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"When I tell people I’m passionate about fiber art, they look at me strange.
Fiber art can transform a space in ways that no other art form can- it adds texture, warmth, intrigue, and whimsical elegance. Your home should reflect who you are, and be a place that you love to be. I can help you create that, and more than that, I want to.
My name is Mariah, and I’ve been creating large-scale fiber art pieces since 2019. I’m originally from Minnesota, but am now living in Missoula, MT.
I started my fiber art journey by making my nephew a baby swing. Once I discovered I could create anything from macrame, combining both function and art, I never looked back. I love the way fiber can be soft, yet strong, how I can bend and weave these fibers into various knots and out of that comes something so uniquely beautiful." ---> Website
Introducing "The Missoula Maker's Minute" – a captivating podcast series brought to you by the Missoula Makers Collective, where inspiration meets creativity in just a few minutes.
At the Missoula Makers Collective, we believe in the power of storytelling and the celebration of shopping local.
Through engaging interviews and insightful conversations, we bring you closer to the minds and hearts of our talented community members. Discover the stories behind their handmade creations, gain a deeper understanding of their artistic processes, and witness the dedication that drives them. As we explore various artistic disciplines, from jewelry making to pottery, fiber arts to woodworking, each episode offers a window into the passion, ingenuity, and dedication that define each individual maker.
Embodying our commitment to inclusivity and empowerment, "The Missoula Maker's Minute" prioritizes giving voice to women, trans, and nonbinary makers. We believe in providing equal opportunities and resources to underrepresented individuals, fostering a more diverse and vibrant creative landscape.
Bailey, co-founder, emphasizes the impact of conscious shopping choices, stating, "How you spend your money is one of the most constant political decisions you make - choosing to shop handmade is a political decision that benefits your community and so much more."
In the words of Rachel, co-founder of Missoula Makers Collective, "The podcast intentionally embodies what got me started and kept me going as a maker through offering encouragement, support, friendship, and collaboration to local makers."
Subscribe to "The Missoula Maker's Minute" as we celebrate the artisans, the dreamers, and the visionaries who shape our community. For just a few minutes each week, immerse yourself in the beauty, resilience, and creativity that thrives within Missoula's maker scene.
0:00:00 - Speaker 1
Cool. All right, hi y'all. It is Rachel. I'm here with Mariah. Sam Mariah, hi, cool. We'll introduce Mariah in a quick second. Just to recap, this is part of the series We're doing every Thursday. Normally it's around 12. It's a little bit earlier today because Mariah has been gracious enough to let us come and like bombard her during her lunch break. So thank you, mariah. Mariah is a permanent vendor in the Missoula Makers Collective Markets And you're going to be here with us tonight. So, without further ado, i'm going to let Mariah introduce herself in a little bit about what she does in her business.
0:00:35 - Speaker 2
Okay, i'm Mariah, i have Mariah's macrame, so I do fiber art and different macrame products like earrings, coasters, wall hangings, cat toys pretty much anything I can make, because it's all made out of knots or weavings. So, yeah, that's what I do.
0:00:54 - Speaker 1
Beautiful, okay, and you've been at every market so far, so I just want you to just kind of express, maybe, how you think it's been going, what your favorite parts are, anything that you want people to know about your experience at the market or their experience at the market, okay.
0:01:10 - Speaker 2
Yeah, okay, i love even though, like last week, weather wasn't amazing, but the people are amazing. I feel like the people always show up and that's really great. Also love having food nearby and being in the grass. It's been a great experience so far. I really like it. Yeah, yeah, i feel like the people are my favorite part, and just the community of vendors, like all the permanent vendors. They're really great people to get to know.
0:01:37 - Speaker 1
Sweet. One thing that I like about what you do is after a market. Sometimes you go on Instagram and you post like what your hot topics were like, or not hot topics, but hot items. I guess I could say So can you give us a recap of like, maybe what they've been for the week, or anything you want to highlight in particular in terms of like the art that you do?
0:01:55 - Speaker 2
Yeah, okay, so the best sellers. I love it, because every market is different. I don't ever really have consistently like one best seller throughout the whole summer. One week it'll be plant hangers, next week it's cat toys, week after that it's earrings. So it's always changing, which is why I just love to recap it, even colors, like one month I'll sell everything blue, next month everything is more like warm tones. So it's really interesting. I love highlighting that stuff And, yeah, interesting.
0:02:26 - Speaker 1
I wonder, like, what's in the air that just decides the hot item of the day? I can't predict it. Or maybe, like booth display wise, like maybe do you shift your booth display Also, booth display Y'all. I'm not. I don't want to go off on a total tangent, but I was at the People's Market a couple people's markets ago and they're like there's this one girl here, my neighbor, who was vending next to you. There's this one girl here who does macrame and her booth is off the hook. And I was like I know who that is. So can you maybe just paint the picture of, like what your booth display looks like so people can find you?
0:03:01 - Speaker 2
Yes, okay, i made an archway around my tent full of macrame so that from afar you can tell exactly what my booth is, and then I have like a macrame backdrop. I've got this kind of like jungle looking brown and black rug, so it's just like very warm and inviting And all of my products are really colorful. So I love that combination of like earthy and natural mixed with bright, colorful pops.
0:03:26 - Speaker 1
Yeah, it's, it's so beautiful, It's like walking into like a macrame made home It's yeah. So look for Mariah. I've got maybe one more question to wrap you up so you can go have your food on your lunch break. As you might have noticed, we are in a different location. Can you tell us maybe a little bit? I've talked to Mariah a lot about what she also does In addition to her macrame. She works a lot. She has a very cool job and I think that that should be honored in Makers Lives, because it's not always like the full-time maker life, like. Mariah works really hard to make sure that she can get macrame in in addition to doing full-time other things. So do you want to tell us about your life outside of macrame?
0:04:08 - Speaker 2
Yeah, so my full-time job is the art director at Opportunity Resources, so I help, which is a local nonprofit for disabled adults, so I help the adults make pottery and paintings, drawings, digital art, and then I help sell it for them. So that way it's kind of like an art therapy, but also part of their income. So it's a really cool experience getting to work with these people and just see, like how they can express and communicate in a whole new way that they otherwise usually don't get to. So, yeah, i love it. It's pretty fun. It's a lot of work but it's a cool combo.
0:04:40 - Speaker 1
Beautiful. Yeah, thank you for welcoming us in here on your lunch break. It's so cool And I was just telling Bailey it feels like home, walking into kind of an art studio art space. It's really cool. So, yeah, anything else you'd like to tell people about tonight, about you, about life, anything? Yeah, i wanted to put you on the spot. Rainbow weave can I see that?
0:05:01 - Speaker 2
Yeah, Yeah, okay. So today I'm going to, so I have this rainbow weave in like a gold 1997 vintage frame And because it's Pride month, I really wanted to do something And so I'm donating 100% of that sale to LGBT Montana. So if you want to come check it out, I'd love to meet the seller and just get that money donated and support our community.
0:05:25 - Speaker 1
That's awesome, cool. Thanks, mariah, yeah, all right. Yeah, the weather's going to be beautiful. I am personally like a cloudy, rainy day type of person. It's not going to be like last time. Last time was really rainy, really rainy. This time it looks like it's going to be beautiful. Little weather forecast for you from via iPhone, like my iPhone. That's what it tells us. So, yeah, anything else, bailey, are we missing Beautiful? All right, we're going to wrap it up. Thanks y'all, and we'll see you tonight. It starts at 5.30 to 8.30. Caras Park.