I was fortunate to grow up in a house on a cliff overlooking the ocean in a town called Del Mar. I eventually moved north to Laguna Beach California. I'm Scottish and like the folklore tales I have believed I am a Selkie my entire life, my hobbies include collecting seashells, and drying seaweed in my window, and when possible I will sit for hours on the cliffs looking out to my true home the Sea, it owns part of my soul.
I have traveled all over Europe and have a deep love and respect for all cultures. I tend to be attracted to Theatrical types, choosing friends with common interests. I value the universal laws of caring for others and doing what is right. I truly believe that we are, and we attract what we ponder and feel inside. I am terribly romantic and I believe in True love and Soul mates. I love the idea of alchemy, and mysticism is my form of religion.
I love to cook, and have a large organic garden of delicious lettuces and herbs. I use food as an alternative form of medicine. I am somewhat of a culinary homeopath. Cooking for my children and my friends as a way of showing my love for them. I also really enjoy having Sangria parties in candlelight. I love to read and will spend hours in used and rare bookstores, I usually have 2 or 3 books going at the same time, and I always carry one in my bag. As for music, I grew up listening to classical music and it opened my world, however I lean towards exotic, dark, moody, hypnotic, brooding lyrics with haunting acoustics and slide guitars.
I am a clothing designer. Up until a few years ago, I owned 2 boutiques and designed clothes for musicians and models. In 2005 I lost my husband in a car accident, His name is Colin, he was born in North Carolina. My destiny as a clothing designer changed bringing me here to Asheville to bury him. I fell in love with the forest here, it is dark and mysterious as was he. I closed my business in California due to severe sadness and a loss of creativity to focus on my sons. In 2010 my sister suggested I return to designing by making a chef coat for woman that is much more refined. She is a chef of her own Bistro in La Jolla California. She insisted that a chef coat that hasn't changed its design for over 200 years needs to be updated, even just a little. As a designer I knew that the only way I could be taken serious would be to walk the walk by understanding the functions of the kitchen. I enrolled in Culinary school at AB Tech. I volunteer to work events with A.S.A..P and Slow Foods Asheville. I have spent numerous hours working in labs at school, and I work with some of the most respected Chefs in the area. Along with experience, I also made survey cards and did interviews with both my class mates, and working chefs. This coupled with my design background and years of cut and sew experience I designed a coat that is very elegant, but is also comfortable and better fitted.
I started a Couture business last May designing coats in Linen with shell buttons for some of the best Chefs in town. I am about to go into production promoting the made in America label, my designs are manufactured on the coast of NC.I believe in dreams and hard work, and I never give up even in hard times. I did not plan to be a chef uniform designer, but it has proven to be another creative outlet for me, and I am designing again.
As much as I love Asheville and the dense forest, I find it hard to live away from the Pacific Coast. But for now I am content to travel to Los Angeles a few times a year for fashion related seminars and events. Just last week I traveled there for the Textile show.
Yes I did sit on the cliffs on diamond street in Laguna Beach. It was midnight and the moon was at its fullest....I brought back seaweed hidden in a tightly wrapped plastic bag and it is drying in my window as I write this.