Textile Design in the Collected Hands Art Studio

My Workspace

Textile Studio Main View

My art studio is located in Corrales, New Mexico, USA.  This is where I sketch, paint, dye, cut, glue, print and daydream.  I have tons of natural light, built-in shelves for storage of supplies and an easy-to-clean floor.  It’s hardly ever this clean and often shared with dogs, cats, a house pig and grandkids.  Beyond the art studio, I have a small sewing space.  But, these days most of the sewing is done in a workroom at the back of our retail store.  That helps me stay efficient when I am minding the shop.  The shop is also a cat-free zone which turns out to be super important when I’m sewing.

The Sewing Room

Studio in use with a guest artist.

My Process

My textile designs starts with sketches and doodles as well as colorful mixed media artwork such as mono prints created with a gelatin plate, stamps and stencils.  I tend to find my inspiration in the natural environment of the New Mexico high desert and the vibrant New Mexico culture.  I digitize my sketches using Inkscape and use the art prints to fill in the simple, whimsical shapes.  A lot more work in Inkscape and Gimp to clean things up, then I organize the designs into collections and send my favorite designs off to Spoonflower for printing on fabric.

Corrales Motif original sketches

Working on a digital design

Some days I make art and some days I make tools such as screens, stamps and stencils.  And, sometimes my workbench is a mess of fabric scraps, wood pieces, paper and glue because I’m thinking up new product ideas.  I do struggle to find the balance between productivity and creativity, I find lots of coffee helps.

From sketches to stamps

It feels like Christmas when the Spoonflower packages come with my new designs.  I like to lay them all out on the workbench and just take a minute to soak it all in.  Then, I start planning production activities for my next day at the shop.

Finished products in the shop.