Original clothing and handbags a new feature of Inroads Studio Tour

Jeff Green | Sep 01, 2011

Photo: Anne Archer wearing a Murry dress at her studio/home.

Geoffrey Murray designs and makes women’s clothing when he is not drawing portraits, designing commercial spaces, or teaching “Anything Fabric”, a course that he created at Sharbot Lake High School.

This weekend he will be joined by his daughter Willa, who is a co-founder of the Toronto-based design company Mari Claro. She will have some of the handbags that she designs and makes using material salvaged from Mercedes Benz automobiles and other sources.

The two artists will be showing their work on the Tryon Road, south of Sharbot Lake, as part of the 19th Inroads Studio Tour. They will be at their home, which Geoffrey built a couple of years ago for himself and his wife, flautist and educator Anne Archer.

Murray has been “messing with fabric” as he puts it, since his art school days in the ’70s and early ’80s in Toronto and Halifax.

He did think at one time that he would have a career as a clothing designer in Toronto.

“When I thought I was winning there was stuff at Queen’s Quay and other Toronto stores and all that,” but as time moved on and other opportunities have presented themselves, clothing design has been simply one of Murray’s professional pre-occupations.

While the cut of his clothing has had a certain consistency over the years, he said that the kind of materials and designs that he works on reflect what he perceives will be suitable for the women who might be interested in his work.

A lot of that perception comes from the students he teaches fashion to at the Anything Fabric Program, which has an enrolment of 20 this year, in a school with just over 200 students.

“I look at what designs and materials 13 to 15-year-olds pick, and what they laugh at. It gives me an idea of what people are looking for,” he said.

The other way is to talk to people and get a sense of their overall style.

“After I design a house for clients I know what the clients want to wear as well,” he said.

Murray has also designed clothes for North Frontenac Little Theatre Productions, including making all the costumes for the production of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” a couple of years ago. He has also made clothes for a number of clients in the local area and in Kingston in recent years.

This summer, as a prelude to the Inroads Tour, he has been showing his work at the Sharbot Lake Farmers Market, where sales have been good.

“I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the response at the market. It gives me the feedback I need to carry on working,” he said.

Geoffrey and Willa Murray are joined on the Inroads Tour by neighbour Bob Miller, an instrument maker who will be showing at his studio across the road. Just back down the hill and a few hundred metres down the road is Inroads Tour co-founder, printmaker Martina Field, making the Tryon road hub a major attraction at this year’s tour.

The Inroads Tour runs from 10-5, Friday to Monday, September 2-5. For information and a downloadable map and brochure, go to www.inroadstour.ca or call 613-335-2073