Life is Berry Sweet
All Tina Produce items are designed, hand screen-printed and cleverly packaged in Oakland by me, Kristina Basgen, and on occasion a few helpers.
The seeds of Tina Produce began in 2009, when I left my administrative non-profit job to pursue a more creative career. I worked at farmers’ markets while taking a slew of graphic arts classes. Spending time at the outdoor farmers’ markets proved more therapeutic for my mental health than the health of my dwindling savings; I still have yet to discover a sad person at a farmers market. When I took an intensive screen printing class in the summer of 2010, the berry designs for Tina Produce emerged. Slowly but surely my Etsy site took wind and a few local shops began carrying the on trend gift-ready kitchen towels and napkin sets. Beyond my wildest dreams, Anthropologie picked up the floursack towels and mixed berry napkin sets for their summer 2013 inventory.
At that point, I hired a recent grad from California College of the Arts, Haley Delaney, and my dear friend, Selja Ojanne, a recent MFA grad, as my printing assistants. Until then, I had only contracted a couple Oakland seamstresses for occasional napkin hemming. It took several other friends, my parents, and other Oakland community members for help packaging towels in baskets and sticking tags. Besides napkin hemming, most operations are handled by myself these days, but I am grateful to know I have my options within the community of Oakland for times of higher volume.
Who knew that working at farmers' markets would eventually inspire professional independence in a creative field!
