 BY BLAKE DRIVER
There’s no shortage of shopping outlets in Albuquerque and when it comes to meeting up with local artisans and custom designers to get that specially tailored item created just for you, the retail options are manifold. To help readers get in touch with these independent craftsmen and women, Local iQ tracked down four of them: a belt-buckle designer, a corset maker, a furniture craftsman and a handbag and accessories artist. The most fascinating part about their collective story is discovering how each of them got started in their trade — some by accident, some by stumbling epiphanies, but all of them by sheer strokes of genius.
 Scott White
White Design
gohomeandsit.com
Scott White, who started building custom furniture three years ago in his studio in ABQ, is currently working on an enormous tailor-made podium and altar for a church in Chicago. He discovered his knack for furniture design three years ago after he went hunting for a coffee table and couldn’t find one that suited his tastes. Undaunted, he rigged two slabs of plywood together with All Thread and voilà: he had a coffee table. Now he enjoys sitting down with prospective clients in their homes and coming up with unique furniture ideas. Constructing his pieces out of recycled materials along with choice woods like black walnut and baltic birch plywood, lends itself to White’s mission to build green, sustainable pieces that he says are “worth every penny.” See a few of his pieces on display at Fhab Art Gallery (1131 Mountain NW, 400.9313).
Robyn Vines Smith
Burst of Happiness
burstofhappiness.com
Four years ago, Robyn Vines Smith, who spends most of her time working as a copy editor at the Albuquerque Journal, woke up one day and decided she wanted to sew — so she taught herself.
Her grandmother and mother had always been deft at the craft, but according to Vines Smith, relentless, diligent practice is the way she perfected her sewing skills. She said she prefers to make her handbags, aprons and yoga mat bags (for toting rolled-up yoga mats) out of cotton and heavier home décor fabrics. She is happy to go over fabrics and styles with new customers to get them the design of their dreams.
Working directly with clients has presented some eye-opening experiences for Vines Smith.
“Sometimes a client will select very unusual fabric choices that I don’t think match at all," she said, "but when I’m finished, sometimes I think they were right.”
With a custom designer at hand, the endless creative possibilities are part of the excitement when picking out one of Vines Smith's items. Her bags range in price from $45 to $50 depending on the style and a small selection of her items can be found at Cutie Pie Boutique (203 Wellesley SE, 243.1260).
Nikki Zabicki
Nikki Zabicki Urban Fashion and Décor
nikkizabicki.com
Nikki Zabicki has been hand-painting pop-art belt buckles in ABQ for the past three years. Using a variety of media including acrylic, pen and newsprint, she lays out her most recognizable illustrations – tough girls with broken hearts, geishas, skeletons falling in love and Zia symbols – on incredibly durable aluminum backs.
Three layers of table-top resin over the whole thing makes for a piece of wearable art that will last forever. She says customers should expect new products with custom steel backings in the fall, as well as silk-screened buckles and T-shirts to go along with her expanding line of accessories.
“Anyone who works in a bar from Nob Hill to Downtown is wearing one of my buckles,” she said recently with a loud guffaw.
In Albuquerque, Toad Road (3503 Central NE, 255.4212), Beach Zone (1700 Juan Tabo NE, 294.9610) and La Parada Mercantile (8917 4th NW, 897.8203) carry a selection of her buckles, which come with a standard black belt and are priced generally between $50 and $60. In Santa Fe, find her in Maya (108 Galisteo, 505.989.7590).
Charmaine G. Brown
Corset and Cloak
corsetandcloak.com
In her last year of school at the University of New Mexico where she was completeing her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree as a sculptor, Charmaine G. Brown stumbled into the costume room under Popejoy Hall. The costumes she saw there changed the course of her artistic life.
“I had just spent the past five years in art school," Brown said in a recent interview, " and when I saw all those costumes, I thought, wow, I missed the boat.”
Since Brown had grown up sewing, getting her skillful hands around custom corset designs was no problem.
“I’m a three-dimensional sculptor; that’s what I do," she stated. Corsets are like little tiny sculptures that you put around someone’s body.”
Custom corsets, which are mostly commissioned by clients for wedding dresses, fancy club gear, costumes or lingerie items, are more appealing than mass-produced lines because they’re tailored specifically to fit an individual’s figure and being able to select the fabric and style make the price worth it. Brown dares shoppers to try and find authentic busks (the front-closing clasp mechanism) and steel-boned corsets in department stores. The base cost for a custom corset is $285.
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