At Coletta Collections our business is a personal one. Our studios are filled by artisans with disabilities each working to create beautiful hand-crafted pieces for your home and life. You may be familiar with some of the items we sell, but you may not know are the individual stories of the artisans making these goods.
So, we would like to introduce you to Marie! Marie has been with Coletta Collections since relocating from Virginia Beach to the DC metro area in 2016. In Virginia Beach, Marie was employed as an assembly worker. Any small parts or other items required for a purchased piece of furniture was assembled by Marie. Marie has great attention to detail, as well as excellent fine motor skills and a memory no one can compete with. Marie was an excellent candidate to learn how to weave, and to work in our fused-glass and jewelry studios.
One of the things Marie enjoys most is seeing the final product of all of her work. As Marie says, “I love seeing how it turns out!” After five years of working with us, Marie is now a very skilled artisan, particularly with weaving. Each season we come with projects that are best suited for each of our artisans and without fail Marie is the one working on the most complicated. These past few months in the studio she’s been working on a scarf for next season. It’s complicated for even the most seasoned weaver, as it uses six colors -each individually passed through the loom in a very particular order! As someone who is very social and enjoys working as part of a team, for Marie, working at home was not nearly as enjoyable as working in the studio. As such, Marie was one of the first artisans to return to working in the studio! Upon returning she started back up on her project without any help, without any need of a refresher and continued on perfectly!
Beth, Marie’s sister, who she also lives with, states, “Working with Coletta Collections has allowed Marie to learn new and different skills, in which she has excelled. Working has given Marie a sense of normalcy in her life, she is just like everyone else. She wakes up, goes to work, comes home and earns a paycheck giving her choices in how she spends her money.”
Marie often takes on extra responsibilities around the studio such as watering the plants and sweeping fibers from the floor at the end of the day. She appointed herself studio assistant, as she reminds everyone when to break for lunch, reminds people to clock out, informs everyone when it’s time to clean up for the day and generally keeps everybody organized! She is always happy and good-natured and really likes coming to work. If something is forgotten or overlooked, Marie is sure to provide a reminder!
In addition to her current (very complicated) weaving project Marie has also just completed a beautiful tie dye silk scarf project that you will likely discover in upcoming new releases, so be sure to keep your eyes peeled! Next week we’ll begin releasing our new products for spring and summer, so be sure to check back throughout April to see all of our new items!