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

As some of you have heard, or read about, on Social Media, two of my Textile Art Pillows were accepted into a Fort Collins, Colorado art exhibition at 3 Square Art Gallery, which opens TODAY! An art exhibit designed specifically for interior designers and architects, the "DECO-R: Decorative Arts Exhibtion's" Opening Reception is tonight, June 7th, from 6 - 9 p.m. and the show runs through July 6th. As you can see in the image above, The Anastasia, probably THE piece I'm most

Happy Texture Tuesday!  School's out, WEST is over, and summer's here!! Hallalujah!! While Austin is hitting triple digits far too soon, I finally went to Barton Springs Pool last week, and that, my friends, officially kicks off summer for me. I dont know if you followed our #BIGPurge on Facebook, but spring was jam packed. My husband, David, and I got rid of two storage units and held a huge Estate Sale (with the help of 6 amazing friends!  Have to say Austinites are so kind and helpful.) and then turned around and did the WEST Austin Studio Tour. And I even

This week is the BIG Kick Off Opening "Due West" of the 7th Annual WEST Austin Studio Tour which begins THIS weekend! What is WEST you ask? It is the premiere spring art event in Austin covering two weekends in may with over 400 participating artists. It is produced by Big Medium, a non-profit whose sole purpose is to support and promote contemporary art and artists in Texas. "Big Medium produces the East Austin Studio Tour, the West Austin Studio Tour, the Texas Biennial, and presents innovative exhibitions throughout the year in the Big Medium gallery." The WEST Austin Studio Tour, of which we are honored and excited to participate in as an artist for the 2nd year, is a

[caption id="attachment_15504" align="alignnone" width="584"] "Leaf Trinity" by Judith Simonds.[/caption] It's already May and the WEST Austin Studio Tour is upon us. Boy, are we excited!! It was so fantastic last year (our first time participating) that we decided to have our studio Deborah Main Designs participate again this year with SIX artists!   Not familiar with WEST? It's the west side of Austin's EAST Austin Studio Tour, and it has been growing rapidly. Hundreds of artists participate in both tours. EAST is always in the fall, and WEST is always in May. It's so fun to grab some friends or family and take

[caption id="attachment_14103" align="alignnone" width="584"] Elements Art Exhibition at Davis Gallery, Austin, TX.[/caption] Today is Labor Day, and my heart is with all of you affected by Hurricane Harvey, laboring so hard to get your life and home back and those laboring to help the families and businesses.  There's this constant mixture of sadness, trauma, confusion, but also love, hope and beauty. Many Texas families are in shelters, some families are having barbecues today, and some are driving truck loads of donated supplies to help the victims. No matter what you're doing, or what nature has thrown our way, life must move forward, and Texas is a shining example of that strength. On this Labor Day, I wanted to offer you a slight reprieve from all the devastation.

[caption id="attachment_13649" align="alignnone" width="584"] Detail of Encaustic painting by guest artist Annie Darling.[/caption] I've been absent from blogging for a couple weeks recovering from the FANTASTIC experience of my first WEST Austin Studio Tour.  It was a whirlwind of a two weeks but couldn't be happier with how it turned out. Thank you to my guest artists Annie Darling, Judith Simonds, Denise Jaunsem, and Yuliya Lanina. What a wonderful, talented group of women!  Thank you to Big Medium for putting on such a stellar Studio Tour. But most

[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

[caption id="attachment_13450" align="alignnone" width="584"] "Bits or Pieces?" by Fiber Artist Marie Welsch. $100 Available at ArtSpace in Round Rock[/caption] With my 60th Birthday now behind me (boy was that Garden Party a blast...thank you to all who stopped by to help me celebrate!) I can now refocus on my textile artwork, blog and upcoming shows and sharing other artists work with you. It has already been such a busy spring with many exciting exhibitions happening all at once for which I'm incredibly grateful.There is only 1 - 2 more weeks to see my artwork in person at both Round Rock Arts gallery ArtSpace Fiber Exhibition till May 1st and Texas State University Round Rock IMAGINE Exhibition till May 6th. So please stop by. These past three weeks have been jam packed with my 60th Birthday Garden Party, the Peacock Alley Austin Grand Opening and my first group Fiber Arts Exhibition at the Round Rock Arts gallery, ArtSpace, in Round Rock Texas.  This is only my 3rd exhibition as a textile/fiber artist, as I just started applying to art exhibitions last summer. (See my 1st exhibition Artists Interpret Red post HERE). It's a very exciting journey for me because I love color and texture and textiles and all things vintage.  So it was a logical conclusion to realize