The name “No One Alike” speaks to the originality, innovation, artistry and personality of Kim Padula. Her creations are an expression of these attributes and are the antithesis of the mass-produced products you might think of in their respective categories—purses, scarfs, journals, candles or myriad of other products. Creating has always been a part of who she is. It may stem from family’s long line of tailors, and seamstresses who emigrated here from Italy. It was natural that she by eight years old she was sewing, at eleven she was quilting and in high school was selling her clutch craft bags to classmates for prom.

She was a likely candidate for the full scholarship she received to Juniata College, in central Pennsylvania. She received her bachelor’s degree in Studio Arts with a secondary focus of Theater Arts Production while there. Soon after graduation, she discovered an ancient technique of marbling paper. Immediately she began to experiment with the process. It became the basis for her creations. She successfully uses this process of floating and manipulating acrylic paint on a viscous seaweed moss in organic patterns. Adjusting the hues and designs she gently will lay silk, leather, wax or glass, on to the solution transferring the pattern to the surfaces.

By following her passion Kim’s irrepressible enthusiasm for her work and pushing boundaries shaped the direction of both her art and career. She began first selling her work at a local farmer’s market on Saturdays. Kim remembers thinking, “I know this is what I want to do.” So to live the life she imagined she committed to bringing back to life this dying craft of colorizing textiles. What looks like a discarded pile of leather scraps to the untrained eye, for Kim is a compelling opportunity to create. By day Kim manages her online business and retail shop where her works are sold.

After hours the real challenge and satisfaction begin as she experiments. Her work is as precise and impromptu as the jazz music she listens to while she works. She loves the energy of color from the Mediterranean Riviera and aquatic life. There are always new color combinations to explore.

In addition to selling her work direct from No One Alike, some of her products are sold through other suppliers both in the U.S. and internationally. Kim is inspired by the idea that her work celebrates a wild unencumbered individualism and that her products are often are cherished gifts from her buyers.