Q & A With Kelsy Of Carleen

Carleen's hints of vintage and love of prints fit right in with Beklina. See the SP18 picks on sale here, and enjoy Kelsy's answers to my questions below.
Angelina: What was your very first job? 
Kelsy: Teaching swim lessons in my family's backyard pool! I was self-employed and made probably the best hourly rate of any 16 year old I knew. During my lunch break I would go in the house and make a box of macaroni and cheese. 
A: What are you currently working on?
K: Everything! It's fashion busy season. I'm shipping spring wholesale orders as fast as I can get them out the door, coordinating with my showroom on sales, and trying not to be the last one putting new product on our website. When this period mellows out in a few more weeks, I'll get to be creative again, but I like problem solving too. I have a new (to me) quilt that's too pretty to cut up so I want to see how I can interpret it into a print. The colors are just sideways of primary, exactly the way I like them. I also need to get back to work on a baby quilt I'm making for a friend (she's due in May, so I have a little time still).
A: What inspired your current collection SP18, specially the prints and colors? 
K: Much of the collection was conceived as my husband, dog, and I drove west across the country to our new home in Los Angeles. Wide open skies, desert hues, and motel color schemes were a big influence.  
A: Favorite instagram feeds? 
K: Oh, I spend way too much time on instagram.
@museummammy@stellabugbee@spicy.mayo@tennesseebunny, @latonyayvette, @millenialloteria, @afamuseum I could go on, but it's also just my friends and peers and colleagues. I like seeing what everyone is up to and thinking about. 
A: If you have to leave the USA for good, where would you try to make a new home? 
K: This is a tough one! I feel very rooted in America, for better or worse, though I love visiting other countries. Currently I'm craving a trip to Mexico, and think I could be very happy there long-term if I needed to be. Spanish is the only language besides english that I have any familiarity with, so I could probably adapt pretty well. 
A: Describe something in your studio that you love. 
K: Currently I'm working from a home studio, so there are tons of things to choose from. My dog is very good company, but if we're talking about a non-living thing, I really treasure the quilt I was able to buy from the Gee's Bend collective on our roadtrip this past summer. I love the way it looks but I also love the powerful group of women behind it. 
A: In the last few months, what is something, big or small, in which you are grateful. 
K: I love living near Griffith Park so much. One of our motivations for moving to California was to get outside more, and being close to the park really contributes to the city/nature balance I seek, especially when things are busy and it's hard to really get out of town. 
Shop the collection here.