Friends for years, David and Dorita explored the world of art and fine craft independently for over 33 years. At midlife they returned to school and reinvented their lives together. Feeling a strong need to create, they decided to seek their path in the arts. They married and Reyen Design Studios was born.
“Artistic collaboration with one’s life partner is not an easy road to take,” they both agree, “but it can be a very rewarding experience. It certainly gives you the chance to know and grow together, to jointly face and solve problems, and repeatedly create beauty.”
David has worked in a variety of media, including leather, wood, stone, metal and textiles. For the last 29 years he has worked as a jeweler and metal smith using gold, silver, and stone. Over the last five he has refocused his primarily organic aesthetic onto art-to-wear fashion and textile design, continuing to create jewelry pieces that complement the Studios’ various lines of clothing.
Dorita has always worked with fibers, using a variety of techniques. Costume design has long been her passion, and she worked freelance for theater, opera, film, historical societies and reenactments. She also draws, sculpts and paints and is accomplished in quilting, embroidery, and doll making. Since her marriage to David, she has focused on designing apparel and accessories created from David’s hand dyed silks and Silkcloqué.
After years of working within the size and color limitations of jewelry, David found hand-dyeing yards of silk with a virtually unlimited pallet of color an exciting and liberating experience. Similarly, Dorita became bored with available materials and was thrilled to work with the unique fabrics David was creating from brightly colored silk and wool fibers.
David and Dorita have both completed their M.A.’s in Fashion and Textile Design at Syracuse University and are continuing to work and teach in this department. They also conduct workshops on their dyeing and felting techniques.
The work of David and Dorita is based on the concept that clothing is a necessity, but style is a choice. They also believe that true art is timeless, and that apparel is about artistic and individual expression and not trendy fashions. Clothing should be comfortable, well made, and flattering.
Reyen Designs are about color, texture and drama. Their pieces are designed to become exclamation points for a woman’s natural beauty, an outer skin waiting to have life breathed into it by the wearer.
David’s muse is the art, music, folklore and philosophies of the ancient world, both historical and mythical. “My assorted Celtic ancestry permeates the aesthetic of dress and adornment I create. My apparel and jewelry both reflect the flowing, easy grace of mist and ancient forests. I like to design for the woman who sees in herself the mythic forms: elven maid, dryad, earth goddess, or faerie queen. I included a line of elven wear in my graduate thesis show.”
Dorita’s inspiration is more contemporary than David’s. “The Cultural Revolution of the sixties strongly influenced my aesthetic. The sixties era was about peace, love, happiness and hope. We really believed that small actions could manifest big changes. Some of us still believe that. Our designs are all about being beautiful. And I’ve seen our work transform all kinds of women into joyful free spirits in celebration of life.”
International Textile and Apparel Association Competition. 1999. “Celtic Cocoon.”
International Textile and Apparel Association Competition. 2000. “Lichen.”
Syracuse University School of Management. Business Plan Competition Finalist. 2002.
Threads Magazine. Article on Making Felt and Silkcloque. 2003.
Buyers Market of American Craft. $1000 Merit Award. 2004.
Everson Memorial Art Gallery. Visiting Artist Series. 2004.
Fiber Arts Magazine. “The Sorceress” chosen for article on “The Future of Fiber Art.” 2005.
FAERIE Magazine. Featured Designers. Summer, 2005.