artist bio
Nuns in Hong Kong taught me to sew by hand when I was ten. We had to make our own underwear. For my 13th Birthday I begged my mother for a new dress. I then hated her sale-priced gift and decided to learn to make my own clothes. I made a simple dress. My second effort at a sewing machine landed me in the emergency room with a straight pin down my windpipe. Nevertheless, I caught the bug. However, the path to Hark Designs has been circuitous.I first worked with leather in the early 1980s at a Greenwich Village NYC custom leather shop. I was studying mime and raising Calliope, my young daughter. I began making handbags and sold them to Soho boutiques and Bendel’s department store. Despite my early success, I held to my intention to create theatre: I moved to North Carolina, had a second child, and began SILENT PARTNERS movement theatre company. Seventeen years of teaching and performing around the country and abroad culminated with sold-out performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. I fulfilled my design desires by creating all the costumes, which ranged from large body puppets to all the bags they lived in. I have always designed and tailored my own clothes.
At 50, life changed as it does for so many of us. I put most of SILENT PARTNERS to sleep except for the show "Girls Wear Shirts," which I continue to perform with my daughter. I returned to my handbags and launched Hark Designs. I delight in this opportunity to delve into designing and road testing these bags. I love playing with colors, textures, and different weights of leather. I have never carried a bag I did not make and now I get to share my bags with you. I love to see them trotting all over the place.
