, calling on all my technical skills as well as her growing artistic sensibility to get them finished by a deadline.  We are junkies for “Heroes of Cosplay” and “Face Off”, two Reality TV show about costume competitions and movie make-up. Her skill set grows, but I am still technical assistant, materials advisor, and sometimes loan officer.

We make 2-3 costumes a year together. When we are working on a project, the parent/child relationship is relaxed. We have conversations about problem solving and consider different options together. I find myself wondering what she will end up doing “when she grows up.” What would I have done if I had been exposed to these alternate artistic options? And does my child realize how lucky she is ?...

My Name is Alexandra Sondra Von Burg. I am a recovering Art Student. I have a B.A. in Art and an M.F.A, also in art. I spent 6 + years creating and critiquing my art, and then there was nothing but judgement….. This was back in the late 80's, and I still miss it….
I am in fact a Master Printer and Printmaker, and a Master Quilter, and Quilt Maker, and Doll Maker. What does that mean? It means that I have spent more than 10,000 hours making prints of my own, publishing prints by other artists, making my own quilts, quilting for other artists, and making my own art dolls. Suffice it to say that I am a Master artist in my chosen fields, and I am old. (Actually, I am middle aged, but I feel young. That's another blog….)

Back to 6+ years of creating and critiquing:
For those of us who went to art school, the best part was showing work and getting feedback from peers. When we left school, we where expected to go out into the art world and find galleries and become successful…or not. The truth about Art School, at any level, is that they don't teach you how to make a living as an artist. And given the resent economic crises, I have had many years of angst, trying to figure it out for myself…
During that interim, I switched from printmaking to quilt making and doll making/ textiles. Because of the dramatic change in media, I joined a Quilt Guild. At the time, I had no idea that the guild that I had joined happened to be to biggest and most prestigious in the state, having more than it's fare share of professional and international exclaimed quilt artists as members or FOUNDING members..

But really what I found were Artists in search of the same thing: Critiques and Challenges from peers.

Whether you have gone to art school or you are just a talented hobbyist, there is a social acceptance of working alone. In a  bubble, without outside influence. But this assumption is wrong.

If you are alive, and you can see, you are influenced by everything that surrounds you: The landscape. your environment, media, etc. Why should every artist reinvent the wheel? Professors in Art School teach us how to be better artists by critiquing our work, but they don't teach us how to be a community of growing artists. When I joined my local Quilt Guild, I joined a group of Quilt Makers and Enthusiasts. Only a few of them had been to Art School. Every one of them had the Technical skill and the opinion to critique, but few had the credentials of a University Professor. I realized that these people were now my peers. My professors where gone, never to return. Those professor's opinions were replaced by these peer opinions, and my circle of support suddenly grew tenfold…

Today  I make my living as a working artist. I make art for sale and I teach other artists and hobbyists how to make art the way I do. I also have a group of peers who will, without hesitation, give me their honest opinion of what I show them. This is satisfying and fulfilling, on an artistic and social level. The best part of being an artist, is that you never stop learning from others. It is simultaneously humbling and fulfilling.
SVB