RAISE HELL, BEAUTIFULLY

Hi, I am Chavisa (sounds like Sha-vee-sa).

SURVIVOR-LED

As a survivor of violence, I know life is precious.

I've been through hell and back, and I've had to rebuild my life. Now I want to use all my talents to support important causes.

I'm the founder of The Mother Corp, which supports women extracting themselves from abuse. Alongside this work, I've returned to my first love: creating art with leather—which, like survivors, is tough.

THE LAND

I am an artist, designer, and educator living and creating on the unceded, ancestral territories of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples, known as Vancouver, BC. As a single-mum, I am so grateful to raise my child here ensconced in nature.

MUMPRENEUR & VALUES

Beya Design is a creative focus for my kiddo and me - an opportunity to discuss ideas, designs, materials, and processes. I take pleasure in raising a budding young entrepreneur.

Together we design and create playful, bright, bold, beautiful one-of-a-kind leather items that help raise money for causes we love.

I am grateful to call the West Coast home. We created a whale keychain line to raise funds for BCWhales.org.

Bag sales from Beya Design help ensure The Mother Corp can continue offering sliding-scale supports to women impacted by violence.

WHERE I BEGAN

I was fortunate to go the Langley Fine Arts School in high school.

I was lucky to train as a printmaker, painter, and sculptor at Emily Carr on Granville Island, where I became known for my leather sculptures.

WHY LEATHER?

Long ago I went to Paris and bought myself a gorgeous green designer pleather bag. It was dreamy. I used it irregularly and kept it safely lying in my cupboard. A few years later I took that bag out and it had disintegrated and was unusable. That experience re-sparked my love of leather.

Leather is an ideal artistic medium. It is durable and expressive. Each hide has slight variants in colour, thickness, texture and look, allowing for robust creativity.

It has a hearty lifespan and avoids the landfill. We’ve sourced gorgeous and dynamic materials from near and far to make unique, hand-crafted treasures. These include upcycled materials.

BEAUTY

Beya is the Spanish sound of “Bella”, which means beautiful. Beya Design couples beauty with practical, functional items - keychains, hats, purses, EpiPen cases, stationery items, and iPad bags - infusing joy and play into day-to-day functional objects and activities.‍ ‍

I delight in making creative handcrafted items that enhance expression beautifully.

SOUL-SOOTHING INVESTMENTS

As a single-mum and survivor of gender-based violence, it strikes me that I’ve been placed in terrain that requires substantive bravery.

I always wanted to be an entrepreneur. I didn’t realize what I would be is a Mumpreneur.

I decided to take the leap of starting The Mother Corp as part of how I would metabolize the violence I experienced, and have those experiences used to serve, support and love other women through hardship.

Working in trauma, burnout is a risk.

I love working with the women I serve.

I can’t afford for burnout to come anywhere near me.

I know quite a bit about supporting the nervous system. Soft, tactile, lovely leatherwork with my hands is my nervous system recalibrator and safeguard.

Designing, sewing and making with my hands is creative, soothing, gentle, and restorative. I make leatherwork with reverence, gratitude and playfulness.

In art school I made leather sculptures that I was well-known for. My leatherwork sold at the Vancouver Art Gallery Gift Shop.

I missed my leatherwork tools. I realized I missed making things with my hands.

During COVID, I had used my printmaking skills to make beautifully designed soaps - that was Beya Design’s first iteration. After the pandemic, normal life took over.

This past winter, I ordered my dream sewing machine. It shipped on a train across the country in the cold. I could not afford it. My credit card hurt. And my psyche was HAPPY. Relieved. I could feel excited energy as I got closer to my whole self.

Waiting for the machine’s arrival, I started drawing leatherwork ideas. I would find my papers altered. My child had drawn and written comments and ideas to contribute. I ran with them, and fully revived Beya Design.

I have since bought myself a bunch of industrial equipment. The more industrial equipment I get in my home the happier I wake up in the morning.

I realized there is something profoundly important that I am the recipient of my own self-investment. That I work to pull off my dream.

This long dream is in its early days.

SELLING IN STORES

I was over the moon to get Beya Design products for sale at Womyns’ Ware (896 Commercial Drive, Vancouver). The funny part is one of my early arts displays of my printmaking was at Womyns’ Ware eons ago. So the invitation to return felt like full circle, a heartwarming familiar embrace. I have always been interested in whole and healing women.

WHERE ELSE?

I welcome your ideas about where else I should be selling my products.

It takes a village (and a bunch of rad people).

We would love to see photos of you out on the town with your leather item. Please tag us @beyadesign

Yes, we welcome custom commissions. If you have a design you’d love, please get in touch.

hello@beyadesign.ca