We were lucky to catch up with Diana Ruth Pemberton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Diana Ruth, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear the backstory behind a risk you’ve taken – whether big or small, walk us through what it was like and how it ultimately turned out.

I finished my undergraduate degree in December of 2014. Life post-graduation was fast-approaching and unwelcome; I had no job prospects, no idea what I wanted to do (apart from make art) and was just generally full of anxiety. I moved back home feeling defeated. My mom approached me one day with a job possibility: teaching English in Japan. Yes, I had studied abroad and traveled outside the country before, but this was different. It was a year long commitment, I did not speak Japanese besides ‘sushi’, nor did I have much teaching experience. It was a huge risk. But I realized if I wanted my life to change, I had to do something different. I applied, I interviewed, I was offered and then accepted the job. Seven months after I graduated, I packed my bags and moved to Yachiyo, about an hour east of Tokyo by train.

Those who have lived in a foreign place can agree: adjusting is hard, but you do it. Buying groceries became a challenge. Learning the train system was no simple feat (thank goodness for Google maps), not to mention dealing with bouts of loneliness and “why did I do this?” thoughts swimming in my head. However, the good far outweighed the bad looking back. I learned a new language, went to places I’d never knew existed, ate strange food and liked it, made new friends, even had a solo art show where I gave a lecture about my work plus held a weaving workshop. I trekked to the Saori no Mori studio in Osaka to learn SAORI weaving (a contemporary Japanese weaving style) that still informs my work today. Moving to Japan was a catalyst for knowing myself, believing in and trusting myself to have my own back. I proved to myself what I was made of and the difference between surviving and thriving. A lot happened in those two years, bad and good, but I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. I learned how taking risks is the sometimes the only way to get what you want.

Diana Ruth, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I was born in raised in east Texas, attended Catholic school from K-12th grade, half-Lithuanian (mom’s side) and a triple Sagittarius: take from that what you will. So much makes a person, and all of these things have influenced my choices and my work in some form or fashion. From a young age I was interested in making art, and this continued throughout high school. Applying to college, I knew I wanted to be an artist and work in the arts, but not sure how. My undergraduate degree is in Jewelry Design and Metalsmithing; I liked the idea of working with the body and adornment, yet also enjoyed a somewhat freedom of material. I was always trying to incorporate fibers or fashion in my undergraduate explorations. When I studied abroad in Florence, Italy, I finally was able to take a weaving class as well as a batik class. Yarns, fabric, dye, fiber – I was hooked. And I have not looked back since.

In 2017, I established my small textile business Diana Ruth Designs which is mostly comprised of hand-made wearables and functional textile art. Heavily inspired from the time I spent in Japan, specifically studying SAORI weaving, my beginning designs were very fluid, funky tops with tons of color and textures from a variety of yarns and fibers I had on hand. I would weave several yards of cloth, changing every half a yard or so, and cut and arrange them into one-of-a-kind wearables. I would sell at markets and fairs in my area and offered weaving workshops on the side. In 2018, I began graduate school at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio specializing in textiles as a studio artist. I was mostly self-taught at the time and wanted to dive deeper into my work. While in the program, life happened. I suffered a terrible personal loss the first month of school, which really altered the trajectory of my work at the time. I started thinking much more carefully about materials and made a lot more conceptual work at this time. I introduced soft sculpture into my practice and was thinking a lot more about the ‘art object’ rather than functional work. During this time, I was also the Graduate Teaching Assistant which solidified my passion for teaching that had begun in Japan. A passion that continues today, and I hope always will! Despite the pandemic, I graduated with my MFA in spring of 2020. I unfortunately had no MFA show due to the pandemic, which was incredibly disappointing, but a feeling shared across the globe during that time. However, life keeps moving, and so must we.

These days, I live in Colorado with my cat Georgia and lovely partner Greg; we moved here about six months ago (Again! A risk involving moving! Perhaps a trend with me). Since graduating with my MFA, I taught middle school art; was an adjunct at Kent State in the Textile Program and Fashion School; was a production dyer for Sue Spargo; taught freelance textile workshops for kids; plus made art for exhibitions and art markets. It’s been a very wild couple years, but I’m proud of the skills I’ve been developing and the place I’m at now. I teach part time at a community art center (fibers and textiles classes), am currently in residence with Art District on Sanfe Fe in Denver, and continue to manage and make for my textile and design business. I’m focusing on visual art for this current residency, dyeing an array of colors for future weavings and experimenting with dye techniques to apply to fabric. I’m anticipating a group show next month where all the work is geared toward those visually impaired, so all the work will be able to be touched and held. My soft sculptures will be included, and I am really excited for the show. Business wise, I was in markets this fall in St. Paul, MN with the American Craft Council and in Chicago at the Chicago Artisan Market. I focus on making original wearables sustainably as possible with as many natural materials as possible. I’m interested in these practices to improve my own relationship with the earth, but also for clients to do the same while they are collecting a piece they can wear forever. As many artists working in the fashion world, I’m trying to bring people away from fast fashion and back to buying quality items that aren’t going to end up in a landfill. I’ve been doing a lot of research with natural dyes and use them almost exclusively when making pieces for my brand, Diana Ruth Designs. It takes a lot of time to source and find affordable options, but I’d like for my work to be special yet available to clients. So many small brands are doing amazing things, but have high costs, which is totally valid, but the general public has a skewed sense of how much clothing costs. I’d like to be part of the dialogue to change that.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

There are so many ways that people can do this! People can drink and paint, paint pottery for a date night, attend a gallery opening or artist talk, join a movie club, and most times can also bring their kids. In addition, people can go to art markets, design conferences, and craft fairs to consume more consciously. I think the biggest thing we as a society needs to do for artists and creatives is keep the arts in our schools. And grow the programs! When children are exposed to an array of ways to express themselves and creatively problem solve, it integrates the arts in their daily lives. So many times, I’ve heard people in different fields say things like, “I don’t have the patience for that, I am not creative, I could never do that, I can’t draw so I’m not artistic or creative.” This idea stunts us as a society. We have to widen the definition of creativity. And expose children to the arts as soon as possible. This is how the ecosystem feeds itself in order to continue.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

We all saw what happened to bitcoin. Matter of time.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thedianaruth.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedianaruth/
• Other: https://www.instagram.com/dianaruthdesigns/