What an incredible first weekend we had at my first WEST Austin Studio Tour put on by the non-profit Big Medium. It's been a lot of preparation but so worth it as we had tons of people walking through my home studio to see all FIVE artists:
"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
Sometimes it takes a relative or friend visiting to get you out to re-discover your own back yard. You know how the saying goes that you never really sightsee in the city you live, especially if you've lived in it 30 plus years!
Since I'm taking most of April off to enjoy my 60th birthday, that's exactly what I did today, see all the beautiful sites like waterfalls, flora and cacti at the Zilker Botanical Garden. It's literally IN my backyard, as I only live up the hill from Zilker Park. Why I have not been there in years is beyond me??
Spring is my favorite month of the year and our Shumard Red Oak has almost all of its fresh green leaves on it! (I'm sorry for those still suffering through winter, but maybe this post will put a spring into your step!) I also love the month of April because it's my wedding anniversary and birthday, back to back, and this year I've been working on my garden to get it all ready for the special occasions. I love nature and it feels great to get back to gardening.
"Go West, young man, go West and grow up with the country." - Horace Greeley
This week's Texture Tuesday takes you West for sure. Right into the heart of Austin, Texas, where when you go West young man, you will also grow up with ART at the West Austin Studio Tour (WEST)!
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!
Photo by Round Rock Arts of IMAGINE, their annual Art Exhibition.[/caption]
IMAGINE walking into Texas State University Round Rock campus this weekend and seeing hundreds of pieces of art from artists all over central Texas - paintings, sculptures, mosaics, fiber and more. You'll see just that at the Opening Reception of the IMAGINE Art Exhibition this Saturday, March 4th, from 7 - 9:30 p.m. And you're invited!! The exhibition runs through May 6th.
This week's Texture Tuesday gives you the full scoop on the IMAGINE 2017 Art Exhibition, and a sneak peek into some of the color and texture you'll find there. (Full disclosure: one of my textile art pillows below will be in this exhibition.)
A few of the hundreds of vintage French trims, ribbon and brooches I have in my collection to create textile art pieces for you.[/caption]
Are you sitting down? Okay, here's the news: This week's Texture Tuesday is going to be brief. I know that's hard to imagine, since my blog posts are basically short novellas, but I'm going to try for a few weeks to see if I can keep Texture Tuesday shorter.
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.
Remember last week I said it was Tradeshow Season with Color and Texture On Trend? Well, Las Vegas Market is wrapping up, and since I'm not there, and had no time to share all my wonderful photos from that AMAZING whirlwind trip last year, this week's Texture Tuesday is dedicated to:
It's Tradeshow season and the hottest trends are color and texture! How perfect for Deborah Main Designs since color and texture are the hallmark of my work. This week's Texture Tuesday features luxury silk pillows from my Essential Decorative Series.
If you are a wholesale or interior design buyer, please stop by Peninsula Home showroom (WTC-525) at the Dallas Home & Gift Market today through January 24th to shop for my designs and their amazing home furnishings.
Happy New Year! I hope you and your family and friends had a lovely holiday. I don't know about you, but I'm NOT one of these people who bolt out of the gate come Monday, January 2nd, with all my goals and plans set for 2017. No, no...I'm one who always wishes for TWO weeks between Christmas and New Years because I need more time.
"Fit for a Queen" by Simmang Design.[/caption]
No, it's not the third day of Christmas yet. And no, sadly my true love did not send me this beautiful necklace above. But I just couldn't wait to share with you this fabulous piece by Simmang Design that I just happened upon this weekend when I popped into a fun little holiday show in North Austin at Just Jill Beauty & Wellness. I had no idea that, on what was supposed to be a lazy Sunday, I was going to have so much fun and a little impromptu pampering at a local event.
For this week's Texture Tuesday, instead of three French hens, I bring you three Italian blue Goldstones. Originally designed in 2013 for Austin Fashion Week by Jillian Simmang of Simmang Design, this regal necklace features three glass stones and a host of other textural details.
Friends, Vintage French trim, textile pillow art, vintage designer scarf pillows, Kumi Jewelry (by my daughter Qin) & more![/caption]
Cozy fire and hot toddies await you this Saturday at my EXTENDED Holiday Open Studio & Sample Sale, 12 - 7 p.m. I know....I know...you Northerners are looking at us as woosies, but anything below 60 and I've got a scarf on...seriously!! Here I am going out last night to a couple local events with my new black Lambsy knitted by fashion designer Kristine Rodriguez of RESPONSIVE TEXTILES. And my neck surely stayed warm!
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Me snuggled into my Lambsy Muff knitted by RESPONSIVE TEXTILES.[/caption]
THANK YOU to
Look at all those shopping bags my friend Leslie Hyland Rogers is dashing out the door with! Leslie, founder of Symphony of Soul, and countless other new and old friends, made my first Holiday Open Studio & Sample Sale such a success that I've extended it to four more times in December. I haven't had an Open Studio since 2011, and I think it will now be an annual or semi-annual affair.
This photo was taken by JD Walker, owner of Flowers & Found Objects, our newest store in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. He has a beautiful display of our one-of-a-kind Ornamental Charm Series.[/caption]
This week's Texture Tuesday (no new post this Friday) is about my studio as I'm busy preparing for my Holiday Open Studio & Sample Sale and YOU are invited! I'd love to see you, celebrate the holidays together, and show you where I create my artwork.
Texture and color are everywhere in my tiny South Austin studio. So much that I need to do a bit of culling. It seems you CAN have too much of a good thing. Especially when you're a collector, or in more primal terms, as some south Austin stitchers like to say, a "fabric junkie".
I confess. I have A LOT of stuff!!! (But I am not a hoarder, so don't judge) :-)
Today's a very special day that in the USA we celebrate and support small businesses everywhere, brick and mortar AND online, by shopping for our holiday gifts TODAY, Saturday, November 27, 2016, on SMALL BUSINESS SATURDAY. So put on your shopping shoes and get out there and support your local businesses!
Happy Texture Tuesday! I'm super pumped up because I just got off an AMAZING Instagram webinar that got me INCREDIBLY inspired!! Which is exactly what I needed this week. And you probably need a boost too, since you might have eaten a bunch of Halloween candy last night, right?
A little color inspiration from my neighborhood. Photography by Deborah Main.[/caption]
Sometimes the best gifts come in small packages. And with my Ornamental Charm Series, we know a little texture and color can go a long way with these very special handcrafted artisan gifts.
As one fan sums it up, "They're like little presents".
"RESPONSIVE TEXTILES was founded on the idea that clothes are our second skin, and they should be as unique and human as we are." -- Kristine Rodriguez
A few weeks ago during New York Fashion Week (NYFW) I had the opportunity to write a story for a top kitchen and bath luxury brand BLANCO, and pair their IKONIC sinks and faucets with fashion hot off the runway of NYFW. I had heard of, but didn't know too much about, the up-and-coming fashion brand RESPONSIVE TEXTILES. I fell in love with the Bennu Skirt which I featured in my lead off image below. (If you missed that sponsored post, no worries, you can read it right HERE.)
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BLANCO IKON apron sink and ARTONA faucet paired with the fashion of RESPONSIVE TEXTILES.[/caption]
Sometimes we need space to clear our heads.
Sometimes we need to look at nothing.
Sometimes cornfields, silos, farms, sky, and the next bend in the road will do just fine.
What a whirlwind of an amazing Austin City Limits Festival!! How awesome was it to hear all that live music and come back to a cozy South Austin bungalow, high on a bluff above the crowds, nestled in the quiet, relaxing Zilker neighborhood. With tranquility awaiting you on a patio under a massive Shumard Red Oak tree and in a bright, contemporary guest room, what more could you ask for?
Well, leave it to me to have ALL my projects due at the same time! But isn't that how the universe usually works anyways, where you're juggling too many balls in the air and they all need to come together almost the exact same week, or even day?
Photography by, and with permission from, Responsive Textiles and BLANCO.[/caption]
With New York Fashion Week upon us, it's exciting to see what the hottest trends will be for 2017. When it's high fashion time on the runway, we can usually predict in the home furnishing industry that this year's runway styles will make its way into home decor by the following year.
