Drawing From The Heart
By Marli Coulupe

Maria couldn’t wait for her fashion/design class to start. She had images in her mind of beautiful clothes; all designed by her…she would have her own line, own style. She told herself that for this class, she had the ability to blow the competition away-or at least her classmates. All the other collage students around her looked just average… much too normal and ordinary to design fantastic clothing. The teacher; a flamboyant looking young woman, opened the door to her small studio…and there the surprises began.

Maria soon realized that she was the only one in the room that hadn’t taken the class before. All the other pupils instantly went to tables and materials. She went up and introduced herself to some of the more fashion-conscious looking ones, but most just said hello, and then went back to work. Determined to win their respect, Maria raced over to the teacher, who handed her a worksheet.

Aw! She thought to herself as she looked over the instructions, how boring! The lesson was rather dull. The students were required to come up with and draw a pair of regular, size 4 pants. The diagrams had to include all the measurements ‘just for practice’, and had to have a simple design. No matter what the assignment was though, Maria was sure that she could make it at least a bit interesting. She made her pants a turquoise color, with little hearts on the pockets. They looked great; she could wear them to school!

When the whole class was done with the diagram, they swapped with one another, and critiqued the other person’s work. Maria traded with a small, quiet girl she had noticed earlier. At a first glance, the girl’s design looked just like a pair of pants you might find in a department store, but then Maria looked closer. It was amazing! Every part of the design looked real, like a picture. The color looked perfect against the simple criss-crosses that ran along the sides. Everything about it looked pulled together, very chic and yet simple. Maria turned to the girl, astonished. She felt bashful now, looking at her own, sloppy work.

“What’s your name again?” The girl questioned suddenly, unsurely.

“Maria. I just adore your design…how did you ever get this good?” The girl suddenly became quiet, and looked solemn. She seemed like she didn’t want the complement…and that she had nothing to say for Maria’s work. Maria broke the silence with an offer,

“Want to get some pizza after class?” The mousy girl looked shocked, but nodded without hesitation. Maria had one more question; “What is your name, anyways?”

“Lani, Lani Hertum.”

“Well, Lani, I guess I’ll see you soon!” And with that, Maria sped off towards the teacher to hand in her work. The teacher looked at it somewhat disdainfully, but still allowed her to leave. The excitable girl wrote down the homework (‘Design a t-shirt with only one design on it, which must be an object from around your home) and left for the pizza parlor down the road for the university.

At the parlor, Lani began to overcome her shyness. She and Maria talked endlessly about design, their favorite designers, where they shopped, etc. After awhile, they decided to start their homework. Maria drew a pink carnation in full bloom. There was one sitting in a slim vase in her dorm room, and it always inspired her when she looked at it. The background of the shirt was a deep maroon camouflage. This wasn’t a particularly exciting assignment, but she knew Lani could make it so. The two eagerly traded papers.

When Maria saw Lani’s shirt design, she knew that this was true, from the heart designing. The shirt’s main picture was a flower, as was her own. This flower though….it was terribly beautiful, but yet it looked rather shy. It was a simple, dyed blue rose, anyone could see that. What you could also see though, was a small and shy, yet very gifted girl, peeking out between the leaves.

“Oh my gosh…how in the world did you do this?” Maria couldn’t help but exclaim. Lani’s answer was said slowly and simply:

“Some things are drawn with a pen, but are really just that; ink. Other things…other things are created by the heart.”