Snapped this picture on a trip to Rio de Janeiro, as a local woman was selling Brazilian cangas on the beach. I love the vibrancy of these colors. Much like the vibrancy of the Brazilian people. Visiting Rio for the Olympics this summer? Take home a canga. Better yet, wear it home : )

We love timeless patterns. Enid Marx was a prolific English textile designer spanning the 20th century, made prominent through her simple and organic line work patterns. She found success in block-printed patterns after dropping out of college, and in 1937 was commissioned to design the seating fabrics for the London Underground. She was often asked […]

With Gino + Dot just coming on line last week, I wanted to be sure and feature these black and white beauties that our local seamstress just finished. They’re part of our One-of-a-Kind Treasures collection. The fabric was made by artists in Mali, western Africa using a wax batik technique. We’ve transformed them into modern […]

Life can get busy. Really busy, in fact. So busy, that keeping up with the media side of business can escape us. Then when you’re least expecting it, you’re hit with textural inspiration in the form of a giant fuzzy animal. This Rocky Mountain Horse at our favorite local equestrian barn is growing her luscious […]

Black and white lovers: Take a look at this killer, diamond-pleated couch. Discovered in Anthropologie’s spring house & home catalog, this particular couch caught our eye several times while page flipping. The jagged, black stripes woven into the creamy background create an energizing pattern that is bold and unapologetic.

Personal history can be crucial in an artist’s development of style and inspirational focus. I often pull inspiration from my home state of Kentucky and my ancestral roots, while artist Michelle Peterson Albandoz draws her inspiration within the forests of the two places she grew up, Connecticut and Puerto Rico. The trees she played among […]

      http://www.designsponge.com/2014/08/dallas-textile-home.html

In honor of autumn’s dwindling days, I called upon the innovative work of renowned sculptor and environmentalist, Andy Goldsworthy to celebrate the brilliance of fall. He seizes the fleeting opportunity for a momentary connection with nature, using leaves, sticks, rocks, bark, icicles and much more to create sculptures of exquisite form and intense color. I […]

No matter where I find myself, I cannot escape my Kentucky roots. In visiting Cincinnati’s 21c museum, it was evident that new media artist, Valerie Sullivan Fuchs, cannot either. This artist digitally manipulates images captured in Kentucky, desiring to eternalize the ephemeral landscape. Though asymmetrical designs are definitive of my own pattern work, this piece […]

Maybe today’s popular diamond pattern found its roots in Navajo weavings. The razor-edged, intersecting diamonds descend a crimson path in this Native American serape (circa 1850). Found at the de Young Museum in San Francisco, the striking colors contrasted sharply with the dim gallery space and drew me right in. I learned that the Navajo […]

While traveling I’m always on the lookout for a cool pattern, but I was still surprised when I came upon this intriguing eyeball tree. Is it a palm? An elephant ear tree? This mid-westerner still isn’t sure. But its contrasty, geo-circular pattern is nature’s way of inspiring me to get out my sketchpad once again!

Today’s inspiration shows off some of Mother Nature’s best pattern design. A cool morning hike alongside a massive cliff formation in Red River Gorge revealed Her layered spiral carvings of natural stone within Kentucky’s Daniel Boone National Forest. Perhaps Mother Nature’s thumbprint will provide inspired direction for a future pattern design that I could only […]