The President of ME

Rebecca Wittman

PHILOSOPHY

The President of ME is not about politics, but the seed of it was planted at the turn of the millennium, after the presidential election. A new phrase came into my orbit that year: "He's not the President of ME." It was an expression that settled into the recesses of my psyche until one day, like oil from a sunken ship, it burbled to the surface. "Who IS the president of ME?" I challenged myself. In a world that seemed to be institutionalizing dishonesty, I genuinely craved some truth.

The question brought to mind my son, the most honest person I'd ever known. Not because he was the answer to the question but because he inspired the answer. As a young child, whenever he did something he knew to be wrong, he would straightaway tattle on himself. "Mom, I think you should know that I took this from that store..." For whatever reason, this kid had come out of the womb feeling safe about being utterly candid about his actions, and seemed completely at ease with the course corrections that followed his disclosures.

There were many of these moments of self-ratting-out, and each time — as consequences were meted out — it gave me a chance to talk with him about this talent for truthfulness. I urged him to keep this honesty in his toolkit throughout his life, and see moments of accountability like a fork in the road. Go one direction and while you might make it a few miles down the road with the power you had before you took the turn, the truth eventually catches up and you find yourself stalled. And because time and fate and life will always insist on a reckoning, when that day comes, you're not just stuck, the loss of power makes it difficult to get going again.

But take the other road and, while the course might be a little rocky at the start and often an uphill chug, the journey levels out in time and moves along through some beautiful scenery. The traveler is better off because they've learned some things in the face of a challenge. Oh, and one more thing happens. The traveler discovers they have significantly more power, a boost from the fuel of truth.

The President of ME is not a social movement or an axe to grind with some erstwhile politician. It's a personal journey inspired by my honest, wonderful kid. It is a line of apparel I founded on a principle: We are at our MOST powerful when we take responsibility for our lives. In short, a philosophy with a wearable delivery system. It's about speaking truth to our own power. It's a conversation I've had in my studio and my shop with thousands of people over the years, a way of thinking about our relationships — with our bodies, our children, our communities, our significant others, our leaders, our planet.

The manifesto of my little enterprise is a small series of questions meant to challenge us to step in front of a mirror and demand the truth. It accompanies every item of clothing that leaves my studio.

7KT Line

My newest line is a collection of home goods, inspired by a salvaged speed limit sign that once stood at the north end of Seattle's Lake Union. 7kt is the universal speed limit for slowing down on waterways. I had long ago photographed that sign and begun making fabrics from the photo, from which I constructed pillows (a popular item with my friends in the boating community) and linen dishtowels. It was my way of thinking about slowing down after a lifetime of go-go-go. I made a line of greeting cards based on the sign, and have made cocktail party napkins, tote bags, and various other soft goods from the print.

The salvaged sign itself actually came into my possession when a friend, whose houseboat was moored on the dock that held the sign, told me it had been replaced and she had saved the sign for me! It now presides over my studio.

The salvaging of the sign inspired a new division of the 7kt line, "Salvage Couture." I've spent the last 8 years constructing two successive homes, and the vast collection of materials I've salvaged from those projects provides infinite inspiration for many art forms: pillows, papier mache, jewelry, home décor, lamps, etc. Those projects are the mainstay of my studio and shop work now, and when I'm not painting and trimming out the final parts of my house I'm in the shop and studio finding new ways to interpret old leftovers from my construction journeys.