I CANNOT believe that is has been exactly 2 years since the first day of filming: Blown Away S3!
John Moran and Minhi England on the set of “Blown Away”
Pretty shortly after season 3 wrapped up filming, John Moran reached out and asked me to collaborate on a t-shirt design. Even though we were competitors, we became very good friends after meeting in Canada to be on a tv show. So naturally, I was thrilled to oblige.
The idea was to collaborate on a shirt that would allow us to put 100% of the proceeds toward a cancer fighting charity. I know that no one could possibly know what happened behind the scenes of Blown Away, but I am here to tell you. John was very moved by story, my heartbreak and loss, and told me repeatedly that he was in awe of my presence on the show. What a great friend! Maybe I’m not supposed to tell you this, but he was like… my biggest cheerleader. And I’m so grateful for that.
Anyway, we get back home, no one knows what happened on the finale because we were sworn to secrecy, but John and I knew what happened. So we stayed in touch. He sent me the design of his iconic “Mickey Mori” logo and asked me to add to it. Immediately, I knew I wanted to turn “Mickey” into “Minnie.”
Minhi Mori Women’s Tee (click image for link to purchase)
Here’s why,
#1 Because I’m a female (in a male dominated industry)
#2 It seemed clever, and I love pink
#3 My family nicknamed me Minnie Mouse because I was a really shy kid
#4 I became obsessed with moths after I lost Jesse and I realized that it could mimic the shape of a bow
More on the moth obsession:
Moths have so much symbolism – death, rebirth, transformation. I started to research moths and learned that in Filipino culture, they believe that the recently deceased may come to visit in the form of a moth. I had no idea, but shortly after Jesse’s death, I was visited by moths time and time again.
There was one time in particular I remember so vividly, I was learning to bend neon at Pilchuck Glass School. In order to bend the tubes, your hands are dangerously close to the large flames.
a white moth visits
And out of nowhere, a white moth came
and landed on the index finger of my right hand.
It stayed there for almost an entire hour while I worked.
Tell me that is not a sign! (and I won’t believe you – ha!)
So that’s just a little backstory on why I’ve been working in this theme. I actually made my first moth piece as a pendant necklace. Maybe you saw me wearing it on the show??
I will be working in this theme even more in the future. In fact, to celebrate the launch of these t-shirts, I made a few glass moth sculptures, sporting the new Minhi Mori t-shirt.
Minhi Mori with Glass Moth ”Bow”Glass Moth Sculpture by Minhi England
Personally, I’m in love! What do you think??
So FINALLY, now that you’ve made it this far, if you’re interested in purchasing one of our collaborative shirts, please follow the links below! (Hosted by John)
