FROM THE ROAD - SUMMER 2025
THREE NIGHTS AT THE WALMART PARKING LOT IN ELLSWORTH, MAINE - THE BEGINNING…
Sitting on an overcast beach in St. Martin, New Brunswick, we were able to park here on the side of a quiet stretch of coastal road for the night. We are using an app called ioverlander that shows us where we can park for free and find remote spots that have been verified and reviewed by its users. So far it is two-for-two! The first few nights were spent in a Walmart parking lot in Ellsworth, Maine. It was pretty good. Quiet, and we camped amongst other people doing what we were doing, and some, just on the road to a different life. It is a window into a slice of life.
The rhythmic sound of the waves that, for me, can be both irritating and soothing was great to sleep by last night. It's such a contrast from the meadows we were surrounded by in Brooksville, Maine. The songbirds, crickets, frogs, seagulls, crows, and other odd sounds greet us throughout the day.. But the most wonderful were the night sounds and the fireflies, which I haven't seen since I was a child. I suppose living in cities all these years keeps one from that phenomenon. I am more conscious of the insect life now and the efforts many are making to create meadows to support that life. Maine, and New England in general, are very much in love with their mowers, and giant lawns are the norm. So it is encouraging to see that change and those once sterile, lifeless expanses of mowed grass are now teaming with insect life. It holds a glimmer of hope for me, amidst the chaos, confusion, and environmental destruction.
Since leaving Maine two days ago, we feel like we are now fully on our journey, the only deadline is to be in Seattle by October 1st. Most of our time in Maine was working out the kinks of this van, getting all the do-dads and discovering what needed fixing, and figuring out all the systems, which are very much like the systems in your house, except it is all compact, mini, and a bit fragile. It's been interesting and engaging, to say the least. Now that we have done that part, we are now able to relax a bit into our days and find our routines. Making sure everything is buttoned up before we take off each day has been a game of sorts, all systems shut down, all counters cleared and doors and cupboards secured. Working together to see how organized and quick we can do it all. So far about 30 minutes from start to finish. Simple pleasures...:))
Although we love camping, I have to say, parking and being able to cook, without having to set up camp, the tent, and all that is involved with that is a true gift, and to sleep on a bed with sheets and blankets and not having to think about rain is fantastic. This type of travel and way of living is very close to the elements and one has to think of consumption a lot. The consumption of our limited water source, the garbage that we are creating and having to carry around, our battery capacity and how to keep it charged so we can have a cold fridge, and most importantly using every square inch so we can have the things with us that are needed.
This is only the beginning and who knows how all this will go, but so far, I have to speak only for myself, I feel healthier and happier than I have in a long time. This lifestyle promotes simplicity and resourcefulness. It requires letting go and embracing something new every day.
I am grateful.
Kerry is continually shooting the landscapes and whatever he finds intriguing and I am making sound recordings, taking pics, and eventually I'll be adding to my collection of small paintings that represent these places. I'm writing a lot, thinking of how I can create another exhibit that represents this journey that is not only for the pleasure of seeing new places and experiencing new people but something more. Not sure what that more is right now, but it is slowly evolving.
Honestly, right now, this all seems very self-indulgent and privileged, and it feels like I am running away from all the insanity of the US. I am, I suppose, and at the same time, do we allow ourselves to live in fear and dread? When I was a teenager, I thought Canada was this faraway place that held all sorts of intrigue. I even sent for maps and tourist stuff, train maps, and all things Canadian from the Canadian government. When it arrived I was so excited and I would lay everything out on my bedroom floor and imagine my journey across Canada. That was 52 years ago. Lots of other landscapes were explored. Wow! How time flies. Now I find myself here in Canada, and I have the opportunity to do this and this might just be it! So I am going for it and taking it all in, doing what I can to live lightly and freely. Life is so short, omg, it goes so quickly. One minute you're lying on your bed as a teenager, dreaming of your future, and the next minute you're 68 years old, and finally, you're as free as you've ever been or will be. Such a concept...eh?
to be continued...
Love you all,
Mia
SPRINGTIME IN MAINE
May 23, 2025
I have never been to Maine in the spring. It is wonderful. The spring green is as soft as velvet, and the color variation, because of the variety of deciduous trees, makes every turn of the road resemble a watercolor painting. Everything is just about to burst, the fruit trees, the young new flowers. Loving this very much. The rolling hills and narrow winding roads present surprises of farms, farm stands, broken down boats, barns that have been left to decay, knowing that when a strong enough wind comes through it will just topple into a heap of old cedar planks.
May 25, 2025
It’s been a week since we arrived. The level of calm I feel is greater than I thought. I have had resistance to this place, being such a west coast person, I have had a hard time imagining ever giving that part of the world up. I will never give it up, and now I can imagine being in both places with the beauty and abundance that both places embody. This is a much quieter beauty, and the West Coast is more imposing and majestic in its presentation. Such different personalities for sure. It is so wonderful to surprise ourselves and challenge our opinions and what we identify with, and how we identify ourselves.
On the Road
May 17, 2025
We drove through southern Ontario and entered Quebec just below Montreal, where we headed south towards the United States. I have to say the border with the US is troubling and makes me nervous, it is the best of times, and now even more so as we are approaching the worst of times, at least in my lifetime. It is revealing how it all looks from north of the border. It ain’t pretty, that is for sure. Canada does feel so much more sane than the US. I question our sanity in going back, but we are on a mission, and we will go with this for now, pick up the van, and head back asap. The beauty of early spring makes this drive exquisite. The young green of all the deciduous trees is refreshing, and the lawns of dandelions give me a sense of possibility and hope.
hotel Classic comfort . Roadside motel rating - 3 of 5
Leaving Toronto
May 16, 2025
…and the idea is to live in the country, grow a garden, make art, and find a like-minded community…
It’s early spring 2025, and we are leaving Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Kerry has been here since 1989, and I have been here since 2021. He has wanted to leave for a long time, and I never intended to stay here this long. Now, the time has come. The house is sold, and all of his possessions, along with some of mine, are in storage. Our car is packed to the brim with what we believe we might need for the next four months as we travel from here to Maine, return to Canada, and head west to the Pacific Northwest Coast by fall.
Leaving a place where one has spent a significant part of their life certainly brings bittersweet moments. We have attachments to the place, to people, routines, family, and to where our careers began and ended. This is a major move for him, and for me, it feels like picking up where I left off with my nomadic lifestyle—a lifestyle that I am somewhat comfortable with. However, at this point in my life, I’m not entirely sure how much longer I want to continue living this way. Both of us are ready to settle down and start building a life that includes a garden, a studio, and a new community, while experiencing “firsts” together.
So here we go! We are excited to see what lies ahead, what and who we will discover along the way, what will fade away, and what we will gather for our new life.
Stay tuned… “firsts” together. So here we go, and we are excited to see what’s to come, what and who we will discover. What will fall away, and what will we collect?
Stay tuned…
We had to stay one more night in Toronto after the sale. So we decided to stay out on Kingston Road, where this is a string of roadside motels. We have driven by this place 100 times, and so we finally stayed one night. It was odd but okay. Selling, putting everything in storage, dealing with all the details, and hitting the road is way more in reality than one might think. It is complete!
A while ago I created a series called “beds I’ve slept in” it was fun, intersting and engaging. I am starting again as we embark on this epic road trip. Here is number 1. This time we are rating them based on our 10 point rating system…
The Americana Hotel in Toronto, ON. Rating 3.
After the exhibit..
The show is down, I am back in Toronto and feeling all the feelings that come after one completes a big, intense, never done before project. That is me right now. I am tired but satisfied, resting and wanting to get started on the next idea. the future seems bright and daunting. I love it all!
What I loved the most were the conversations that this exhibit and concept provoked for so many different people. That was the best…Stay tuned for more photos and the movie i made with my partner Kerry Hayes.
Borders, Boundaries and the Backstory
Borders, Boundaries and the Backstory
I’ve been pondering the idea of borders and boundaries for a while now. Mostly human-made; physical and geopolitical ones, like those between states and nations. In my life, of late and generally, With crossing all kinds of borders, some quite surprising, I’ve been traveling toward new horizons in a process of reinvention. Borders between people as opposed to geopolitical ones are usually referred to as boundaries. Personal boundaries are a good and necessary thing to set, yet the setting and maintaining of them can often be difficult. How these concepts relate to my life and the journey into myself is the backstory.
The backstory to this exhibit is about that personal journey. In other words, it’s all about me. Isn’t most art a self-indulgence? Yet how often have we been to an exhibition and felt inspired by someone else's self-indulgent obsessions to want more from ourselves and our own creativity. My hope is you will find some inspiration from the work and story of my backstory.
Since art school, my life has in fact been been one of reinvention. In my artistic life too, my creative expressions have taken various forms as well, and the the most constant representations of it have been in the medium of fabrics and garments. Lately however I have been exploring watercolors, charcoal and revisting photography, which has always been my first love.
When the Boxx Gallery offered me this residency, I really had to rethink how I would engage with the artwork that I make, and what happened is this exhibit became site specific. Over the first six weeks I was mostly in my head and thinking constantly about the space, concept and materials and how I would be able to present them in a way that would make sense.
Through photogography, clothing and painting I am illustrating how in each of these mediums the idea of translucence, opacity, borders and boundaries come into play. Juxtaposed against turbulence to calm, the photos are of wide open spaces with manmade elements in most of them and others of big bodies of water showing movement, distance, stillness. They are shot from the window of my car, boat, train or walking around. Using the grey scale as inspiration, the clothing is made of fabrics that move from translucence to opaque. To me this relates to black and white thinking and finding the shades between that represent a more open-minded approach to my life. The garments are constructed in the most rudimentary way, they are a concept, a prototype perhaps for future development. I did not use patterns, nor did I finish them in an expected way. The edges and seams are raw and fraying, like our borders and boundaries can be at times. The seams seem like they are about to fall apart, however they will hold together quite well. I compare that to how it feels when I fall apart, yet somehow I am held together by a few thin threads that keep me connected and allows me to find my way back to the middle ground and hopefully equanimity.
The suspension of the garments in groups represents how I understand the giant forests of the west coast. The Redwoods of Northern California propogate around the ‘Mother Tree’ and the Douglas fir, and Sitka Spruce from the ‘Nurse Tree’. Both of these are of the feminine. The colors of those forests range from the lightest to the blackened ‘skin’ of the burnt forests so ubiquitous now.
In the bleak mid-winter
I am looking out of my kitchen window onto the white rooftops. It snowed yesterday. One of the things i love about living in toronto is the drama of the seasons. We took a walk down the ravine that is closest to our house. it is one of many beautiful ravines around toronto.
What struck me is with every season the changes are dramatic. I have loved the color variation; spring green, lush full dark green summers, vivid and bold colors in the fall and the endless shades of brown in the winter then covered with white.
With the changes that are both subtle and stark, I find myself falling in love all over again with each season. while contemplating all this, I thought of how this translates into human relations. How we can fall in love over and over with the same person if we are able to allow ourselves to love and accept that we never are the same, that within a person there are many seasons and each one has its drama. Sometimes that shows up in a flashy “look at me” way, and sometimes it is more like the shades of brown, very soft, subtle and subdued but beautiful nonetheless.
That is also true for ourselves. As we move through the phases and stages of our lives, I realize how important it is to remember that we are never stagnant, even if we are stalwart in staying the same, it is not possible. Right now I am redesigning my life and how I am I moving forward into the next phase and stage. I am currently redesigning my website (again) to reflect that movement. I am collaborating with my two daughters and taking what we did in a brick and mortar store in Seattle and bringing that to a online presence and ecommerce site. It is a mash-up of ideas, collections and bringing all that to you in the most authentic and forward thinking way.
Stay tuned….
YEAR IN REVIEW
It is usually round this time of the year that I begin the looking back on the year. Reflection on what I learned, challenges, triumphs, set backs, moments, friendships, relationships. I love doing it. When I was deeply involved with waldorf education there is something called the ruchschau - the backwards review. According to Dennis Klocek; it is “the backward review IS(AS) a practice of soul distillation.”
This year has been one full of change. Challenging, beautiful inspiring and a sense of freedom I have probably never experiened. TO NAME A FEW POSITIVES, AND WITHIN ALL THOSE POSITIVES IS ALSO THE FLIP SIDE. NOT NECESSARILY NEGATIVE BUT THERE IS ALWAYS ANOTHER SIDE TO THE STORY. I EXPERIENCED TWO SUMMERS, TWO FALLS, AND I AM ABOUT TO BEGIN MY SECOND WINTER IN TORONTO. REALIZING ACTUALLY WHERE I LIVE GEOGRAPHICALLY WAS INTERESTING TO THINK ABOUT THE OTHER DAY. I GREW UP UNTIL 13 IN THE MIDWEST IN ILLINOIS. WHEN I MOVED HERE I KEPT THINKING I WAS ON THE EAST COAST, WHEN IN FACT I AM CLOSER TO THE MID-WEST, JUST FOUR HOURS FROM DETROIT AND ABOVE PITTSBURG GEOGRAPHICALLY. SO MUCH OF THE TIME WHEN I AM WANDERING AROUND THIS REGION I FEEL BOTH AT HOME AND FOREIGN. A LANDSCAPE FAMILIAR, YET FROM A DIFFERENT TIME IN MY LIFE. THIS YEAR HAS BROUGHT A LOT OF FREEDOMS. FREEDOM TO EXPLORE MY ARTISTRY IN A WAY I HAVE NEVER BEEN ABLE TO DO, EVEN IN ART SCHOOL. I AM COMING FROM A PLACE SO DIFFERENT AND FAR FROM THAT TIME, AND SO HAPPY TO WRITE, THAT THAT YOUNG ENERGETIC, INTERESTED AND CURIOUS PERSON IS STILL ALIVE AND WELL IN THIS NEW/OLDER VERSION. I AM LUCKY TO BE HERE AND GRATEFUL FOR THIS LIFE AND THE PEOPLE WHO I SHARE IT WITH IN MY TINY CIRCLE OF LIFE HERE IN TORONTO, AND MY MUCH, MUCH LARGER ONE IN SEATTLE.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
TORONTO, ONTARIO
Borders Boundaries and the Backstory: 23 bins and finding Fernandos
Spring 2022 - Taking a nap on a Sunday afternoon. The late afternoon sun is shining and laying a blanket of light across my throw, How did I get here? What a long, crooked and beautiful trip it’s been. In spite of the struggle, I find myself in a place I have never really known. After 15 months of a long-distance relationship we decided to give this a go, and that I would move to Toronto…and so I did. There has been a lot of back and forth, staying connected to my family in Seattle, my friends from everywhere and selling many of my “big” possessions; avion trailer and vintage mercedes wagon and consolidating the rest in 23 bins. IN short a lot of letting go of things and walking into a life of partnership, creativity, personal growth, facing the unknown, replacing a worn out knee and facing another one, essentially redefining me…. whew! So laying in the afternoon sun and resting isn’t such a far-fetched idea. It is in fact the perfect thing to be doing on this lazy Sunday.
Love and loss, finding myself through a lot of heartache, joy and happiness. Me resourcefully searching for love, freedom, expression, belonging and comfort. How did I get here? I ask this question all the time….
and now we are here... 2021
Everything is about timing. The last entry was 2016. A lot has transformed since then. I opened and and closed my design business in Seattle, went back to teaching full time, sold my house in Seattle, bought another one in Seattle with my daughters, moved from Seattle to Bellingham, WA., worked as a development director, (that job ended with COVID-19), fell in love and now I live in Toronto, Ontario. So yes, change is constant.
The thing that hasn’t changed for me is my love of the creative process. My creative life has mostly found its focus in the world of fiber. Designing and creating clothing for women, making hats, simple shoes and leather goods, All very practical and functional…. for the most part.
When I was 18, my father gave me my first 35mm camera. Going off to art school and I remember feeling so excited… when I looked through the lens how that action opened an entirely new way of seeing the world. Cropping out what I didn’t want, focusing in on details I liked, understanding perspective, vantage points and finding my point of view at that time in my young life. It was revelatory!
In the past ten or so years, I have spent more and more time with my camera. In the last five years, I rediscovered how much I love it and found a new way of expressing myself through it. In my travels I discovered that what was more important to me was the image rather than all the technical parts of taking a picture. So I abandoned that need to know, in favor of just capturing the moment. The result has been sort of a from-the-window-of-my-car approach. it’s focused and sometimes it’s not. Isn’t that the way it is out of our car windows?
2016 in review
Here we are...at our first year mark looking back on what has come to pass and what we are looking forward to. A yearly ritual of mine and now we are doing it in the context of our studio/store on Beacon Hill.
It has been a really interesting year getting to know a neighborhood we have lived in for 11 years but never on street level like having a retail store allows. We have meet some really incredible people, and have been supported by our neighborhood and those from across Seattle and beyond. Observing behavior, shopping habits and what brings people back has been like studying social science. Creating a place of community and collaboration has been the most satisfying so far. Finding out after just one year what works, what sells and what we now feel we can put into a worthy mission statement feels good.
Letting go of the old and ringing in the new is what is on our minds. How do we move forward in a world so saturated with too much; too many clothes, too many things, too much of everything. Our ethos has changed, our mission is different. We are looking at what is the most important thing to do and yet stay creative and engaged in what we love. That has been the burning question. Our commitment to doing what is right for the planet is number one! So this year we will be looking at what and where we source our materials. We are committed to using organic and local as much as possible, and we are, as always committed to paying a living wage to local manufactures. We are in the works with a mini up-cycled line which we have done for years but not for other people...
Our continued commitment to providing a beautiful gallery space for emerging artists to exhibit remains strong with monthly art exhibits already in full swing. Our monthly markets, which will now be 'theme' based, begin with a fabulous jewelry line up on the first Saturday in February...and last but not least (and not really last), is our collaboration with other organizations and artists to share our space, bringing the arts to many, remains a key commitment for this coming year.
So...stay tuned, stay informed, and remain vigilant against mediocrity...
Eco Fashion Week comes to Seattle
The first week of November brings Eco Fashion week to its first event in Seattle. Eco Fashion week has been happening with great success in Vancouver, BC for the past six years and they decided to bring it to Seattle this year!
We have participated in our own shows and two other local shows, but pulled way back over the past couple of years because what was happening just didn't seem like a good fit for us. This show and the people behind it are really doing something right. They are bringing to the fore what is going on in fashion, how it affects our daily lives, the enviornment and the people who produce our clothing. This hits to the core of what we are all about. Small batch, locally produced, living wages and as little impact as possible.
ECO FASHION WEEK - November 2/3, 2016 at Canvas in Sodo. Tickets on sale soon.
http://ecofashion-week.com/index.php/about/
Photographer: Miles Fortune / instagram: @miles_fortune / milesfortune.com
Stylist: Rosie Bowker / instagram: @rosiebowker / rosiebowker.com
Hair and Makeup: Jamyrlyn Mallory / instagram: @jamyrlyn_mua / jamyrlynmallory.com
Talent: Sarah at Heffner / heffnermanagement.com
We are open
OPENING!
With this "soft" opening we are getting familiar with this new block.
Who comes by everyday, our business neighbors and the greater community. It is getting very lively up here on Beacon Hill and we are very happy and proud to offer something new to the neighborhood.
Although we will still primarily focused on our own line of women's and soon to come, a more unisex line, we are expanding our vision. We will be carrying our linens for home; kitchen, bath, and bed...soaps both naked and felted with wool, a little vintage that we pick up along the way with more. Having this space allows us to imagine and use this opportunity to create what has only been imagined until now. It is an exciting time for us and we are excited to expand this into more of a lifestyle store. A place for people to gather, commune and expand.
Please pop by when your near us and check it out. The space invites you in to stay a while.
Stay tuned.
Mia and Wysdom
3063 Beacon Ave. S - Beacon Hill
Seattle, WA 98144
Tues - Sat / noon - 8pm
Sun / noon - 5
by appointment
206-375-7446
miafioravanti.fioravanti@gmail.com
What's going on in there? A clothing store with a hint of home...
Perhaps best described as a lifestyle store... that is the question and the short answer...I get a lot these days.
We are taking over a space on Beacon Hill in Seattle that has been shuttered for 15+ years and all of a sudden something is happening! The transformation has been nothing short of fantastic, and we are in the final stages of getting our studio/storefront open. It always takes longer, costs more and if you live in your fantasy world like I do, the reality is always different than what is imagined.
It is a beautiful spacious space with 12 ft. ceilings and walls that go on forever. Perfect for art shows, photo shoots, presentations and gatherings of all kinds. This is nothing short of a lab...a place that is large enough to be flexible, open enough to hold small events, and our vision is to operate on several levels. We are first a women's clothing store, and under that category we sell our own very edited line, and make custom special occasion clothing; wedding gowns, brides made dresses and the like...all usually out of the ordinary on some level. Added to that, we are working on a men's line that could be best described as functional lounge wear, that could also be viewed as unisex...and not to leave out the wee ones in our lives, we will offer a small selection of baby/young child wear. As organic as possible and at the least all natural fibers. A combo of outside sourced brands and our own designs.
We will carry a little bit of home... We love linen; linen bedding, bath towels, aprons, table cloths and napkins. This also means we will be able to offer custom on color and size. We will be offering our brand of vintage; things we find along the way that speak to us and beg-to-be-bought one-of-a-kind objects.
And last but not least, we will hold classes in sewing. They start in March and the first class is on basic sewing skills. You can find that information on our events page, more on that later.
Keep on the look out for our very soft opening, hopefully by mid to end of next week, February 19th ish... and a much larger, more grand opening in March. This is an ever expanding work in progress and an ever morphing experiment in living an artistic life...
Stay tuned and enjoy...
Mia and Wysdom
new year, new space.
Every space has its use. The thing about space is that it has to accommodate the activity within. We have been in a shoe-box sized space for 19 months. It has been very cozy and a perfect size to experiment. Now is the time to expand into a larger space to visualize, realize and accommodate our vision and activity.
A space that we have been coveting and meditating on for a long time just became available at the end of '15. It is the 15-year plus shuttered space next to Bar Del Corso on Beacon Ave. S. We just signed the lease! It is currently being renovated. The 12-foot ceilings, wood floors and entire storefront exposure is beyond our wildest dreams and we are beyond excited to grow into this fantastic new space in this new year.
Our projected "soft" opening will be mid-February...we are in intense doing mode.
Stay tuned and enjoy..
Planting bulbs. slow clothing and what it really means..
As we/I approach the end of 2015 it always calls for a little reflection on the year past. When it comes to my business life, which I always try to relate to in some way on this website, it has been an incredible year of success, failure, rebirth and growth. I faced many demons, got very honest with myself of what I am good at, and what I am miserable at. There were moments when all I wanted to do was close the door, sell my house and buy a little hacienda in central Mexico and get inspired. I did go to Mexico, I did get inspired but I didn't close my door nor sell my house, and in staying I discovered so much. I made it through the winter, Wysdom graduated and moved back to Seattle to work with me, and we found our focus...We visualized a new paradigm and it is all coming to life....it is happening and that is the good news. Letting the old and tired fall away, and opening space up for the new and energetic...finding that stream of inspiration and taking it out by the bucketfuls..
Here's the end of the year and all we have learned, Bravo! And here's to the new year, a new beginnign and looking forward to all it has to offer...
Stay tuned and enjoy...
Winter is coming...
A beautiful day spent on the Teanaway River today shooting for winter. It felt so good to be in that element..one that I miss every winter around here. The light was flat, the textures rich, the air very cold. The snow started falling right on time...
Here's to winter...
Enjoy!
...Shop Small this year...OPEN HOUSE AND WINTER SALE...
COME BY TO ENJOY SOME HOLIDAY CHEER, PICK UP A CARD OR TWO, MAYBE A FABULOUS NECKLACE, SOME CHOICE IMPORTS FROM MEXICO AND INDIA AND BUY THAT ONE GREAT DRESS THAT TAKES YOU FROM MORNING TO NIGHT....
..Do the Hot Pants!
Loving that Dana at Do the Hot Pants is loving my clothes...Here she is today...check her blog out!
Enjoy, and stay tuned...
My white cotton long shirt...It is nearly sold out...but let me know. I might have your size! $165.