The catalyst for my current body of work is volunteering at a local thrift store. Huge heaps of clothing are donated every day, but only a small amount is good enough to be put onto the store floor. The rest are shunted further down the supply chain until the items eventually end up in a …

Allie Dudley is an artist I met in 2017 at Penland School of Craft in Spring Concentration, while I was co-teaching with Bhakti Ziek. In that eight-week session Allie was like a sponge, asking many questions and eagerly soaking up every suggestion. They spent long day and night hours hard at work in the weaving …

Enchanted Worlds: The Visionary Collages and Art Couture of Amy Zerner by Monte Farber I’m a little freaked out. I’m staring at page 103, at a King of Wings/The Professional Tarot card that makes me think of Shakespeare. It’s from The Enchanted Love Tarot, one of the many collaborative projects created by Amy Zerner and …

The Genesis In December 2020, I was eco-printing flowers and leaves; the prints intended to be given as gifts. At the same time, I was given corylus avellana (common hazel) or Walking Stick by a friend, whose branches grew and intertwined in an exquisitely twisted and whimsical manner. I had a spark of insight when …

Sitting on a blanket under the African sun, Zandile Ntobela, holds the impossibly thin needle and threads it with black beading cotton. She pulls the black fabric onto her lap and gives the beads a haughty glance. They are minute, tiny little jewels glittering and shimmering in the sun, soon to be painstakingly stitched onto …

This month’s addition to the SDA Book Club comes to us from SDA’s Advertising and Outreach Manager, Katie Taylor. The Draught Book by Jeremiah Fielding, 1775 (edited by Pat Foster, Janey Dunbar and Lynne Harper) The Draught Book by Jeremiah Fielding takes the reader on a trip back in time to explore a variety of …

Our first entry for 2022 into SDA’s Book Club is Fashionopolis, reviewed by Faith Hagenhofer! Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes by Dana Thomas If a person is adept at seeing the Big Picture we say they are cosmopolitan.  When someone has a ubiquitous knowledge of their city we may …

Thank you to everyone who made this year at SDA possible! Without the work from our dedicated staff, board, volunteers, committees, and members, none of our events and exhibitions would have happened. While we continue through an international pandemic, many artists continue to make and find inspiration in all sorts of places, and in-person exhibitions …

Surface Design Association is excited to announce The Solidarity Issue, our Winter 2021 edition of Surface Design Journal. “This Solidarity issue invited artists and writers of the African Diaspora to share their personal stories and material expressions of Solidarity. Clearly, one issue cannot correct the vastness of these long-standing omissions. This edition will highlight talented, highly …

Throughout 2021, Susan M. Clark (SDA Membership Committee member) has been researching and interviewing international SDA members about their life, work, and process. These interviews were published in our monthly newsletters, but in case you missed them here’s all of Susan’s artist spotlights from this year!  JANUARY 2021: CHIAKI DOSHO Based in Kanagawa, part of …