lorimarsha.com

Save the date!!, originally uploaded by lorimarsha.

…followed by reception and trunk show.

Saturday, August 2, 2008
11 am

JD Myers
122 East State Street
Historic Downtown Redlands
909-798-9166

Random Acts of Kindness… Destruction… and Creation, originally uploaded by lorimarsha.

“Every act of creation is first of all an act of destruction.” Pablo Picasso

Although I hadn’t really thought about it before reading this quote, I realized its truth when I relate it to my work. There are definite stages of kindness, destruction and creation associated with what I do.

I love working with pretty vintage clothes…pieces that have had a full life and brought joy to the wearer. I like to imagine the party they were purchased for, the summer vacation where they were excitedly packed in the suitcase, or maybe a job interview when the owner decided to make a change in her life.

When I start a project, I feel a sense of responsibility (oftentimes fear) in making those first cuts. *Snip snip.* There’s no going back. *Stitch stitch.* Things begin to change quickly, and *smile smile.* in no time, the fear has disappeared, replaced with a warm humming glow. It is that creative buzz that draws me into the studio every day.

I have been the recipient of somany random acts of kindness in the form of raw materials for my redesigns. Dresses, lingerie, fabric, textiles, ribbons, family heirlooms..and I am overwhelmed and awed by the kindness of others.

I’m thankful to becktress, Cat Bishop, Cathy, cheves, ChicaFlamenca, corvidkid, cuestaray, gaiasrose, graygoosie, Ilene, Jessica, joulestar, Karen, ldpaulson, Linda, Manitoba Museum of Art Finds, papernest , Penny, queenbeequilter, secret lentil, somanyideas, St. Blaize, Tanis Alexis, treasureup, vaisto, whitestonestitchery, zoo gal,(and others who my memory fails to recall), all the clothing swap participants and the hundreds of people who donate their things to the thrift stores instead of throwing them out. You all have provided me with a wonderful array of raw materials to work with. And the joy this brings to me is hard to put into words.

Pictured: Three redesigns from dresses becktress sent me. I am thankful that she had the “before” photos in her photostream so I was able to document this. I always forget to take pictures of what I start with.

Salvaged labels on a vintage silk scarf, originally uploaded by lorimarsha.

Whenever I redesign a garment, I remove the labels. I’ve been saving them up for a while and wanted to make myself something with them. Today I used them to create a border on a vintage silk scarf. I have named it “Label Wh0re”.

Open Studio, originally uploaded by lorimarsha.

Join us as we welcome Spring with our newest work. Art. People. Food Fun.

Clean out your closet and join us for our wardrobe swap on Sunday, March 30, 2008. Held at my home in Redlands. Email me for directions.

Why recycle?

Our culture glorifies the new. Trendy garments with built-in obsolescence quickly lose appeal when they appear on the “what’s not” side of the “what’s hot” fashion column. So they’re relegated to the back of the closet….stuffed into a bottom drawer… and, if they’re not dumped into the trash, they eventually find their way to thrift and consignment stores where they languish under the humiliation of multiple markdowns and overpopulated racks.

As every savvy recycler knows, treasure often hides between purple power suits and polyester broomstick skirts. And the thrill of finding a mustard dupioni silk blouse or a fine gauge British wool dress makes the sometimes exhaustive searches worthwhile. I am proud to say that I design all of my garments from recycled materials. They begin their lives in other forms. A skirt morphs into a dress… a dress is divided among three new dresses…an undergarment moves outside. I compare this redefining of garments to the joy of an unexpected adoption…. the designer dog abandoned by the socialite , then loved dearly by the little boy whose parents finds her at the pound. Under the right conditions, abandoned possessions live a fuller second life.

Revisiting my senior year in high school, originally uploaded by lorimarsha.

An email from flickr friend, becktress, got me feeling a little nostalgic recently. She knew someone who went to the same high school that I did and we were trying to figure out if we knew anyone in common. That got me to thinking about the fact that over the years I had lost all of my yearbooks. Moving away from home, renting storage units…who knows where they ended up? I have no idea. But it felt like there was this little hole in my personal history.

So I decided to go to ebay and see if I could replace them, or at least one. And would you believe that one was available from the Goodwill store in Tacoma, Washington? It was from my senior year and had belonged to someone who I had shared what we called "homeroom" with as a senior. We had the same last name..and in those days, for this one class, we were seated alphabetically. So…there it was on the internet and available for purchase. Of course I bid on it. I was the high (and only) bidder and it came in today’s mail, in pristine condition.

Only one person signed it. (That part is kind of sad.) As I looked through the pages, I was taken back to that year, to that time in my life that was not entirely pleasant. But not awful, either. Just not my "glory days" as some feel about their high school years. Then my thoughts moved to the prior owner. What had become of her? How did this yearbook end up at the Goodwill? And…how did they know her last name? She was addressed only by her first name in the signed comment.

Belle Armoire magazine, originally uploaded by lorimarsha.

I feel honored to have been chosen as the featured designer for Belle Armoire magazine. I received my copy in today’s mail and it should be in the stores shortly. It’s available in most Barnes & Noble bookstores. The article includes an interview by Rice Freeman-Zachary and eight page photo spread.

Spring/Summer 2008 (available at most Barnes & Noble bookstores)Rice Freeman Zachary and an eight page photo spread.

Congratulations Becktress!, originally uploaded by lorimarsha.

Congratulations to Becktress, a fellow Etsyier (and Flickrer) who was my 300th sale in my Lorimarsha Etsy store. I sent her a little package of goodies as a thank you. I opened my store on August 7, 2006 and I am really pleased with the venue. I encourage any of you creative types who are looking for an outlet for your work to investigate opening an Etsy store. http://www.etsy.com