The Story Behind My White Lab Coat
If you have watched any of my videos or seen photos of me working in my studio, you may have noticed that I often wear a white lab coat. It has become part of what I wear when I am creating, but there is actually a much more personal story behind it.
There are really two reasons I wear it. The first is deeply personal and holds a special place in my heart. The second has more to do with how my brain works and how wearing my lab coat helps me get into a creative mindset.
A Connection to My Father
The deeply personal reason is about my father, Leonard, who my mother often called Lennie. My father was a pharmacist for 40 years at the same hospital in San Francisco, California. He went to the same hospital every workday and thrived on predictability and routine. Looking back, I recognize a lot of Autistic traits in him that I can also relate to. He was a very serious person, didn't talk that much and was an avid reader. He also spent a lot of time alone, something I can relate to. He was perfectly content reading a book or spending hours outside working in the yard. Each day when he arrived at work, he put on his white lab coat.
My father and I also shared the same initials, LAR—our first, middle and last name initials were exactly the same. It is just another little connection between us that has always been special to me.
My father also had a creative side and loved planning projects, something else I can relate to. When I was a young child, I remember telling him how much I wanted a dollhouse. He didn't just go out and buy one. He spent months planning one and then built it for me by hand over the summer. It was enormous, with about 12 rooms, and he even painted it to match the colors of our house. I remember being so excited when I saw it. It was so big we could barely get it through the door.
He was good at woodworking and built other things around our home too, including wooden cabinets for our garage and a large patio. I think he enjoyed the planning just as much as building the projects themselves. Looking back now as an artist and maker, I can see another connection between us that I didn't fully recognize when I was younger.
He passed away more than 10 years ago, but I think about him often.
Then I had an idea: What if I wore his coat?
I thought, how cool would that be? But it was about much more than simply wearing his coat. Wearing something that had belonged to my father made me feel a little closer to him in spirit.
So that is exactly what I did. I started wearing my father's white lab coat every day while I worked in my studio. If you go back far enough into some of my earlier videos, you can actually see me wearing it. The coat was huge on me and definitely wasn't made for sitting at a jeweler's bench or working in my leather studio, but I didn't care. I loved wearing it because it was his and it made me feel connected to him.
Eventually, though, I had to admit that his coat was just too big for me to comfortably work in every day. I decided it was time to get my own white lab coat, one that fit me better but still reminded me of his.
My lab coat is similar to his in that it is still roomy, which is the way I like it. I don't like tight clothes when I am working. It is comfortable, easy to work in and practical. It also protects my clothes while I am working with leather, metal, tools, polishing compounds and all the other messy things that come with making my handmade MONOLISA handbags and sculpted jewelry pieces.
Even though I no longer wear his actual coat, I still have it. His white lab coat hangs right next to mine in my studio. Every day when I put on my coat, there is a little reminder of Lennie, my father, and the white lab coat he wore for so many years.
Getting My Brain Into Creative Mode
Watch the video to see my father's original white lab coat that I still have hanging in my studio today.
There is another reason I continue to wear my white lab coat, and this one has more to do with my creative mindset. Putting on my lab coat tells my brain that it is time to create. When I walk into my studio and put it on, it is similar to putting on a uniform. My creative brain knows what we are here to do. Whatever else is happening in my life can stay outside the studio for a while. I have work to do, ideas to explore and things I want to make by hand.
I thrive on routines. For most of my life, I didn't really understand why routines were so important to me. After going through formal neuropsychological testing and learning that I am Autistic, have ADHD and am Dyslexic, so many of these little things about myself started to make more sense. I am highly structured, and familiar routines help me focus while reducing the mental effort of trying to make everyday decisions. I share more about that experience in my personal story, Why I Always Felt Different: Life as an Autistic, ADHD and Dyslexic Artist.
Even what I wear in my studio has become part of that routine. I don't have to think about it. I put on my familiar studio clothes, slip on my white lab coat and my brain seems to know that it is time to work. That simple routine has become a familiar signal that it is time to switch into creative mode.
What once seemed like a simple habit now makes much more sense to me. My neurodivergent brain thrives on familiar routines, and putting on my lab coat has become one of those small but important routines in my creative life. I have also written more about how being Autistic, ADHD and Dyslexic has shaped the way I built and run my handmade business.
I joke that maybe it's a little like Wonder Woman putting on her superhero gear. I don't have superpowers, but I do have my white lab coat.
And somehow, when I put it on, I feel ready to create, experiment and explore all the possibilities that come with being an artist.
More Than a Lab Coat
When I first started wearing my father's lab coat, I wasn't thinking about branding or creating a certain image for MONOLISA. I was simply wearing something that belonged to my dad and made me feel connected to him. But as the years have gone by, the white coat has become part of my own story as an artist.
For so many years, my dad put on his white coat and went to work as a pharmacist. Today, I put on my white coat and walk into my studio to do the work I have built my own life around. Our careers couldn't have been more different, but I love that something as simple as a white lab coat creates this small connection between the two of us.
So the next time you see me in a video or photograph wearing my white lab coat, you will know there is a much deeper and more personal story behind why I wear it.
It is practical and protects my clothes, but to me it means so much more. It's a reminder of my dad, part of my creative routine and, maybe just a little bit, my own version of a superhero cape.
Artist Thoughts
Sometimes in life you have these quiet moments when you find yourself reflecting on an experience or someone special in your life. Today I had one of those moments. I started thinking about my father's lab coat and realized just how much it has become part of my own creative journey.
Although Lennie never got to see my journey as an artist or what MONOLISA would become, there is always a part of him with me. The older I get, the more I recognize some of the things we had in common—our love of planning, working on projects and spending time quietly doing the things we enjoy. He would appreciate knowing that all these years later, his white lab coat became part of my story too and holds a special place in my heart.
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