Art heals. I know this first hand. You see, before I ever started making luxury pillows I got sick. Although I still have chronic health conditions that go unseen, but often limit me, I'm extremely grateful to be much better. The reasons are many. Having a fantastic husband and supportive friends and family are at the top of the list. But one primary reason I am better is because I discovered my passion for creating pillows. And through that discovery of "my art", it literally helped me heal.  (You can read about it HERE.) I've often shared artists and their artwork with you here on our blog, especially in the last two years during the WEST Austin Studio Tour. Today I want to talk more specifically about how art heals, by featuring my dear friend, artist Linda Stabinski. Linda has a show opening TODAY, Friday September 7th, from 5 - 9 p.m. (EDT) and running through September 29th that you should

[caption id="attachment_13580" align="alignnone" width="584"] Sculpture by artist Judith Simonds and mechanical music box by artist Yuliya Lanina.[/caption] I'm so excited to be participating in W.E.S.T West Austin Studio Tour which starts THIS Thursday night, May 11th, with Due WEST, the official kick-off fundraising event at the Dougherty Arts Center at 1110 Barton Springs Road Austin, Texas 78704, from 7 - 10 p.m. All 300+ artists on the WEST Tour will have one piece of their art at this group exhibition event throughout the duration of the WEST Tour dates, May 13 - 14 and 20- 21. Come out and support this wonderful non-profit

Join me in kicking off the West Austin Studio Tour at Due WEST on May 11! My artwork will be featured, along with the work of nearly 300 other local artists. Tickets on sale now: west.bigmedium.org/duewest.html  The 4 images above are pieces you'll see at the Group Exhibition Due West at the Dougherty Arts Center in Austin on Thursday May 11th, from 7 - 10 p.m. Clockwise from bottom left: sculpture by Judith Simonds, encaustic painting by Annie Darling, floral painting by Denise Jaunsem and textile pillow art by myself, Deborah Main. To view

20170308_224445 (2) SXSW and Spring Break are here, our Airbnb guest from Holland has arrived and I want to inspire you with art. I love going to art openings and art galleries. Art has a way of opening up your mind, sparking creativity, inspiring imagination, and seeing life from a different perspective.  I believe we all need more art in our lives and the Austin area has plenty of it, and at affordable prices too. The above image detail is full of color and texture in the form of tiny square photos taken by artist Thomas Athey.  Wait till you see below the larger image of his fine photography below!

Happy Texture Tuesday!  With all that's going on in our country and the world, I thought I'd give your mind (and mine) a break with this week's Texture Tuesday.  I feature three textile art pillows I've submitted to apply for art exhibitions. Some exhibitions your work gets accepted, and others it doesn't. I'm currently waiting to hear back from two. I thought you might enjoy seeing the creative process that goes on behind the scenes in the Deborah Main Designs studio for each art piece I handcraft.

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Happy #TextureTuesday!  Today you get two chances to guess what this little squirrel sculpture, and other animals, are made of.  The above adorable squirrel looks like it's crafted from looped yarn to me, don't you think? Not. Keep trying to guess with my clues. Have you got it yet?