Spend sometime in the studio with Andrée Weisman!  You may recognize Andrée and her company GoGo and Martin from our Makers Markets in Toronto and Sprucedale and from her whimsical pin cushions we carry at the workroom. Andrée is now joining us as a teacher this October for the Reversible Fabric Crown class and we are so excited to learn with her!  Andrée is an artist, designer, teacher and founder of Gogo and Martin.  GoGo and Martin is a local Toronto company that fosters children's natural curiosity about the world by designing toys and accessories that encourage imaginative play.  Think of GoGo and Martin as imagination outfitters. Everything they make is designed to invite children to tell their own stories about what they see.

What’s your earliest memory of making something with your hands?

I’m almost positive it was even before this, but the memory that stands out most is this pink plasticine wiener dog I made for myself, because I desperately wanted a pet dog and was not allowed to have one… that thing went everywhere with me, and kept getting squished and remade and left little oily plasticine marks in my pockets until I think my mom got so fed up she brought me a bunch of FIMO, which you could oven bake to harden, and it was the best thing ever. I started making food for my little yellow fisher price doll house. I actually still have some of it — it was so much fun.

If you had to describe your making style in three words, what would they be?

Whimsical — unexpected — diagnostic

What’s one unconventional tool or supply you swear by in your practice?

Forceps — small surgical ones, large long ones, and even the curvy ones you can only get at a medical supply store. So good for stuffing, turning things out carefully, pulling out random polyfil fibres without disturbing the fabric surface, removing problematic slubs, holding tiny pieces in place on the sewing machine… so many uses, such an awesome tool.

What’s a sewing rule you love to break—and why?

I’m sure there are so many! I sometimes feel my grandmother’s scowl, she was a fantastic seamstress and tried to teach me things when I was much younger and not really interested in learning yet. But I have to say that I’m a big believer in creative problem solving, and sometimes that means breaking some rules… I think I definitely have invented my own way of doing certain things, especially in my pattern designs.

Tell us about a “happy accident” in your work—something that went wrong but turned into something amazing.

I feel like this could describe a lot of my work, to be honest! I’m definitely a visualizer — so when I have an idea I tend to see it already finished. I’ll draw or sometimes use watercolour to sketch it out, and then I have to figure out how to actually construct it… and this is where things can go a bit sideways. Sometimes it looks exactly like what I drew, and sometimes it’s very different, but somehow better than the original idea, so I think happy accidents are just an integral part of the process for me.

What’s one thing students always say after taking your class?

This is a tough question to answer, because I’ve actually had the opportunity to teach many different kinds of classes — from goldsmithing, to textiles, sculpture, history, design development, even kung fu. But what I think I’ve learned is that I’m not just trying to teach how to do something, but how to see what needs to be done. And this is a very different skill, because if you can learn how to go about figuring out something you don’t know yet, then that learning doesn’t stop after the lesson. So that’s probably the thing I’ve heard most from students over the years, is that they were excited about what they could try next.

If you could design a dream project with unlimited resources, what would it be?

I have a whole sketchbook full of those! I’ve always wanted to make a giant playground — for kids and grownups too, with giant soft sculptures to climb and curl up in high places in giant soft tree-like structures , with some kind of bouncy trampoline-like floors so you don’t worry about falling.

What’s your best advice for someone feeling stuck or intimidated by the creative process?

Feeling stuck is definitely part of the process — no one always knows exactly what they’re doing, or what to do next. The thing I would find myself telling students over and over is that you won’t know unless you try something. Then you can actually see it and make choices based on some what’s in front of you, instead of something that’s still in your head. On very rare occasions, it might be perfect as it is (very very rare). Usually there’s something you don’t like about it, and thinking about how to change it is what takes you a little further, or maybe even in a new unexpected direction. But a lot of the intimidation disappears when you start by accepting that iteration is a very important part of the creative process.

If you could collaborate with any designer, artist, or historical figure (alive or not), who would it be and why?

This is super hard to answer… I am so inspired by so many people! I have always wondered what would happen if I combined some of those elements, so maybe a Gogo Martin x Lalique x William Morris collab would be kind of fun.

What’s one thing about you that most people wouldn’t expect?

I’m training for a big competition in China next year — it’s like the Kung Fu Olympics — I’m actually part of the Shaolin team representing Canada.

Can you tell us a little about what inspired you to start your company GoGo and Martin?

I think it was watching my little one playing — I remember feeling like I almost needed to relearn how to do that… how to see possible worlds without it being tempered by what life had taught me. So I started making things for us to play with together. Soon friends were asking me to make some for them, and the more I thought about it, the more I realized how much play was missing from all of our lives, so I thought I’d try to fix that.

As someone who finds inspiration in nature can you share a favourite walk or location near or far and what about it sparks your imagination?

Yellow Creek in Toronto. It’s a ravine that runs right through the city but you’d never know it from inside, you can’t really hear the city noise. We’ve been exploring there for years, and it’s fantastic in every season and always full of great surprises. There actually used to be a pottery mill along the creek, which also was used historically to run logs down to the Don River and out to the portlands at the Lake. You can find little pieces of the old structure and so many neat spots with lots of birds and wildlife — all just a bike or subway ride away.

Join Andrée this Fall for a virtual workshop at the workroom! 

• Reversible Fabric Crown : Virtual Workshop : Thursday October 23, 6-8pm

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In The Studio is a regular series where you can meet and learn a little more about the guest teachers we learn with and who inspire us with at the workroom.

Read all the profiles including :

• Ron Collins - Canada’s best known sewing personality and is adored as a designer, speaker and teacher.
• Sherri Lynn Wood - Sherri Lynn teaches improvisational quilting as a creative life practice, and is considered an expert innovator and leader in the modern improv quilting movement.
• Julie Crawford -  Julie helps knitters and crafters get inspired by taking their embroidery skills to the next level with her uniquely styled, complete training courses and patterns.