Former MFA Graduate Student to Appear on The Martha Stewart Show
Wednesday, September 12, 2007Julie Barlow Dunbar, a 1998 MFA graduate in visual arts, will appear on the September 24 airing of The Martha Stewart Show to demonstrate her particular sewing technique and promote her sewing-products company, girlpopcorn. While at Clemson, Julie specialized her MFA degree in sculpture, and although the work she did in graduate school did not focus around sewing, she did sew when creating some of her sculptures. She commented, 'I have always found sewing to be a form of instant gratification and a way to make cool gifts for my family and friends. Through experimentation, I came up with a way to do free-hand machine embroidery (that's what I call it). The programmable machines were way out of my price range, and I wanted to do my own designs. After great response to the gifts I figured I would try and make a company.' She was asked to appear on The Martha Stewart Show upon entering her work into a juried craft show. 'It was at the craft show that I was immediately approached by a producer of the show who asked if my process is something I could teach and if I would want to do it on the show. I think this will have a major impact on my little company; my website is being updated right now to be able to handle orders. The timing of the show couldn't be better as my daughter is starting preschool allowing me to have actual time to devote to work,' said Julie. In response to word of Julie’s upcoming appearance, Dr. David Detrich, Julie’s thesis advisor, said, 'I am very excited, of course, but not surprised as Julie was one of our better graduates from the MFA program - ambitious and highly engaged in her profession.' When reflecting back on her time at Clemson, Julie noted, 'Ah Clemson, I loved grad school. The environment was absolutely perfect for me. I woke up, went to the studio, went home, went to bed. That was the life. I really liked that all the MFA disciplines were involved in each others' work. At larger schools, it’s a bit more segregated. And nothing beats a good Disco Inferno. It is a foundry pour complete with DJ, disco ball (made by me), and refreshments. Everyone is invited to see what the foundry is all about. Dave did everything he could to get us to see outside the studio and to get everyone else to see in.' For more information about Julie's company, visit http://girlpopcorn.com, and be sure to tune in to WLOS (channel 13 in the GSA area) at 10:00 EST on September 24. To find out more about Clemson's graduate program in visual arts, visit www.grad.clemson.edu/programs/VisArts.
