Project Insect Event and others...

The Project Insect event went by without a hitch just a little over a week ago and I thought it was alot of fun and very informative! Considering it was primarily a children's event, I was surprised that more adults attended than kids! Maybe it was the time of year or time of day, but where were the kids? Other than that I have no complaints with the event and I hope that all of our guests had a wonderful time! The artists and creators behind Project Insect; Jessa and James Huebing-Retinger, were great and very knowledgeable! They did a terrific job turning our already surreal boutique into an insect lovers wonderland! Our walls were covered with Jessa's beautiful oil paintings of various endangered insects as well as some pastel paintings that were of a smaller scale and more affordable! They have fun mens, womens and kids sized t-shirts and various poster reprints of her best paintings! They even have stickers and postcard sets for the guests not wanting to commit to full sized serious works of art. A little something for everyone!

This 2 day event was one not to be missed and we went all out for it! The first day guests were treated to Jessa painting her newest piece, live! They had an insect trunk show and cute hand-painted tattoos by James! We had Project Insects newest book, "How Mildred Became Famous" read aloud by the authors as well as signed! The second day we continued with book signings and added a little something different by doing instructional slide-shows on different insects throughout the world with their differences and attributes. I think that those who attended the event without prior interest in insects, left with an appreciation for them and our fellow entomologists! But don't fret!...

Even if you missed the event (shame on you!) we still have everything set up at our shop like nothing ever left, except of course the artists! You still have time to get your signed copy of their children's book. You still have the chance to view Jessa's paintings up close and in person, we even saved the bug trunk show exhibit! KUZU will have the entire exhibit up until Tuesday January 5th, which is also the day we will be doing a drawing for one of Jessa's prints! Just one dollar and you can win a $45 print! With all the proceeds benefiting the Tara Mahayana Buddhist Center! It's your last chance, so don't miss out!

Re-discover your love of Bugs!

Part of KUZU's inspiration stems from our desire to be an experience rather than just a place to shop. To accomplish this we decided to hold quarterly themes with which to create our clothing lines around as well as the over-all apperence of our boutique and sculptures. When we had our grand opening ceremony the theme was Environ, which to us was our experience and interpretation of our surroundings in the store/ warehouse. Our murals, clothing and sculptures reflected this. For our Fall Fashion Show/ Re-Opening we had the Age of Aquarius as our central theme. KUZU completely changed everything that just four months before we had struggled to produce. We re-painted the murals, the walls, re-organized the store front, made new sculptures and a fresh Fall line of clothing in response to our new Aquarius theme. We work extremely hard to bust out completely new experiences for our customers and KUZU plans to go all out for our up-coming theme! We have a new Accessories line, a Spring Fashion Show and line, new sculptures and gallery openings as well as fun family events planned monthly for the following quarter!

The new theme is centered around Insects and Nature! And to kick off our new theme we have an event that is not to be missed!

KUZU presents:

PROJECT INsect: with it's artists Jessa and James Huebing-Retinger. This two-day event; starting Friday December 18th (11am till 8pm) and Saturday December 19th (11am till 5pm), will be an informative and fun event for kids of ALL ages! And best of all, it's FREE! They not only have a 'Bug Trunk Show' (6:30pm on Friday) and hand-painted insect tattoos planned, but a LIVE book reading (at 1pm and 4pm both days) and signing of their newly published book about Mildred the Praying Mantis! Jessa and James are truly talented artists and fun, genuine individuals, and even if you don't like bugs and live ones give you the willies, their beautiful insect inspired paintings will truly inspire and amaze you! By viewing their insects under magnification they carefully and delicately paint every tiny detail onto canvas of (sometimes) enormous proportions! Their artwork alone is worth seeing!

So for the bug lovers and art lovers in us all, come out and meet Project Insect, experience KUZU and learn about the world of insects through art! With 10% of the proceeds supporting the Tucson's Children's Museum! http://www.tucsonchildrensmuseum.org/index.php

hours open...

Kuzu is now open tuesdays thru fridays 11am to 5pm..........saturdays by appt. only 520.624.7290

KUZU's Fall 2009/10 Ready-To-Wear Line

Before KUZU closed shop for Tucson's slow summer months, we celebrated by having KUZU's first annual "Paint Your Fashion" event on Tuesday May 26th. The idea of this event was to incorporate our theme of recycling fabrics and to involve the citizens of Tucson in new methods of expressing creativity. Those who attended were asked to donate any unwanted fabric they had laying around and decorate it while they were participating. They could dye their fabric, paint with acrylics, bleach sections, spray paint or all of the above! Not only were we gaining more stock in fabric but, planning to use as much of the painted fabric as possible in creating KUZU's Fall clothing line. With that in mind we urged any involved to be as creative as possible and to just have fun designing!
I admit that it was a risky idea to base our line around fabric we had no creative control over. in the end we were left with the daunting task of somehow putting this all together in a cohesive line. But as you will see, even though these fabrics weren't painted by professionals, nor painted with a universal theme in mind, they go together extremely well!




This outfit consists of a deconstructed Alternative Apparel t-shirt and two-tone harem pants with an elastic waistband and tapered legs.

This outfits is comprised of a silk remnant ruffle t-shirt and a two-tone high-waisted pencil skirt. One side is lame fabric and the other is hand-dyed fabric from our fashion painting event. The skirt is fully lined and blind-hemmed.

This amazing outfit is another silk remnant ruffle t-shirt with a beautiful thrifted silk ruffle skirt, lined and fitted with a zipper.

This outfit is another silk remnant ruffle t-shirt of Japanese chirimen fabric donated to our fashion painting event. The skirt is also from the event and is nylon tarp that was spray-painted with different earth tones and constructed to resemble a "bubble".

This dress is cotton drop-cloth hand-painted with acrylics at our fashion painting event. Each side is adorned with a dragonfly, one of each sex. The dress can be worn either way, front or back and will effect how the cowl collar drapes.

This dress is constructed out of camel colored wool and is fully lined with thrifted bed linen material. The front is embellished with Boa Constrictor rib-cage bones and the sides of each hip are extended outwards with thick bands of corresponding fabric!

This two-piece outfit is a thrifted mens XL t-shirt taken in to be a mid-drift baring tee. The skirt is comprised of Roberto Cavalli remnant silk aand unlined.

This outfit is another one of our silk remnant ruffle t-shirts. The bottom is donated fabric from our fashion painting event and turned into a high-waisted pencil skirt.

This outfit is another silk remnant ruffle t-shirt. The skirt is a two-toned high-waisted pencil skirt. One side is painted and hand-dyed from our event and the other is lame fabric. The skirt is partially lined and embellished with side snaps and black feathers along the hem.

All photographs taken by Stephanie Lew.

The obligatory "about me" start-up post!

   KUZU is a mother/ daughters run art gallery and fashion boutique hybrid.  We operate under the mantra: "One mans trash is another mans treasure" and hope to successfully integrate this eco-friendly philosophy into Tucson, Arizona's fashion scene (or at least help to create more of a scene).

   KUZU creates one-of-a-kind pieces not seen anywhere else and in very limited production.  You'll find metal sculptural works of art created and constructed by theasianwelder.coms Hazel Colditz, as per our gallery.  As well as garments upcycled from top-of-the-line fashion house remnants and reconstructed ready-to-wear from your average thrift store finds into fabulous threads.

   Because KUZU is such a unique concept for Tucson, Az, as well as located in an uncommon spot for a boutique, we also offer our wares online at kuzu.etsy.com.  we are now (being a new shop and all) directing efforts into online social networking through Myspace, Facebook and most recently this blog.  In doing so we hope to create more awareness of our salon in the online Tucson and fashion community.  This blog will include KUZU's various stories of inspiration, sketches, rants and raves on current trends, links to influential fashion critics and designers and hopefully this will be another facet of our creativity.  

   We hope to inform our readers not only about our various sales and new merchandise, but also about KUZU's monthly events, charitable and otherwise, for the city of Tucson!

  

Arizona Daily Wildcat - Kuzu turns trash into treasures

Arizona Daily Wildcat - Kuzu turns trash into treasures

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