Tre Marsala Interview

Tell us a bit about yourself. Who you are, where you’re from and what you do.

My name is Theresa & I was named after my grandmother, but my mom has been calling me Tre-Tre for as long as I can remember so it just stuck. I was born in Brooklyn, NY and in my opinion grew up in the best place for art and inspiration in the 1980's. My super cool, young, hip single mom took me to awesome places like Astor Place, Greenwich Village and Coney Island since I could walk. So I was constantly surrounded my street art, video game arcades, breakdancing in the train stations and neon lights. We moved to NJ when I was 15 yrs old where I met my other half of #vintrevintage who is now my now hubby -Vin Marsala. We knew we were old souls destined for one another when we first met, We spent our high school years going to concerts and shows and spent weekends vintage hunting on road trips to thrift shops and antique stores or getting tattooed. I consider myself an abstract mixed media artist and when I'm not out vintage paper hunting I like to use what I find to make interesting collages.

How did you get your start as an artist?

I have had a love affair with paper and arts since I was young. My favorite places to go as a child were the library and the art store. I was always coloring or painting and coming up with stories for the things I made. I dabbled with photography into my twenties and thirties and was part of the local photographers show at the gallery by the shore. I was a personal assistant to a comic book artist and illustrator for 2 years and that was when I knew I wanted to live a life surrounded by art full time. I was included in comic cons and art shows, and took many of the classes he taught including illustration, watercolor, and abstract history & technique. Once I started making abstract art I never stopped. Last year I combined my love for abstract with my love for vintage by putting clippings from an old 1950's Life magazine on top of a rainbow watercolor mini canvas as part of The Canvas Project art swap with Brooklyn Art Library, which I had been a participating member of since 2010 when I signed up for The Sketchbook Project.

What do you love most about what you do?

The passion I have for sourcing vintage materials is really what motivates me to create art. I like to call it a Vintage Modern Mix. I really enjoy putting together images that utilize all types of papers and elements from vintage magazines & postcards, old photos, & antique papers to every day items like the free flyers you get in the mail, new magazines and junk catalogs and even washi tape and stickers. For me it's about creating images that make me smile and give me a sense of happy nostalgia.

What do you find the most challenging?

The most challenging is keeping up with making new art while sourcing and hunting for materials, helping small business shops and buying for my personal shopping clients all while maintaining a full time real world job. It's very difficult carving out any spare time for myself after working 40+ hours a week and maintaining a social media presence to try to make the side hustle and full time passion project that will pay the bills.

When things get tough, where do you find the inspiration to keep moving forward?

I am happy to have been a child of the 80's & 90's which molds every piece of art I create. From movies to music, cartoons to comic books, video games to fashion designs- pop culture has always influenced the way my mind weaves ideas and colors to create exciting images. All I need to do is listen to some Depeche Mode or Nirvana, flip through a vintage magazine and within minutes I'm cutting out and layering different images together.

Who is someone you admire most and why?

Jenny Brown makes the most amazing and engaging abstract collage art using vintage die-cuts, postcards, books and magazines. She was my very first client and as her personal shopper I was able to hunt for vintage materials once the shops re-opened after the lock down due to the pandemic last year. She has been such a wonderful friend and supporter of my sourcing side hustle. I've really been inspired by her to experiment with vintage materials when making my own art.

Tell me something unusual that makes you happy.

"I myself am strange and usual." It's usually the little things that make me happy like quoting movies or having sing-a-longs in the car with my hubby... oh, and making that first crack into the burnt sugar topping on a creme brulee. Being surrounded by books makes me very happy... and of course finding vintage magazines, old photos and anything catherineholm really brings a smile to my face.

Anything weird on your bucket list?

I've always wanted to drive cross country (Route 66) stopping at all the retro diners & motels on the ultimate antique hunting road trip.

How do you fuel for the day?

Depends on my mood but it's usually either honey chamomile tea or homemade cappuccinos from our new Nespresso machine we just purchased during the pandemic. I also love salty snacks like nuts and cheese with my fave flavored sparkling waters from Bubly.

Tell us about your vision for the future. Go big! We want to root you on!

My goal is to be dubbed "Master Vintage Hunter" and make #vintrevintage a full time gig. From sourcing materials to supplying small business shops, from personal shopping for collectors to creating collage kits for artists, I want to be able to devote my full attention and time to spreading vintage love to all with some extra spare time to making my own Vintage Modern Mix art.

Tre Marsala | @vintrevintage