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 …

This year, we were so lucky to have a wide range of books reviewed for SDA’s Book Club by contributing authors, Faith Hagenhofer, Vivien Zepf, and D Wood. Here’s a combined list of all the reviews, as well as where to purchase each book. A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color …

The Mushroom Color Atlas launched this past October as an online resource and reference for the stunning and wide range of colors that can be derived from mushrooms. Lauren Sinner, SDA Managing Editor, interviewed Julie Beeler, the creator of the project about her inspiration, process, and plans for the future. What prompted you to create …

This month’s SDA Book Club is by our contributing author Vivien Zepf, who reviews Dress Codes. Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History by Richard Thompson Ford Colorful dresses with pockets. Patterned shirts and dark pants, with and without stretchy waistbands. That’s my wardrobe.  My choice is based on comfort and cost, and …

In a recent interview, social psychologist Robert Livingston argued: “[when] people build walls to insulate what they currently believe to be true … relationships provide an opening within that wall for a different perspective to enter.” For artist Caron Tabb, these words were a call to action igniting a years-long reckoning with her role and …