The Ocean and Clothing Design.

Previously I posted about making my own clothes. Well this is a collection of images of pieces I have made. I total of about 140$ was spent of fabrics, mainly organic and environmentally sensitive manufacturing. Not everything is here, because some pieces have gone to new homes already, but lets just say, I got my moneys worth!

Going forward I think what I will focus on is tops and swimwear. My rationale is that I want to truly learn a couple of items, and get really strong at variations of those items. Leaving pants and shoes to be my only shopping needs.

Finally, I have to say, that since I have been making over 1/2 of all my clothing, trading with and/or gifts friends, I have been able to salute two of my core interests. The ocean,  and clothing design.

I get to stay current on the looks I love…
I get to save money for a few true designer pieces every year…
and most importantly,
I contribute far less crap into the world for land fills and ocean dumping…

Inspired by Blade Runner and Old Soda Fountain Counters.

Sleeve assembly

Reverse headbang always a good thing.

Organic slub top, shape inspired by Manta Rays.

Organic slub top for Anna. Inspired by the old Cousteau crew.

Organic slub top, inspired by the Bradbury Building Los Angeles and the flight of the Manta Ray.

New organic cotton top paired with Italian wool dress pants for a day at the office.

Working my own designs, paired with Osklen leather shoes and Hussein Chayalan blazer, at the office!

Cowl neck swimsuit transforms to high neck, across the shoulder shape. Very open back.

Pant skirt and racer back. Organic stretch tonal stripes. Very whaley in feel.

Jungle, the scraps bikini.

Recently in a Geography lecture Dr. Leslie Edwards, an impassioned expert of biogeography, shared a fact about ocean issues that was frightful! The weight of plastic in the ocean far outweighs the plankton. While this fact is most crucial in ocean gyres, no place in the ocean is safe. Another examination finds that washing machine waste water puts enormous amounts of fibers from clothing into the ocean, 1900 fibers can wash off a single garment during one wash cycle. Now consider this, if you will, the types of fibers washing off each garment can become a real issue, so if you’re using organic and natural fibers such as organic cottons, bamboos, wools, beechwood, and seaweed, you will not be washing away the same detrimental particles that are found in fabrics like polyester and acrylic. This should be a simple choice, even if you’re not making your own gear, you can choose sound fabrics. All you have to do is ask yourself; in order to look good, do I really need to take a dump on the ocean?

Chris Jordan shares images of what happens to sea creatures mistaking plastics as food, tiny fibers are included in this catastrophic outcome:

Midway: Message from the Gyre by Chris Jordan

 

 

 

 

 

Style is moot when faced with the pain of magnificent sea creatures. (This does not mean you can not have both.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can consider all sorts of items in your day-to-day life and see how it may wind up being the demise of another’s life. The purpose of this post is just a brief example of the direct connection between a superficial luxury love, fashion, and an instrumental worldwide amenity ‘the ocean‘.

Plastics inside the fish that we eat.

Midway: Message from the Gyre by Chris Jordan

(So my post here, is just a follow-up to share some of my complete pieces of clothing.) If your thinking about making your own clothes and are interested in the logistics:

- it takes from 1-5 hours to make a top, depending on detail work.
- it takes under a yard to make a top,
- it takes about 2-4 hours to make a swimsuit, depending on detail work.
- it takes under a yard to make a swimsuit.
- most organic cottons, bamboos and modals range from about 5-10$ a yard.

Or consider the fabrics you buy or the designer you support when shopping for clothing. These two considerations make a huge impact on our sea.

“I think, Sebastian, therefore I am” -Pris

The sounds of electronic innovations are surpassed by the language of the Weddell seal. Right now in my world, finals are approaching, and I find sanity, clarity, and inspiration in knowing this twist on the apex of triumph for certain musicians to program the perfect sound. In fact, sometimes a lifetime of experimentation can go into creating the perfect sound. Yet, alive in the same world as us, before musical programming, perfect sound has existed. This perfect sound is the language of the Weddell seals.

Weddell Seals of Antarctica

Fabrications of reality are a reoccurring theme that I am both fascinated and repelled by. Is the air of modern mankind a mirror of the Hollywood style of continuity editing? Currently I am writing a paper about the parallelism of the film Blade Runner and human interaction with the natural environment.

In the coming weeks totally look out for new posts about the awesome things I am learning and trying. For now….

…I will let the ‘sounds speak’ for themselves…

Image still from Werner Herzog's "Encounters at the End of the World" (2007)

…one day when I was swimming off the coast of Miami looking back at the mainland….

Odd how things line up, so much meaning and interconnected reasoning vs convenience or happenstance. Whatever the perspective one takes on life, this is a small collection of events that occurred in my life. Connecting them is yours to do with as you wish….

About 2 years ago I found myself at a place where I knew I was not doing enough about the things that mattered to me. I felt as though I was semi a drift in a world that had no advantages left for me. I would talk about the things I cared for with little to no seasoned understanding. I spoke from an innate place of value but not from a competitively developed understanding.

This is when I knew I had to go back to school! I shared this new proclamation with my husband and father and with their excitement I sprung into the world of Environmental Studies.

…where I would land in this only time would tell.

So, approximately 1 month later I was swimming off the coast of Miami looking back at the mainland, at my hotel and the beautiful Deco skyline. When low and behold a new pal came up from behind me and suggested I was looking the wrong way for beauty. It was a “Right Whale“, 1 ton of epic majesty! Right there, no more than 5 feet away from me! He came up and made that story book blowhole sound and I knew it was for me (ok seriously, I didn’t know it was for me, but go with it)!

There was an old treasure hunter 30 or so feet away screaming shark and my husband frozen solid from fear, muttering “baby, what was that ” and then there was me swimming north up the coast line looking into the eyes of a big ol’ whale! I mean the eyes, they were incredible. The size of coarse was also something, but it was the eyes, and the sheer fact that as I was looking at him, his eyes were looking back at me!

This adventure was short lived, less then 7 minutes of my life to be precise. But, never the less, this was one of the most crucial moments of my life for permeating a memory and a meaning.

Exactly one month after this day in Miami, I came across a horrible story. It was a story about the Navy development of military testing in the calving areas of Right Whales. This Naval development could ultimately be the end for this amazing creature! Oh my god, I turned to my husband like a pathetic puddle of flesh and started crying before I could finish my sentence. All I could mutter was “It would just be horrible to know that these guys are all gone…”. I meant to say so much more, I meant to sound so much more intelligent in my response to this article I meant so much, but instead it was just snotty grunts and grade school language. It was devastating.

Less then one month later I was enrolled in college after 16 years away. And I am now studying Geography with a focus on Marine Environments. I know that there are many layers to the loss and gains of different species and I understand that some find this to be a natural ebb and flow. Darwin makes a grand example for this through his theory of Natural Selection. I am not here to argue that or to discount any educated and experienced theories. I am merely here to say, the way the world is today is far from anything natural on all too many parts of the earth or even with it’s atmosphere for that matter . There fore, often I question the validity of dated theories on existence. I do not believe we must loose species, I do believe there is enough room on this planet for all the species that already exist and some! It is humans who have been relegated to a position of responsibility through our autonomous prowess. While I am learning my place in this responsibility through study and exploration, I look to groups like Sea Shepherd and say thank you for lighting up my path and carrying more than your weight on any given day. Because, I personally know someone who is concerned for the future of his species and he told me this one day when I was swimming off the coast of Miami looking back at the mainland…..

I am now selling hand made whales in which 20% of all sales go to supporting the efforts of Sea Shepherd. If you know someone who loves whales or you love whales consider giving one of my little guys a home! 

Handmade organic whales to order.

These guys are already living in Pennsylvania!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Made with certified organic and or environmentally sound fabrics. (I research the companies who make my fabrics if they are not GOTS certified).

You can buy them through:
my ebay link
paypal me directly: paulitabennettmartin@gmail.com

Terms and conditions:

• Each whale is hand made to order so please allow up to 2 weeks for your baby to ship, meaning if you order on a Monday your whale will be on the way by 2 Monday’s later, no longer but often sooner!!!
• Upon ordering please note whether you would like embroidered eyes or button eyes.
• If you are ordering 3 or more whale calves I will waive all shipping and handling.
• 2$ Shipping & Handling per whale anywhere in the Continental United States.
• Handmade means each whale is similar in style yet totally unique.
• Whales are between 12-14 inches in length.
• I can ship worldwide but additional charges will apply.

Organic Activist Whales!

The calving ground....

The lost art of window design, an abstract of the forgotten ‘artist’ in fashion.

The lost art of window displays. I often romanticize about the years gone by where looking into a department store window was filled with wonder. There was a time when I was a youngster that the windows were like vignettes to the imaginations of designers, instead of dead space to house “product”. As a youngster the emotions would come over me, I would look and think “wow, who does that, who gets to go back there”. Not any longer, now windows seem to serve nothing more than product placement, you walk by and maybe at best, you say “oh I need to get some of those”. Well I am sure this is just fine for mass consumerism and big box sales, but there is story behind style, a story that ought to be worth hearing and I for one am listening.

Turn of the Century Kennington's Department Store Location

 

 

 

Recently my mother in law told me her grand father, Dennis Dean, was a window artist, it was really, truly, a job. It was something that took consideration and skill. He designed the windows for high-end department stores in the South called  Kennington’s. Dennis would go in to work and create complete worlds, where there would be a window with high-end hunting clothes, and naturally a scene of hunters would be set. Yet in another display there would be a scene of ultimate glamour and fashion, untouchable fantasy for most. Dennis would set the standard for everyone’s “I want” list leaving the wealthy to deck themselves out in all the finest while leaving the poorer people to save all year round trying! These were stories, little worlds if you will, that he set up to do more than just sell “product” they were to entertain the imagination in everyone.

Now a days try stepping foot into a Macy’s, its a wonder if you don’t trip and do a toothplant over a toppled pile if INC sweaters, much less even see a window display of any kind. Along with so many other plague like symptoms of mass production and consumerism, the loss of window art is chipping away at the excitement of fashion and design. I believe the magic of incredible things telling fanciful stories is still out there, but where?

 

 

Cue cymbals:
Kristopher Hegland the artist behind displays for Lanvin is where. An artist before a salesman, a creator before a consumer and a statement before a demand. Lanvin a name which expresses the lavish component of fashion design, has acquired an artist who sinks his own set of madness & calculation into creating an image backed by substance.
Previous to becoming a visual merchandiser for Lanvin, Kristopher was the co creator of the conceptual clothing collections Cardiac. Much of the pieces that came from Cardiac were created with found objects and other curiosities. Hegland, also a seasoned painter, grew up in a backdrop where his toes hung off the southern tip of the United States.
With Hegland at the helm for visual displays, Lanvin seems to honestly be demanding accountability on all fronts or shall I say “window fronts” for fashion. Together they forge forward into an abyss of imagination. Furthermore, no matter what the context Kristopher is working within, his general assembly of objects and style evoke the senses of wonder, darkness and organic connection.

Kristopher Hegland for Lanvin (photo upside down @ artists request)

Last week I had a rad little chat with Kristopher and this is how it went:

P&S: Kristopher, what exactly is your current position with Lanvin?
KH: Sr. U.S. Visual Merchandiser

P&S: How long have you been doing displays and art direction?
KH: Forever! Starting in my front yard when I was a kid, every Halloween I would turn the yard into a graveyard. When I look back at the photos it was so pathetic, you know, 6-year-old stuff. But… I remember it being so good!

P&S: What were some projects you worked on before Lanvin? Do you have any favorites when you reach back?
KH: Cardiac projects for Art Basel. They were just us taking clothes and then creating an entire being.

P&S: With Lanvin, what do you hope to accomplish creatively in an ambiance?
KH: Comfort!

P&S: What would you say is the most crucial skill or expertise that you believe got you to this place in your career?
KH: Persistence and patience…. totally!

Ok wait… really? Are we really going to go through all the same old “oh you’re so important” ego stroking questions??? I do not think so. Hegland is an artist and as such lets take a moment to peel back his abstracts and see what really makes him tick…

The artist in one of his custom costumes.

P&S: Kris, I’m gonna say a word or phrase, your only going to have to rely with up to 3 words. These words should be the most immediate thoughts that come to your mind, ok?
KH: OK

P&S: Coolest Animal

KH: Leopard

P&S: Color
KH: Red

P&S: Place you never stop thinking about
KH: The Caribbean beaches

P&S: Flavor
KH: Ginger stuff in dark and stormy

P&S: Sound
KH: Sound

P&S: Bathrooms
KH: Letters

P&S: Feeling
KH: Baoding balls

P&S: Waking up
KH: Going to sleep

P&S: Shape
KH: Wooden star blocks                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

P&S: Era in history

KH: Civil War

P&S: Internet
KH: Addictive

P&S: People
KH: (grunt!)

P&S: Smell
KH: Not so good

P&S: The sun
KH: I love the sun, it’s warm!

P&S: All right… you cheated on two.

Kristopher at work...

Kristopher Hegland for Lanvin

Kristopher Hegland for Lanvin

Kristopher Hegland for Lanvin

Thank you to Eileen Garcia for permission to use her art and thank you to Kristopher Hegland for sharing some time with me and for being patient in my quest for a more suitable understanding of an artist….

Hegland for Cardiac, Elle Magazine

 

Another face of Kristopher Hegland

Portrait of Hegland by Eileen Garcia

(Wolfman photo courtesy of Eileen Garcia Photography)

One mans garbage is another mans hand bag (and a really nice one at that)?

Is it really the responsibility for a fashion designer to consider environmental stewardship? Chances are the answer to this question comes back with a list of haunting images for what dismantled, discarded, exploited and mass-produced consumerism has replaced a body of work, in which we have forgotten fashion.

Royal Black Collection

 

 

 

 

At one point fashion was more than simple trends, it was more than just a purchase. It was an investment to a statement and an admiration for style and collections were the stories of designers.

Since those days, where ever they went, we have wandered astray and allowed for the ugliest of circumstances to come about. Not only forgoing fashion as art but subsequently oppressing people, animals and land in the process of filling our closets….

 

 

 

Like a phoenix from the ashes rises Osklen by Oskar Metsavaht, an environmentally conscious clothing line. Metsavaht is a designer who takes responsibility for where fashion has gone and attempts to renegotiate an ugly contract with consumers! Based out of Brazil, the Osken collections have single-handedly reinvigorated the fashion world, competitively addressing the classic respects to design while completely obliterating their place in the modern world. Osklen’s silhouettes ebb and flow just as the true form of the human body does, speaking to beauty and awkwardness equally. The collections have meaning, substance and completion for the present world while charging down the path of the future. Osklen’s collections beg for the individual to express them self with subtly avant guard shapes and angles and alongside highbrow innovation. Osklen brings the sand, the sun, the stars and the sea to the urban existence.

“Everybody got mixed feelings about the function and the from, everybody got to elevate from the norm” – Neil Peart, Rush, Vital Signs, 1980

Fenix Collection

Osklen Ready to Wear

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This Osklen presence is no smoking mirror, it is the real thing, a living breathing house of eco-fashion, a time sensitive culmination that speaks to where the world is and how we must care for our “whole” environment as much as our need for “stuff”. Metsavaht is making great advances in the world of textiles. Amongst the exciting materials being used are discarded skins of the pirarucu, salmon and tilapia. After sourcing another man’s garbage, these skins are processed and tanned using green methods and supplying fare wage jobs for the local communities. Metsavaht is not alone in these projects, he has cultivated a world-class incubator along with others, for the advancements of green textiles within the E Institute, a non-profit private civil association, created and based in Rio de Janeiro, dedicated to the promotion of Brazil’s calling as a “country of sustainable development”. Birth out of the E Institute comes E Fabrics, which I am sure you can guess what their mission is! Textiles, like those being used in the Osklen collections, were nothing more than garbage before groups like these brought heightened concern to fabrics, design and environmental responsibility. Furthermore, textiles like these were also only a “neat idea” until forward thinkers, like Oskar Metsavaht, gave them new life.

Oskar Metsavaht is also an appointed representative for UNESCO since 1999. Save it… I know… What does that really truly mean? The United Nations, what do they really get done, another glorified puppetry center? Well I can not answer that for you in one brief essay length post, but I can say that the combination of connections back to the man behind Osklen is completely inspiring. The concept and actions behind Osklen show that fashion and design do not have to leave blood on your hands. These connections draw a profound depth to a collection of clothing. These connections also set a new standard in fashion and push boundaries that were once set for aesthetic beauty. Whether an individual continues to walk blindly through the world of shopping or not, the playing field for style has just become illuminated and I for one know which team uniform I want to be wearing!

So while I have danced around the question “Is it really the responsibility for a fashion designer to consider environmental stewardship”, I have provided an abstract in response. The truth is that whatever part one plays in the world a portion of the responsibility is theirs. To carry a portion of the weight in this is where we depart from the singular identity of a profession and become a presence, Osklen is that presence is in fashion and design introducing endless possibilities in fashion.

“I feel the sense of possibilities”. – Neil Peart, Rush, Camera Eye 1980

The beautiful people I know applying Osklen to their lives….

Lou Dickinson

To read more from Ms. Lou’s fashion and design perspectives visit Gres Matter.

Edgemont

Himalaya Tee

D&K

Optics by Osklen

Conscious Clothing, Less Blood on my Hands.

For years my choices have been limited in clothing due to price verses style. Easily put, I like expensive stuff. Then a voice started to overwhelm me, it was asking who the hell are the actual designers of the things I like? what inspires their collections? do they even have collections any longer? What I found was that identifying any connection to larger label designers is near impossible. With that being said there was a serious disconnect for me concerning the things I wrap my body in every day. This is when I decided to take circumstances into my own hands, I got a Bernina 801 Sport sewing machine and made a conscious decision to begin making my basics and cut back on my shopping. I have learned some really great things about making my own clothes. First, it does not take any longer than days of shopping. Second, it costs about a quarter of the costs of shopping. While I am not making every thing I wear, I have cut down to purchasing only shoes, accessories, underwear and 1-2 pairs of pants a year. As my sewing gets better, I will begin making my own underwear and pants as well.

Now I own a gorgeous workhorse of Swiss design (big up) as well as an ultimately rewarding fact that making my own gear requires less blood on my hands (big BIG up).

Let me share a little win win info with you on the sewing matter, last year I spent less than $100 on fabric, out of this I got a tunic dress and a slub boat neck top, plus three tops for other friends. I also made bikini pieces, all casual but stylized sportswear. This year I will spend right around $100 on fabric again and I will make a minimum of 5 raglan tops a skirt and a full piece swim suit. Leaving me only to shop for shoes and pants again. Pretty much I am cutting out over half of the shopping a normal person does, and I will make clothes that last longer, cost less and look exactly how I want them to. Buying all my fabric at the beginning of the year creates parameters for that year’s look and pushes my creativity. I pick a color palette, usually 2-3 colors and a print, then I am challenged to choose a couple of bodies to design, cut and sew, once I am finished with the 1st round of items for me, I have enough to create a duplicate for another person, usually the 2nd time around is even better. Each item takes a full days work to complete, that includes the deign aspect. Generally I can look forward to 5-7 hours worth of commitment to a piece. The best part about the work is coming out with precisely what I want while remaining in touch with the entire process, even the textiles. Plus with all the money I save from not buying sweatshop crap, I can buy a few actual designer pieces from people like Osklen, Henrik Vibskov, Osbourne Shoes, Industry of All Nations or Dieppa Restrepo. I can also do trade with people like Sarah Green custom leather shoes.

Sarah Green Custom Leather Shoes

Hand Cobbled In The Crescent City

 

 

 

Whatever the matter sewing is making fashion attainable, intimate, rewarding and essential again…..

 

 

 

I have found some great info out there about textiles and have begun shopping with a top-notch independent supplier out of L.A., High End Fabrics. Here I can make my connection with the sewing experience one step stronger, after all, the end does not justify the means. Places like High End Fabrics, and it’s founder Juan Carlos Cardenas, make it accessible to shop for environmentally friendly fabrics. Some of the fabrics are even certified GOTS or Global Organic Textile Standard. What is GOTS? Nutshell, it is a certification that is based on definitions in organic processes from harvesting of raw materials to environmental and social responsibility. While GOTS is not the only thing you need to ensure you are buying from a low impact textile manufacturer you can also look into the practices of manufacturers directly. For example, I purchase many either GOTS certified or fabrics made by companies like Lenzing who use sustainably forested beechwood trees and environmentally friendly bleaching process for pulps. Lenzing produces awesome modals and lyocell as well as tencel and cottons. Both lyocell and tencel are great fabrics for modern design style and are well-respected for environmentally friendly manufacturing processes.

Environmentally Conscious Fabrics from High End Fabrics

Another great way to work on conscious clothing is to shop vintage fabrics, know this folks higher up on the evolutionary ladder of style, vintage fabrics are not all kitchy crafty holly hobby shit! There is some hot stuff out there waiting to become a silhouette…. Think vintage silk button downs with modern Garcons lines! Think vintage Pendleton wool fabric in sharp Gary Numan-esque peacoat! Think about the money you will save to spend on “real” designer pieces to add to your custom-made clothing. Think anything you want, spend a few bucks and some hours and you will have exactly what started as just a thought.

100% Promodal Mini Pique Jersey Knit

Lenzing made Linen Rayon Poly Slub Knit

Totally organic oatmeal next to more delicious promodal from High End Fabrics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Juan Carlos at High End Fabrics is giving a special discount, 70 cents off per yard to shoppers who mention protectionandstrength.wordpress.com, just go to: High End Fabrics Etsy or High End Fabrics Ebay and upon purchase, mention protectionandstrength that’s it, save on saver!!!

Ed Mass founder of Yes It’s Organic has an awesome article about modern environmentally friendly fabrics in Natural Life Magazine, read it at Natural Life Magazine

Mexican wool neck/chest piece

Made with wool from southern Mexico. Very formative handle to the fabric makes this piece go from subdued and secondary to a complete statement.

23:53

Yesterday I worked out to a song that was 23 minutes and 53 seconds long. I did not get bored. Instead I became completely a part of a feeling, part of which was my own, feeling my body and what is happening inside of it. The other part of the feeling I became was one of building commitment and trying. This was the feeling of creation. I thought about the layers of process to making the song, I thought about all of the wonderful possibilities for inspiration that these musicians drew upon. I thought about the pains and joys the songwriter has experienced throughout the course of a life to come to place of writing a 23 minute and 53 second song.

Furthermore I drew upon these considerations and found myself completely forgetting the length of the song, only to come to a sudden end of the song, but my sensitivity for the preciousness of life was continuing forward, my vulnerability was unleashed and I started to go over in my mind, the snippets our lives have been reduced to, the need for quick and catchy, for anything that creates some sort of fast rhythmic device for control over our moment to moment. Most songs in 2012 are lucky to see 3 minutes, most explanations are lucky to hold someone’s attention for more than 60 seconds, hell even Presidential campaign ads keep their words to a minimum opting out for beats, music and famous people styled out to secure their support. All of this proving that systematically, attention spans are being dissolved. Attention as I understand it, is a form of commitment, a piece of perseverance. It would seem a progressive species benchmarked on autonomy would surely never knowingly be lost from either of these qualities. As the masses continue to allow rapid vignettes of control to become pattern making for “types” of people.

Turn to music, real honest fucking music, there will be a 23 minute and 53 second song being made. And within every 23 minute and 53 second song, wisdom will be passed, spirit will be collected and human connectivity will thrive.

The song I was listening to was “Presences of Absences” by ASVA. ASVA Presences of Absences

Coming soon to a computer near you.

This January there will begin a collection of amazing profiles, stories, and basic banter flowing freely. Food. Fashion. Action. and Life., along with those who Protect it, this will be a place for their stories. For now in related news:  it rules to make whales, save whales,  just think of whales, WHALES WhAleS wHaLEs

No To The Ego Yes To The Spirit

Today there were statements in a conversation that chiseled out a space in my soul. Today there were connections made that explain while dismantling the very package of which I call my life. When I reflect upon these statements I constantly find myself back in a place of need for more of an understanding of Native American philosophies.
For years I have had a visual of my grandfather, whom I never met because he passed on far before I was born. The visual I had of him was always in a mountainous area alone, quiet, focused, possibly meditating. Today my uncle shared with me that while my grandfather was stationed in Japan for WW2, he would take his leave and go alone into Northern Japan to meditate close to Mt. Fuji. It is clear to me that this visual was more than a daydream or romantic picture, but it was a reoccurring vision… a vision. Many Native Americans believe “visions” are part of rights of passage and can be part of a healing process. What ever the tool is of the “vision”, it is clear that the people who understand the use of the “vision” are the people I want to be more like. I want to understand these connections while also being fearless to face the messy dismemberment that may sometimes be left in the wake of “visions”.
I also want to be surrounded by more of the beautiful sentiments of colors and symbolism of these honorable people, the way I have always felt surrounded by the grandfather I never met.