Rita was born into an artistically gifted family. Her brothers and sister all have some sort of artistic ability, and Rita knew at the tender age of seven that she wanted to work as an artist when she grew up. She naturally followed the path of her father Oliver Sanders, a great arisan, and self-taught custom furniture finisher. Her childhood includes memories of watching her father as he created interior woodwork for legendary movie stars and entertainers such as Rod Stewart, Fred Astaire, Lucille Ball, and Sunny & Cher.Rita discovered fashion design at age 12 and promptly added it to her list of talents. After high school, she attended the Fashion Institure of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles while working as an apprentice in her father's studio. In addition to honing her craft and design skills while working in the family business, Rita spent the majority of her young adult years pursuing various forms of art with passion and ingenuity.
The well-versed and versatile artist specializes in fine art, faux and custom finishes for furniture, couture sewing and design, hand-painted murals, antique reproductions of the 17th century and wearable art. Her current werable-art focus is creating the woven-fiber shrugs that feature bold colors and heavy textures, yet art form fitting and sweetly feminine. Rita applies free-form knitting and crocheting, sewing and knotting techniques, and uses yarns of various weights to create her spectacular one-of -a kind shrugs. "I'm drawn to the excitememt of colors and textures, and creating things that are not flat," Rita says. "At the same time, it's a challenge to put the different textures together. It's like trying to compose a work of art."
"And the long fitted sleeves add drama! She is inspired by other cultures, travel and her children, 21-year-old Chavalier and 6-year-old Hemmingway. She counts her father as her mentor and credits her upbringing in the family business as giving her the drive and focus to launch her own fashion line for women, children, and soon to be added, men.
"Even though my family was artistic, our work was very driven by time and efficiency,"Rits says. "I was not afforded the opportunities to be creative like I am with my present work. That being the case, I learned how to be disciplimed in my timing and focus."..
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