My "Nana" who taught me to sew wore aprons to protect her dresses.
Not my choice! A lab coat protects my clothing while working as an artist/teacher. What is the lesson I have tried to pass on to those who have studied with me?
The Problem- solving Process. By going through the steps Preparation, Incubation, Illumination and Verification, we reach the moment of insight known as the AHA moment, when we are certain we have solved the problem.

While reading I came upon a cognitive neuroscientist at Northwestern University. Mark Beeman has been trying to understand the AHA moment by using fMRI and EEG to trace brain activity. Several brain areas, including the pre-frontal cortex, "light up" in the Eureka moment of, insight, compared to solving problems analytically. This excited me, so I contacted Mark to ask for images I could use for my project. He sent some brain images and gave me permission to use them. My lucky day!

Now I needed to learn more about soft circuits and reactive garments. I took a week- long workshop at Shake Rag in Tennessee from Joanna Berzowska, founder of XS Labs. There I learned to create electrical circuits using conductive thread and fabric. My apron's brain could be made of corded fabric, but how about the light bulb? Inventables, an Internet hardware store, led me to a moldable product and three tries later I had molded a half light bulb. Matt Maiben helped me find and attach the right controller and LED lights for the project.

The switch on the floor is made of cloth connected to conductive ribbons that will illuminate the light bulb. The leads on the pre-frontal cortex cause the AHA! to blink.

It is a visual representation of how the mind works to solve a problem.

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