Daily Inspiration: Meet Tifanie White

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tifanie White.

Hi Tifanie, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
I moved to L.A. in 2002 to study makeup for film and television because I’d always enjoyed color and creativity- and because my dad encouraged me to choose a career doing something I saw as fun. And it was very exciting and creatively fulfilling for about eighteen years… But in 2020, when everything shut down, I started re-evaluating my life and reconsidering how being on set for 70+ hrs/week was making me feel. I had a two-year-old, who I didn’t see much of, and the traveling circus nature of Production was starting to wear on me.

I used my new found free time to experiment with color in new ways. I started painting again- on fabric and canvas. And I started experimenting with dyes that were new to me. I became obsessed with spending as much time as I could creating movement of color on fabric. I kept thinking I’d be back on set in just two more weeks (which went on for months) so I kept dyeing. And friends were buying. And the studio evolved from there… first a logo, then labels, then a website. Just one next thing at a time.

And I came up with a new plan- to split my time and energy between the set and the studio. But when Production came back, it was at such a fast and furious pace that I completely got sidetracked and lost sight of my vision. I was taking shows back to back and trying to dye with whatever scraps of nights and weekends I had left- by the end of 2021 I was totally fried. I could barely get myself off the couch for weeks. I was toast.

Now, a year since I’ve booked a full-time show, I’m learning to balance less time on set with more time in the studio alongside raising my son without full-time help. Life is busy, but I feel like I’m back on the right track. I’m taking everything a week at a time, enjoying a slower/more sustainable place- and contemplating possibilities for the future.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
A smooth road… yes and no? Life and work have been full of amazing surprises and opportunities, far more than I ever would have dreamed of, and yet- I’ve had my butt kicked from time to time. The actual work, the making and doing, have never been a problem for me… but people have.

Relationships can be very tricky- and whether you’re spending time at work or home with a toxic person, bad situations are just bad. I’ve had to learn to advocate (which can make me feel really uncomfortable) and to listen to my intuition sooner. I also have no issue walking away from situations/people/places that are doing me more harm than good, which hasn’t always been the case.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I love to create- and I use color as my medium. When I’m on set, I turn actors into characters for the screen… And when I’m in my studio, I experiment with color in a range of pigment forms. I spend quite a bit of time dyeing kimono robes, hand painting each piece individually with layers of color. A lot of people mistakenly call me a tie dyer either because they think I am, or don’t have other terminology about textile dyeing… but I’m really proud of the techniques I’ve come up with to create a painting style of my own. like that I’m doing something unique to me, and I don’t show process videos because it feels so personal- and I’m not interested in sharing for the likes. If someone buys something from me or hires me for a commission, it’s a completely custom experience- and all of my time and attention goes into making the piece. A piece that I can never fully replicate again, making it truly one of a kind and a little piece of me.

And I’m a one-woman, socially and ecologically conscious independent business with my goal being that every customer loves their order- which seems like a rarity of a business model more than the norm these days.

In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
Because I see myself as an independent artist/maker, who enjoys many forms of creating, I’m not really focused on where the entertainment industry or the clothing industry, etc. will be in the future.

Even though I’m currently dyeing mostly clothing, I don’t know that that will always be the case (and also cringe at the behaviors of 99% of the “fashion” industry). I’m just creating what brings me joy and focusing on being as close to zero waste as possible: conserving water, using solar, creating only what I have a demand for, etc. While I’m sure it’s super smart to future forecast, I’m not trying to fit my creativity into any certain boxes or design for what I think other people want.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://tifaniewhitestudio.com
• Instagram: @tifaniewhite

Image Credits
Joel Reis