kind of stuff you expect to find on LBI.” Roedema herself was sporting an article of clothing from the boutique: onyx and caramel colored pants that billow like palm leaves in the wind. But what makes these clothes “art-to-wear?” “Have you ever seen Project Runway?” said Luker, referring to the hit television series where uber-talented, rookie fashion designers have a limited amount of time to envision, produce and present their collections to a panel of judges. “The people that I am working with could be contestants on Project Runway. I am always searching for innovative looks, innovative accessories.” A quick stroll through her store and it’s not hard to understand what Luker means. Wildflowers by the Lighthouse is as eclectic a store as her neighboring gallery. Tastefully arranged, meaningfully decorated. Paintings paired with garments. Handmade tunics. Glittering bags made from hardware. It’s as if a whimsical art museum exploded inside, smattering the shelves and hangers with remarkable vestments. She toured the boutique with me, caressing silken blouses, gently tugging suede jackets from their racks and into the light. Around every corner was an exciting find: crinkle fabric dresses dangling from their hangers in wrinkled, shimmering masses; jackets made from vintage, recycled Saris; a handbag made from an old radiator cover. “This looks like a painter’s cloth,” she said, motioning towards a top splattered with colors. This year, Luker’s art-to-wear will hit the runway in her annual, glamorous fashion show “Artful Noir” on September 21st. Last year’s event benefited Friends of Southern Ocean County Animal Shelter and this year’s will benefit the Long Beach Island Foundation of the Arts and Sciences. Models travel the runway in quirky collections while a backdrop projects corresponding artwork. Right up Luker’s alley. “The designers that we are bringing in are over the top.
These are things that I probably wouldn’t be able to sell in the store but are just so innovative,” said Luker. Though Luker claims to have no background in the fashion industry, the store has the touch of someone with clear instinct and unbridled flair. Maybe we can attribute her chic tendencies to her artistic origins and obvious creativity? Sweet, humble and unmissable with her shock of white, close-cropped hair, Luker exhibits a passionate delight for the designers she displays around her boutique. One from Turkey, another from Iceland, others from Israel, Amsterdam, London, Poland and Chicago. The artist finds joy in filling her little Barnegat Light shop with pieces from all over the world. Despite her obvious talents in fashion retail, Luker couldn’t stay away from her artistic roots forever. Nine years ago, Luker decided to open the aforementioned Wildflowers Too, a cleverly-named sequel to Wildflowers by the Lighthouse. A block over from the boutique, the gallery features bedazzled parking bumpers and art in lieu of “art-towear.” When asked what she considers herself now: a stylist, a gallery curator, a fashion expert, an artist? She responded, “I don’t know what I consider myself. I don’t think about what I am and what I do. A lot of this is about the quest of finding something fresh and new and creative.” “I learned a life lesson early in my life that if you don’t like what you’re doing, you change what you’re doing. As long as you’re having a good time doing what you’re doing it doesn’t seem like work,” she said. Perhaps Cricket Luker could be best described as an adventurer. A traverser of countries and cultures and colors, gathering up hidden gemstones and carting them back to Barnegat Light. A seeker and discoverer of all things lovely, bright and unabashedly novel. For more information about Wildflowers by the Lighthouse, Wildflowers Too and the upcoming “Artful Noir” event, visit https://www.wildflowersbythelighthouse.com/. bay-magazine.com 209