The Orchard Gallery of Fine Art, Clothing

Question of the day: Can a grandma of four delightful children dress in a fun, funky way or should she? "Absolutely," says Becka Strachan from "eye4dtale." The cave woman was the last of the female population who needed clothing for function. Today's world says, "okay, have fun, be comfortable." If you follow that theme to its conclusion, then there are no holds barred.

Becka's clothing is designed for fun and multipurpose. A pocket becomes a purse. A garment may be reversible, or a sleeve may be removed and worn as a pocket. You just never know.

So, how did I get to where I am today? My father was an automotive designer, a commercial artist and a watercolorist. He was a prize winning exhibitor; not to mention that my mother was an interior designer. With a background like this, I had no choice. My brother and I were never allowed to have coloring books. We drew our own fun in our dad's studio and on our bedroom walls.

When it came time for a formal education, Becka attended Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana where she majored in Psychology. She transferred to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, where she attained a degree in Elementary Education, majoring in History and minoring in Art. Upon graduation, she taught Art and Social Studies in junior and senior high schools. Soon she joined the corporate world and became part of managing human resources departments for various corporations.

Ten of fifteen years ago she began to enter weekend juried art festivals. It was fun and she loved the customer contact. The creative process allowed her to bloom and grow, after all, she had been putting this part of her life on hold for years. "You can only suppress your passion so long," says Becka. When a corporate down-sizing occurred several years ago, she decided to go for the stars full time.
Becka's transition to making a living from her art began in the clothing world because she was not a "mall shopper." Why not wear art? In the beginning she painted her abstract designs influenced by Picasso, Matisse and Miro on "blanks." Soon, that became frustrating because the clothing items were neither diverse nor comfy. Becka began designing her own pieces with hand-drawn and painted art work. "I never use stamps or stencils nor repeat a design. "What fun would that be?" Clothing needs button or bead embellishments, so creating them from polymer clay is a nice diversion. "I love to get my hands in the squishy stuff." Almost all the clothing can be coordinated with other pieces in the collection, year after year.