After graduating from Ball State University this past May with all sorts of pomp and circumstance, I realized that my world wasn’t about to change—it already had. I wished my college friends farewell, took the summer to recharge, and began again. What would I choose as my next step? How would I translate my freshly learned costume design skills into a legitimate career in the arts? The short answer is a styling and writing internship with PATTERN, but the long answer—creative intuition.
It did not take long to transition into my role at PATTERN. I was ready to learn new ways to create and make connections within the industry. I worked on flat lays, model test shoots, editorial projects, and a commercial wardrobe project. I instantly found tons of my costume design skills applying to fashion styling. There were a lot of times I had to think on the fly to find solutions to fix issues. Attention to detail, creating characters, and planning thoroughly all served me well. It was fun to imagine our models within the world we had created through shoot direction and styling. We met an Italian fashionista and a grunge alien babe between the two editorials I worked on. I loved learning both creative and interpersonal skills from each task I completed.
This internship was the best opportunity to learn about the broad Indianapolis art scene and gain insight into the professional art world. It was interesting to learn the differences between a full-day editorial shoot and a quick test shoot. I had control over the wardrobe for an editorial, but models bring their own garments for test shoots. To guide the test shoots, I found a color palette, used classic styles, and chose what clothing made the model feel comfortable. An editorial was easier in the sense that you worked with the model the entire day and built a relationship with the crew. The biggest challenge was staying energized—during my latest editorial, we all bonded over an afternoon Starbucks coffee run (and changing in our pop-up tent downtown).
The office community embraced us interns throughout the semester, constantly offering assistance and giggles around the morning meeting table. I was able to jump back into my love of writing through the mentorship of PATTERN’s digital magazine fellows, Cory and Katie. No idea was a bad idea—I never felt uncomfortable asking for help or worried that my thoughts would not be taken seriously. The ability to have this kind of freedom while learning is few and far between. I was used to working on theater productions that had a set vision, script, and theme. As a costume designer, I had the creative ability to make decisions about character, but not the entire project as a whole. Planning editorial shoots at PATTERN allowed me to stretch my creative process to encompass every aspect of project planning.
My internship skills and experiences were incredibly beneficial, but leaning into and believing in my creative intuition was the missing piece in my transition to becoming an emerging artist. At the beginning of the intern semester, I began reading The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity. This workbook by Julia Cameron highlights how to connect your artistry to the spiritual world. She describes artists as channels—we are placed here for the creative energy to work through us instead of overthinking our next creative move. Once I was able to envision myself as a channel for my work, it got easier to believe in what I was creating. Sure, I still needed to plan out my process and collaborate with others, but it was up to me to let go and let everything flow. I still am not entirely confident in what my next step is post-internship, but I now know the unknown is to be embraced.
