Art & Life with Tamara Lipscomb

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tamara Lipscomb.

Tamara, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I grew up always wanting to be a part of the fashion industry. My dream was to see my designs in stores. After attending design school with a degree in fashion design/marketing, I was lucky enough to find a job in the field I earned a degree in.

Years later, things changed due to the housing market crash. As the economy erupted in massive layoffs, I wondered about my place in my career and curious about taking a different path. I began to take evening classes for a certificate in Landscape Architecture which opened my eyes to conserving our earth. I was introduced to sustainability, repurposing, and recycling. These basic principles stayed with me when I started my accessory line seven years later.

For five years, I worked fulltime at the corporate headquarters of a clothing company during the day and studied in the evenings. The weekends were filled with drawings site plans, model making, and plant lectures. I learned to design on a grander scale.

As I became more seasoned in my career, I found (in production) some of the fabric treatments were toxic to the environment and sometimes harmful to factory workers. Eventually, I plateaued in my career and was moved into a position where I crunched numbers (which is the kiss of death for a creative soul like myself). Although I was still loyal to that company, I felt unfulfilled at my job. To counter those unhappy feelings, I decided to create my own designs that support eco (friendly) luxury.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
So the core of what I do is with love. Love for life, love for our environment, and love for family. In fact, the word “car-tam-eb” is a blend of my first name, my mother’s name, and father’s combined. It is the same name my mom used for her antique furniture business in the early 1990s. When I decided to reinvent the brand, I added the Roman numeral two at the end of the name. It is the part “II” to our design story.

I hope my customers take away that they have a handcrafted item that is special and unique. That the materials are ethically sourced made from organic natural fibers. I design bold pieces that have soft, delicate textures. I like the versatility of fiber-based products. The plant dye process is labor intensive because they do not have the same chemicals that man-made dyes have. I use mordants to replace the harmful chemicals found in most industry dyes. Items may need to set in dyes for several days to permanently saturate. Most of the hardware used is repurposed from industrial parts. The intention is to reduce the use of hardware as the base and implement durable, sustainable fibers in its place.

What would you recommend to an artist new to the city, or to art, in terms of meeting and connecting with other artists and creatives?
When I first started Cartameb II, I was still working a full-time job and making products every fleeting moment I could. Lots of late nights or running to ship products on my lunch break. When I was laid off, it was exciting to be able to design full time (#creativelifehappylife). But not long after, I did get the feeling of being lonely working from a home studio. I wanted to connect to other artisans that were starting out like myself. I wanted to meet people who understood my passions. I began to meet more emerging artists at local shows ( either craft shows or trades shows) that had booths or tables neighboring mine. Unique LA and Artisinal LA have vendor meetings, before their event, that gives the participants breakdown of what to expect. That’s a good time to meet vendors whose interest align with mine. I would make sure to check on them on the setup day. Another way, I would be to attend local entrepreneur groups that relate to product-based businesses. I like events offered by MAKE IT IN LA organization, Quilt, Girlspace, or entrepreneurial MeetUp groups. It is fascinating to hear their story unfolding and share my own. I would keep in touch through Instagram or email. You never know what new connections or collaborations you might meet!!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.cartamebii.com
• Email: cartamebii@gmail.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cartamebii/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cartamebii/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/cartameb

Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.