Fab designer

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, May 21, 2005 | by Monique Beeler, STAFF WRITER

WITHOUT THE Zeida Rothmans of the world, we'd still slumber under down comforters, blot our faces dry with thick, cotton towels and dine off sturdy china platters. But our bedding, linens and dishes would come only in bland monochromatic schemes.

An expert in creating patterns -- plaids, paisleys, toile, stripes -- Rothman has been making the material world a more beautiful place one bolt of cloth and one wallpaper border at a time for 40 years.

She's also trained hundreds of students in surface design at a school shefounded 28 years ago in Berkeley. A native New Yorker, Rothman ran her own design company in that city's garment district for 12 years before moving West.

Rothman's school, The California School of Professional Fabric Design, spontaneously grew from friends' request to teach them to create patterns on textiles. She started out teaching classes around her kitchen table.

Today, her vocational school is licensed by the state and runs year-round. It's earned high marks from those in the industry but is little-known outside the design field.

Housed in a neat three-story beige building with teal trim, the school stands virtually unnoticed on Page Street in Berkeley, where it shares a block with art studios and an old factory. The only marker alerting passersby is an unassuming wooden sign reading "Fabric School."

Source of materials

Climb the stairs to find an inviting open suite of light- drenched rooms, including a gallery of student work, a cozy meeting room arranged with over-stuffed floral-upholstered chairs and a library containing not only books about African and Victorian textiles, but a credenza crammed with inspirational source materials from festive paper plates to gorgeous gift wrap.

A placard on top of the chest of drawers advises: "Fear no surface."

"People don't want to leave," Rothman says of her students. "Our graduation ceremony has a lot of Kleenex."

No wonder no one's gung-ho to graduate. The surroundings are tasteful and calming. The instructor is warm and affirming.

In the hallway, a stone fountain trickles. An embroidered gold kimono decorates one wall, and nearby a wall-size fabric hanging showcases Rothman's own handiwork, a detailed scene of woven American Indian-style baskets.

"The physical environment of the school is so nurturing, they just love to come every week," says Rothman, who wears her blond hair long and wavy over a red jacquard tunic. "It's like therapy. They get a lot of positive reinforcement."

From 17 to 35 students enroll each semester to take courses including "Creating Professional Designs" and "Portfolio Development." Most students graduate in two or three years, although Rothman will adapt when some have extenuating circumstances such as child care challenges or caring for a sick relative.

"I work with everyone one-on-one in the school, so I know that they really get the work," says Rothman. "I do a lot of listening to where they're at, and they talk to me.

"That has to be taken into consideration," she says. "I'm working with a human being, not just someone who is producing."

Her teaching style appears to be working. Graduates have gone on to secure jobs with companies including Pottery Barn, Williams- Sonoma, Hallmark and Bed, Bath and Beyond.

Joy Stocksdale of the Sebastopol-based Surface Design Association says Rothman is one of two instructors in the Bay Area offering classes in textile design.

"She has a very good reputation in terms of the more traditional approach to designing for the industry using gouache and hand- painting and things like that, as opposed to computer designing for the industry," Stocksdale says.

Only school of its kind

The California School of Professional Fabric Design is the only institution of its kind in Northern California.

"This is the students' work," Rothman says leading a tour of the gallery, where framed designs on fabric range from a tropical hula scene to a whimsical cupcake and confetti pattern. "Half of the people here have no art background. What they learn is to be diversified, to design for any trade."

Graduates work in specialities including men's wear, women's wear, children's wear, home furnishings, dishware and rugs.

One recent graduate is designing high-end cashmere blankets decorated with traditional American Indian motifs. On another gallery wall are student-designed plates with patterns from grape clusters to an Italian-style mosaic.

"This is all hand-done," Rothman says. "We deal with all different mediums. We work with gouache and water color and computer."

When prospective students call her up and confess that they can't draw, Rothman tells them, "That's great!"

"Then they don't come in with an "I know" (attitude)," she says. "That's harder for me to work with."

Nina Graves, 40, of Kensington is one of Rothman's success stories. An elementary school teacher for 11 years, Graves decided she was ready for a more visually creative profession. It was a good fit; she now works as a freelance designer for Cost Plus World Market.

"I like the variety of techniques and skills we learned and assignments that really stretched me," Graves says. "That led to a lot of growth for me."