Bio:
Sarah Jane Mark is a fiber artist & clothing designer who grew up in the mountains of Northern California. Her love for nature and using repurposed materials is foundational to her work. She spent the first half of her career in Los Angeles designing for apparel manufacturers in the fashion industry. Since moving to Detroit in 2012, she has focused on fiber art & sustainable fashion education. Her current work is dedicated to raising awareness around circular and sustainable fashion and grounding in nature with an eco-spiritual awareness.
Sarah resides in Detroit, Michigan with her husband and two sons. Together, they have founded Neighborhood Art School, a non-profit whose mission is to support the development of lifelong creative practices by bringing together artists, neighbors, and educators to host community-led classes and events. Sarah and Billy Mark have also founded the Selah House, which is an artist community dedicated to going deeper into their connection to God, their art practice, and communal living.
Artist Statement:
Somewhere deep inside of me, there has always been a desire and drive to create beautiful things. My earliest childhood memories are a combination of ecstatic experiences in nature combined with my little hands creating beautiful things for my dolls out of scraps of fabric.
It took me years of going down the ‘fashion industry path’ pursuing worldly success, to come around full circle years later, to realize a deeper sense of fulfillment and purpose as an artist and designer in this world. This deeper truth was revealed to me when I was willing to set aside financial worries and return to a childlike sense of dreaming, making, and being. I did this by going on artist retreats to a local monastery surrounded by nature, quiet, and being immersed in a cultural environment where monks center their daily lives around prayer. This is where my fiber art and clothing design practice merged and the Unity Collection was born.
Rewiring the brain takes time and dedicated repetitive activity in order to pave new pathways. Making and praying alongside monks at the monastery as well as living in an artistic spiritual community in Detroit, has had a profound impact on my work. Within these communities, there is a striving towards something deeper, something mysterious, and eternal. Whatever one wants to call this, will exist long after capitalism burns the earth to the ground.
I believe in a future where humans work together to be good stewards of the earth in all industries. I have a dream where I see all tribes, nations, and languages in a vast sea of breathtaking colors, textures, and patterns, all reflecting the glory of this mysterious eternal energy. I believe this energy of The Creator or The Source exists in all of creation, and we have the ability as makers to let it flow through us if we choose to. I believe in a future where fashion is dictated by individual self-expression, rooted in a love of self and a deep connection to this eternal creative energy. In the same way that no two snowflakes are identical, I believe in a future fashion reality where self-expression through clothing is rooted in a love of self, love of others, and love for the planet.
Community Engagement Services
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Speaker / Educator
Dream with me for what a future of fashion could look like that prioritizes people and the planet. I have over 25 years experience as a designer from designing for large apparel makers, to producing my own indie boutique line, to developing fair trade partnership with artisan groups around the world. I am dedicated to the eco-ethical aspect of the clothing industry. Depending on the group, I can customize talks to your demographic to educate about how clothing production impacts the planet and can inspire hope for the future and share examples of brilliant innovations in the industry. Complex conversations like these can be overwhelming so I always make sure to leave the group with tangible actions they can take in their own life.
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Workshops
I love sharing my skills as an independent maker and as a fashion designer who has designed for large manufacturers as well as the Fair Trade sector. Some of the workshops I can offer are sewing, mending, upcycling, repurposing, patternmaking, designing collections, fitting, fashion illustration, textile sourcing, and best practices for eco-ethical production. Sign up on my newsletter to find out about local offerings or contact me if you want to host a class in your community.
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One on One Sewing & Upcycling Sessions
Book a two hour private session with me and I will help you with your projects and teach you the basics of sewing and upcycle clothing design to help you make your own custom clothing. You will walk away from the session with some new pieces and feel empowered to continue on your own at home.
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'Free To Be Me' Therapeutic Session
Book a private session with me where I will guide you in a listening & visioning session to aid you in your journey of self-expression through clothing. This is a virtual session aimed at helping you uncover your unique voice, increase self-esteem, and how to express identity through clothes, textures, patterns, and accessories.