Interview With the Queen of Embellishments:
Anita Luvera Mayer
Cathy Koos
Wow! Wow! I recently had the privilege of interviewing the amazing textile artist Anita Luvera Mayer. Once known as the “polyester girl,” Anita is now more aptly known as the Queen of Embellishment. Our chat was broad ranging, engaging, and inspiring.
Native to Anacortes Island, Washington, Anita’s father was an Italian by way of Canada and her mother was from Croatia. Anita spent her early years on Anacortes. Her university days pulled her away from Anacortes to the University of Washington, where she earned a degree in sociology in 1955. Anita then spent time at the Emporium store in San Francisco. 1956 saw Anita return to Anacortes where she married.
As a wedding gift, Anita’s future mother-in-law gave her a floor loom and weaving lessons, and that is when Anita’s world changed from being the “polyester girl” to weaver, embellisher, and textile artist. This gift opened doors for her and eventually allowed her to travel all over the world, author several books, and teach innumerable workshops.
Anita still has the first dress she wove in what she calls “pukey green with the seams glued with Elmer’s glue. No more JC Penney! I wanted heads to turn!” Her next project was a ruana and she received so many compliments that her confidence was boosted. This was a breakthrough for Anita, and she was off and running.
On Anita’s first trip to England, she saw an ecclesiastic embroidery exhibit in London. This chance exhibit viewing encouraged her to enroll in an embroidery certification course with Gail Harker at the City and Guilds of London Institute. For the next three years Anita traveled back to London twice a year for a three-week intensive. That was followed by Part 2 of the course for an additional four years.
Courtesy Anita Luvera Mayer
All of this in addition to raising a family and wife to a busy husband.
Soon Anita shifting from weaving garments to designing and creating garments of silk, using her embroidery skills to embellish the garments.
Anita’s designs are simple shapes with what she calls “creative coverings.” Kimonos, vests, shawls, and tunics figure strongly in her designs. Everything is handsewn, which becomes a meditative process for her. Embellishments like beading and embroidery turn each garment into a work of wearable art.
A basic “uniform” of black skirt or leggings and a black top function as a backdrop for displaying her silk art garments. It also allows Anita to pack everything she needs for two weeks in a carry-on bag.
Courtesy Anita Luvera Mayer
Anita has a great desire for women to honor their bodies. “Like yourself and if you can’t, figure it out and do something about it. After all, what does size four really mean?” She believes “exercise and eating healthy are key to good body image. It takes six weeks to establish new habits and exercise should be fun.” Anita started Silver Sneakers online during Covid and continues to exercise with them today.
Our chat ranged to Anita’s response to the isolation of Covid. She embraced that isolation early in the pandemic. It gave her time to focus on projects without the distraction of meetings and travel. She started a daily gratitude journal. Some days her gratitude was for a quail, or a special phone call, or a book on her porch. Only once in 365 days, the page was blank. For months, every afternoon at 4 o’clock, Anita and her neighborhood would bring their chairs and drinks and meet up for socially distanced real-time face-time.
Nowadays, Anita spends every day in her studio from 10-4. She is no longer teaching, so this gives her permission to “make things.”
Even though Anita is no longer teaching workshops, this gift of time has allowed her to embrace new projects like her kimono series, Written Words of Women. The first kimono is a tribute to the written word through letters and language, by transferring envelopes and stamps to the kimono silk. The second kimono focuses on Women’s Words, with vintage postcards and letters. The third kimono exemplifies Journals and Travels with pages from Anita’s personal travel journals transferred to the silk. The final kimono will celebrate Books of Adults and Children with covers from Anita’s favorite books transferred to the silk.
Anita will turn ninety in the autumn, and she has several more projects on the horizon. She partners with LaConner’s art community and in 2024 she is planning a textile artist show. Once the kimonos are completed, her next project will be a bedspread of her own. Stay tuned for more!