Meet Connie Huffa | Artist, Engineer, and Designer

We had the good fortune of connecting with Connie Huffa and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Connie, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
For most people I know, including me, creativity is not a choice. It is part of us from as far back as we can remember. Sure, people can try to suppress it, ignore it, or table it. Maybe they take a job that pays the bills, Yet, even in putting together an Excel spreadsheet, art comes out. It gets designed It gets color coded and balanced. If it’s a cost sheet, it gets visuals, all neatly tagged with fonts that are easy on the eyes. Growing up, my family was far from wealthy, but they encouraged art, music, science, math, and being outside in nature. There was always music in the house, or my Mom and sister singing. We are all creative by nature, and in my case, creative thinking is just part of me and I don’t know any different. I grew up in a city with some of the best museums in the world, and this is also why I thrive in Los Angeles. Surrounded by so many brilliant people from all art forms here in LA, the entire region is a collective of inspiration, provocative ideas, and just life, sometimes as raw as it gets.
Artistic skills run in my family, and everyone expresses their gifts differently. My Dad loved drawing with colored pencils and painting with watercolor. My uncle was a finish carpenter. My cousins are fantastic fine artists with oil and acrylics. My sister and my niece are mixed media artists, and my nephew is an actor. My other sister is a professional singer, and her husband is a professional guitarist who has played Sunset’s Whisky A Go Go. My Mom used to bake beautiful cakes for one of the top restaurants. My daughter is a video game artist and has worked on two A+ games. My husband invented Flyknit shoes for Nike. I could go on, but the bottom line is creatives help other creatives find their vein of gold..
We are all creative. I believe what makes the difference in why I pursued art, design, fashion writing, and everything else is I had a lot of access to other creative people and encouragement early. Everyone is genuinely interested in, ‘What are you working on now,” and vice versa. Creativity is progress. It pushes life on. It builds, it destroys, It changes all the time. We distill chaos into a form to share, think and feel. There is no fail in art. Art is all about perspective. It’s a snapshot of our inner thoughts and feelings at any given time.
Many people stare at a blank page, screen, or canvas. It is not that they don’t know what to create. It is more of a feeling that they are afraid to make a mistake. They want to control the outcome so tightly; get it right the first time, and that gets in the way. When I am pressed for time, it can be a challenge to shake that off. All I know is that I have to get it out. Above all things, art, creativity, whatever expression it takes, it is a drive to be. We all need to be.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have been creating art ever since I can remember. My B2B company, Fabdesigns, Inc. is a distillation of art, science, math, and a lot of cool fabric technology. It is always exciting because things are always changing and we are the cutting edge. Bruce and I are recognized internationally as world-class product strategists, leveraging technology and future engineering. We innovate, create intellectual property, and scale first to market advanced products for top brands in automotive, running shoes, sports, medical, aerospace, and composites, with nearly zero waste. If you own a pair of Nike’s, you are wearing our work. If you’ve seen some recent superhero movies, you’ve seen our work. We’re one of the few places in LA that has the time and patience to work with film studios in creating custom and unique fabrics on industrial equipment confidentially.

Over the past 5 years, we have filed 14 patents on next-generation technology for aerospace composites, automotive, and footwear. Imagine your sports gear or yoga wear having artificial ligaments that massage and support your muscles. That is what we do. We create the future. It isn’t easy. We have had many clients steal technology and patent it for themselves. How we stopped that was to file our own patents. Patents are expensive and we learned a lot about IP attorneys.

Our story is and has always been efficiency and sustainability. Zero waste. This is not new to us and it’s who we are since the beginning of our company. The world has just caught up and woken up that we cannot keep poisoning our planet. The amount of trash generated by making clothes, shoes, and just about everything else in our daily lives is staggering.

Several years ago, Nike received an award, from the UN, for the technology Fabdesigns brought to their shoes from 2008 to 2011, for saving 65% of the production waste that is generated before the customer sees the shoes in the store, and 90% of the energy waste and labor in the shoemaking process overall. With our patents, we can do that with composites, ceramics, and some of the most indestructible materials in the world. We never even got a thank you. Nike instead, patented our pre-existing technology for themselves against signed contracts. Who wants to fight a Goliath with 350 attorneys on payroll, right? It is not worth fighting over the past when the world is always changing, and we are creating the future.

That being said, to work with so many brands and startups today, requires more contracts, NDAs, consulting agreements, licensing, and IP than ever. This is mentally exhausting and takes up about 60% of my work life or more. My escape is filling the canvas with shapes, textures, and color.
My art is about turning negative into positive. Whether that be turning trash into treasure or taking the stress and channeling it into beauty.

We are lucky to be able to hike Chesbro Canyon in Agoura Hills often and I have a favorite oak tree that must be two or three hundred years old. It survived the Woolsey fire and who knows how many fires in its lifetime. It has been through a lot and it is so beautiful for all its twists, turns, and black scorches from the fire. Its challenges have created its stunning shape, and to see it in mustard season is magical. I highly recommend hiking to this area in the Santa Monica Mountains to regenerate the creative juices. It is worth it to see these wise old trees that have been through so much.

In painting this tree, I did something new. I never used oils before. Inspired by local artist, Ian Robertson, and his online classes, I took on the challenge. I’ve included a photo of me in the field with this beautiful tree and another of my painting in progress of it in oil. It brings me joy to see it.

After the Woolsey fire, our office in the barn of Calamigos Ranch was closed because we had no power for several months. All the beautiful trees and the land were burned. All the road posts, gates, and trees were scorched like the Japanese Shou Sugi Ban. It was like walking in a black-and-white photo. Surreal to say the least.

Art became therapy and the injection of color. The most colorful art form I found was flow acrylic art. It was wonderful for not worrying about controlling the situation and just pour the paint and letting it do whatever it did. Such was life at a time when so much was out of our control. It felt more like a craft than fine art but they were beautiful. I made many canvases, and some were so striking that I painted scenes on top of them using some of the original flow art in the painting to create unique surfaces and textures.

At about the same time, I started collecting all the textured and colored plastics, lids, caps, and films that would normally go to recycling. My husband and daughter I thought were going to have a hoarder intervention, but I explained my collection of trash piling up in bins in the garage. I cut the plastics, bend them, take a heat gun to them (outdoors) to shape them, and add them to the art, creating a 3-dimensional canvas. The point is to repurpose the plastics into art that will never be thrown away or become microplastics.

My current project is repurposing a different medium, wood. I have several big round spools that once held electrical cables and repurposed them into my ‘blank canvases’ by removing the ends. I am in the process of smoothing them out and putting hangers on the back before I assemble all the plastic pieces to them as I paint.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Oh wow. This happens a lot. I actually created an adult coloring book with a map of LA and all the cool sites and places that I DO TAKE all our friends and relatives that visit. It is available on Amazon by the way. I usually stop at Randy’s Donuts on the way from the airport. Even if they don’t buy the donuts, they want a photo. Venice Beach and Muscle Beach are people-watching favorites.
We then head up to Malibu Seafood, for lunch or dinner, where fresh seafood is cooked right there on the spot and we sit and watch the ocean while we eat.

Many of my friends are also creatives. They LOVE the fashion District, buying fabrics and other things. Some of them are Cosplay enthusiasts, and LA has the best fabrics for anything. Lunch is Zencu in Little Tokyo, where the chefs make the most wonderful sushi right there in front of you. This place is a secret. It is so good, and it is so reasonable. Book store for Anime lovers? Kinokuniya, is down the street. It has a fabulous selection of all types of books but specializes in Japanese and Anima. There is a whole section on vintage LA that I love too. If anyone has time, the Japanese American National Museum is a must. The displays are heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time.

If we can get in, I like taking people to City Hall. The inside is beautiful and the view from the observation deck is one of a kind.

Everyone wants to go to Hollywood Boulevard. I dislike the traffic and parking. So what I try to do is find what is at the movies at El Capitan or the Hollywood Bowl and make a day of it. We park at North Hollywood station and take the Metro to Highland and walk around. it is so worth not driving and dealing with the tourist gawker traffic in Hollywood. If we’re at the Bowl or the Greek (Vermont Exit) for a concert, Metro is the fastest way out of that area.

Everyone wants to go to Santa Monica and the Promenade. We usually take them to Ye’ Old King’s Head pub for Fish and Chips or cream tea. We drive down the incline and up the coast to Surf Rider Beach, park at the Adamson House, and then watch the surfers. If anyone is interested in the history of Malibu, and the Rindge Family who once owned all of it, The Adamson House is a good starting point.

If the weather is good, we usually take a day trip or a weekend on Catalina Island. It is a step back in time and we love that there are no cars on the Promenade. Our favorite is the Pavilion, but there are plenty of quaint B&Bs to suit everyone. My nephews loved parasailing there and We love sitting on the beach.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I think I answered this in the first question. The success of my business, Fabdesigns is due to a lot of hard work, partnership, and support from my husband, Bruce, who is one of the top people in the world at what he does. Though, I believe I am what I am and got to the point of jumping into the abyss of entrepreneurship thanks to my parents building my fearless mindset in that regard. When Bruce and I were fired from our jobs for buying a property together, I didn’t throw a pity party, but went to the Los Angeles registrar’s office the next day and for $30 started Fabdesigns.
How would a 23-year-old fix their mind to do that?
Both my parents, Joseph and Florinda, have been the most encouraging and supportive force in my life of getting out and doing something positive. They still are the driving force in my life, even though Dad has passed. They encouraged me and my sisters to try things, art, music, dancing, reading, and sports. They were thrilled when my sisters and I got to work for the Phillies. They also taught us not to take ourselves too seriously. We had to learn to laugh at ourselves, have fun, not make fun. Helping people in need without any expectations of reciprocation was ultra important to a sense of community.

I believe my parents understood that people need to be more than just a 2D resume. People need to be well-rounded. Today, USC calls this a ‘renaissance scholar.’ My parents were ahead of their time, sacrificing to give us piano lessons, guitar lessons, and take us to museums, art school, and camping. They sat and many times laughed through dozens of high school play mishaps, musicals, and badly tuned orchestra concerts, They came to see my portfolio shows. Most times the whole family came with them, Aunts, Uncles, and Grandma. Sometimes they wore funny hats or Groucho Marx glasses, so I’d know exactly where they were and I had to play with a straight face.
In 1977, my parents joined what we call today, ’The Van Life.’ They bought a tricked-out Ford Econoline van and drove us cross country, camping to Canada and Florida, and then East Coast to West Coast to show us the country. I was 13 when I first fell in love with Los Angeles.

We met so many really interesting people along the way, sharing campfires. From the guy who shared his family’s wine from Napa to the ranch owner’s kids in Cody, Wyoming who had the most beautiful horses. Sharing experiences and finding common ground with others was part of the lesson too. With 5 people and a dog in a Van for 2600 miles in each direction, our trip was a definite experience. Mom and Dad took turns driving and I got to pick which KOA we were stopping at for the night. Sometimes, we had to make do with what we had on hand and be resourceful. This was way before REI existed and Stuckey’s or Sears was where camping gear came from. It was one of the most fun and exhausting trips of my lifetime. It was an achievement. I am eternally grateful.

Website: http://www.fabdesigns.com

Instagram: @conniehuffa

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/connie-huffa-6225105/

Youtube: @conniehuffaCRE8

Other: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C2RYF9FT This is the COLOR Los Angeles Coloring Book with the map of LA and all the cool spots. Instagram is @ConnieHuffa

Image Credits
Florinda Bevivino Connie Huffa