We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Charlotte Marra a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Charlotte , appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?
When I was 16, I traveled to Miami to paint a mural for a client of my mother’s. She is an interior designer, and commissioned a rendition of an 18th century landscape with birds for the entry wall in their new house. For five days, I painted from 9am — 6pm. The whole time, I was nervous that they wouldn’t like it, but they were delighted with the end result. I was given a check on the last day of work and I remember looking at it the whole plane ride back to Baltimore thinking about how I would spend it at my favorite vintage shops. I think of this first mural all the time and am grateful to my mother for her faith in me from such an early age.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
A background in art and a Master’s degree in Art History led me to become a gallery director. For 15 years of my career, I directed gallery programs and moved across the world — London, Zurich, New York, Chicago and now to my current home in Charleston, SC. The urge to return to a more creative bent set me on a new path to transform the ways in which we design and equip our children’s nurseries, playrooms, and bedrooms. This began as a personal crusade when my daughter Audrey Ottoline was born. The great design impresario William Morris once famously said ‘have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or beautiful.’ I took this dictum to heart when designing her nursery in London. As any parent will know, anything that can aid sound sleep is essential, and a blackout shade was one of our early essential buys. Faced with a lack of attractive options, I took matters into my own hands and painted a mural on a blind — something that Audrey could look up at and be comforted by, something that was useful and beautiful – Audrey the Bunny Shade #1 was created. The shades were quickly followed by reading stools, quilts, rugs and more – each thematically linked together and all presented in my signature hand-painted style. This was the point at which Ottoline Interiors truly was born as an idea and an ambition.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
I have always loved making things with my hands. There is something truly fulfilling about creating a product from your own vision and being able to see the realization of that product from start to finish. I’ve always been very grateful for my rendering abilities which have allowed me to do this. It’s also very satisfying to come up with concepts for custom products as I believe childrens’ rooms should be special places, catered to their interests, and as unique as possible.
Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?
Ottoline Interiors places a child’s sophisticated imagination at the heart of our ethos. Inspiration for the designs is derived from a rich variety of sources; but in particular, I am drawn to Victorian illustrations, botanical drawings, French lithographs, and Italian textiles. I love to imagine a time when children were free to drive their imagination themselves and have the opportunity to peer into different worlds without the need for guidance from television or video games. My aim has always been to take classic form and classic subjects and render them in an engaging and timeless manner – intricate enough to keep any child fascinated but still retaining simple pastoral themes that have wrapped up children’s minds in dream-like wonder for centuries. I want the children who enjoy my products to be completely immersed in that fantastical dream-like world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ottolineinteriors.com
- Instagram: @ottoline_interiors
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ottolineinteriors/