I have been drawn to hats, since I was a young teen, not only because of the frequency with which I have bad hair days, but also because I have seen over and over how they are able to amplify the self-assuredness of the one who dons this historically ubiquitous and functional fashion accessory. As a sixteen year old, I wore a beret, but soon began borrowing my father’s Stetson fedoras. His collection from various vintage shops around the country, made me aware of the durability of hats through time and I began to think of each hat as having a life of its own.
I am a passionate creative and knew in my late teens I was being called into the life of an artist. While at Smith College, I took many different classes outside of my broad discipline of American Studies, from video art production to drawing to scene design to music hearing. I also had a radio show. Like many early twenty-somethings I didn’t know what exactly I wanted to pursue.
When i graduated I took my first mixed media class through Berkeley extension. I continued to pursue djing, drawing and dance yet remained unclear of how to actualize my artistic inclinations into work. I began journaling daily, recording my inspirations and frustrations. In my search I left the United States and moved to London for a year where my brother was studying at the British Library and one of my good friends from college was living. In London i spent most of my time walking around town visiting libraries, galleries and it was here that I first saw truly inspired millinery and began to dream about making hats. I spent another two years exploring decoupage and sculpture before realizing that hats were simply another expression of that act in a new medium. The last four years have led to increasingly delightful experiments within this artform.
