About Me:

​I'm a designer, artisan, traveler and teacher.  

I like my wardrobe convertible and my coffee Italian.  

Join me as I explore faraway places, fashion, crafts and food.

Wandering: (Noun) an aimless roving about; leisurely traveling from place to place.

​Muse: (Noun) a person or personified force who is the source of inspiration for a creative artist.

              (Verb) to become absorbed in thought.

lisa@wanderingmuse.com

Made with Squarespace

Who and Where?

My name is Lisa and I live and in Portland, Oregon in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.  (When I'm not out and about traveling the globe and getting inspired that is...)

Why and What?  

After a whirlwind trip to Europe at the age of 17 where I visited 7 countries in 14 days, I knew travel was going to be a lifelong passion of mine.  I studied abroad in Florence, Italy in college and completely fell in love.  While getting my Bachelors degree in Fashion I titled my senior collection "Wanderlust" and brand "Wandering Muse" as homage to past and future travels.  It was then that I started to design convertible clothing, dreaming of a time when I would once again need to live out of a suitcase.  After graduating from design school I traveled back to my beloved Florence, Italy to continue studying the Italian language and to intern with a Florentine fashion designer.  It was during this 6 months of my life that I developed a true appreciation for travel and living abroad and met people from all over the world that I would become lifelong friends.

A couple years after returning home to the United States I reconnected with a professor from college and started teaching sewing classes.  Shortly thereafter I realized that I had found one of my true callings: teaching.  Since then I've been able to experience what it's like to truly enjoy a job.  Along with teaching others I have been continuously teaching myself new skills and crafts. Most notably machine knitting, a craft that doesn't have as many resources or available help like other areas such as sewing.  Using every resource I could find plus a lot of time and struggle, I taught myself to use the machines.  Now I teach others to knit by machine and continue to learn new techniques myself.

In 2012 I started designing again, continuing my line Wandering Muse, devoted primarily to convertible garments, along with a few basics and accessories, great for travel or a capsule wardrobe.  This was a challenging time in my life, during which I designed and produced 2 collections and showed at 2-3 fashion shows a year in addition to teaching higher education classes 4-5 days a week.  It was a very educational (and exhausting) experience during which I really started to understand and refine my creative process.

I took a small break from designing during the latter half of 2014 through 2016 to focus on teaching and family.  Now I'm back in the design studio, taking my beloved Wandering Muse in the direction of the Slow & Ethical Fashion Movements.  As a small independent design company I am really focusing on quality materials, craftsmanship, ethical business practices, keeping things simple (yet convertible!) and taking time to enjoy life!