James Hackett

Amazing is how I would describe Saturday night. I had a blast being part of Street Fest and an innaugural Secret Wars Battle.

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I like underground. I like the vibe of saying I was there at that moment when something was just happening. I do not have any major problems with people doing things in a big way, that is fine. I just like the way the underground world operates.

There is a real sense of people and it is the fakers you see on the outskirts trying to find a way in and not the other way around. In an underground world you don’t have to suck up to anyone to prove yourself and claim your space, you just have to show what you got. Put your sweat to the ground and let the crowd validate you.

I was at a promotional event for the upcoming Street Fest. We painted some on part of this Bar’s wall. It was amazing to be in the middle of that freestyling beats, freestyling bikers, skateboarders, parkour, capoiriera. Best part of it for me was seeing all the people of all kinds willing to get down and dirty and draw on a wall on the side of the street. Good times.

Lazy title aside I had some fun yesterday. Gearing up for Trinidad Street Fest we decided to do this impromptu thing. All it  involved was myself on a piece of ply, Some music by Detnator some bikers and Capoeira.

Our mission involved creating a small buzz for the upcoming Street Fest. I am a new Street Artist so I was a little uneasy being that guy. I pulled it off tho, we had a decent crowd of curious people. The security let us run for for about 15-20 minutes before they started to get nervous with the bike riders rolling around. I did not even realise anything going on besides trying to pain on a wet board and failing markers ( when anything can go wrong it will). I made the best of it. That was an electrifying evening. I had fun and went back to school to finish my fashion assignments.

More coming Thursday. Photo by Suelan http://www.facebook.com/SuelanPhotography. Check out Trinidad Street Fest’s Page here.

More sketching. I like just doing different angles on the face and just portions of it.

Hello it’s been a while lets start some new conversations.

Started working with some awesome paper given to me by my friend Cecilia. This is from a class project but I have some plans  cooking up for them. Bejeweled paisley and ting watch meh flexing!

We have an ongoing project at school this semester working with established designers in the field. We chose a topic based beforehand and we found out who our designer was a week later.

I am working with Zadd and Eastman (Nigel Eastman) who will oversee our concepts from start to finish and critique etc as we exectute. I have survived round one, which involved showing my sketches, fabric and colour story. It is going to be very Project runway like. Should be fun!

Having  fun grabbing everything by the horns and just going for it. Of course there are mistakes inside there but I believe that vulnerability is teaching me things. There is no sense of life if you have no understanding of how important it is to you.

I have always taken risks, and somewhere along the lines I let go of that for safer ventures, too much thinking not enough doing, too much technique and not enough intuition.

This is no longer the case.

The image above is printed in this month’s issue of Caribbean Beat.

Getting ready to launch a new web comic  this Sunday. Admittedly it is not for everyone just a way for me to vent some stuff and fool around with my chibi art. I guess it will be roughly based on personal experiences so take that as you may.

It goes on and I am glad to be here again for a next year. To be honest, I celebrate my New year when Ash Wednesday comes around. I think all Trinbagonians should really.

Anyways, the  past few months were a lot of work but a lot of fun and I am a bit energized to do new things and make new connections. I am currently working on a couple projects with detnator again which include compiling sketches for a sketchbook project as well as decorating their walls at the studio with a few friends ( Tracey Chan, Warren Leplatte and Dominic). Finally managed to get another version of WE DOES DRAW out will see about doing a next one before carnival at least.

In the mean time preparing for school next week, maybe I might remember my french this time!

Christmas coming soon and semester is almost done. Lot of work went in some new garments made and I did a lot of sewing. investigating something for a new project have me looking into things from historical Trinidad around the 19th century or so.

Post some sketches when I get to that.

So I finished my 3rd actual complete garment over the weekend. Construction classes are starting to get intense and I am seeing my sewing deficiencies showing through. I am proud however of what I was able to finish. Something blue, something comic/video game inspired and urban. These are the kind of clothing I hope to make.

I have more or less gotten over my troubles at the beginning of the semester, it is still tough, still got things to deal with but I am finding my direction with each step. This piece was inspired by the blue beetle. Next week for corsets I am feeling wonder woman. Wish me luck!