We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Holly McBride a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Holly thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.
I am currently a print surface pattern designer, but the base of my formal education is actually in sculpture, focusing on ceramics and fibers. Following my BFA I attended graduate school for textile design with a focus on weaving, and worked for 10 years in New York City as a designer of woven contract textiles.
Textile design has been a great career path for me because I love the marriage of the technical and creative. My desire to take my hand-weaving, spinning and dyeing knowledge to the next level, to gain a deeper understanding of all the facets of the manufacturing of textiles was what drew me to this career. The education that I received at the graduate level was very technically focused, with the freedom to bring as much creativity to the work as each student desired. I chose to focus on weaving, and worked on both hand and industrial looms, studied and practiced various yarn and fabric dyeing methods, and explored different textile finishing techniques. All of this exploration prepared me very well for a role as a woven textile designer, and I had an excellent grasp of how color, yarn, and the weave structure could affect the final fabric.
However, if I had known that I was going to branch out on my own and build my own print design studio, I definitely would have explored more relevant courses at both the undergraduate and graduate level. I would have taken illustration classes in my undergraduate program, to build on the solid drawing foundation that I had; those technical and creative problem-solving skills would be incredibly helpful right now. I’ve spent a lot of time learning on my own, and the resources that are available to anyone through the internet have been incredibly helpful, but there’s no replacement for in-person learning by professional artists in an art program. In addition, I would have spent time working with the print designers and educators in my graduate program as well, to gather more in-depth knowledge about the design and technical processes of printing fabric.
Additionally, I do wish that I had been able to zoom out sooner, and recognize that I truly love exploring new materials and diving deeply into technique in my work. Not confining myself to one medium is a way that I can honor that curiosity in myself now. I enjoy drawing and creating surface pattern designs digitally, to be printed on products, but beyond the initial idea, the process feels a bit flat to me (pardon the two-dimensional pun!). Translating those digital drawings into textile art, creating quilted wall hangings or soft sculptures, gives me the freedom for more creativity and exploration of techniques and materials that my brain craves!
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
I am Holly McBride and I run a design studio under my name in midcoast Maine. My focus is on creating surface pattern designs, soft sculptures and textile objects, as well as sewing patterns. I have an itch to create a small line of stationary and printed goods in the near future, and I expect to see my designs on store shelves soon!
I have a BFA in sculpture and an MS in textile design. After graduate school, I worked for ten years as a textile designer in New York City, designing woven textiles for the contract industry (hotels, casinos, offices and hospitals). During that time, I met a boy, we got married, and had a baby. In 2012, we moved from Brooklyn to Maine.
I currently work out of my home, a 1600 sq ft Passive House (designed by my architect husband!) in a wee town about ten miles from the Maine coast. I love the ocean and the woods, though I’m definitely an inside kid, preferring knitting by the wood stove to the ski slope just a few miles away! Midcoast Maine has a vibrant artists community, tons of bookstores and yarn shops, and great coffee and food!
I’ve always been a creative person and a maker. I’ve been sewing since I was twelve, knitting and weaving since college, and cutting and pasting since pre K. My parents gave me a Fisher Price loom when I was about ten and I’ve been in love with fabric ever since! I like designing and making silly things or comfortable things or useful things – or best, all three – and designing for kids, with fun colors and patterns, checks all the boxes!
Currently, my work focuses on abstraction of memories and play, the exploration of technique, and bright colors. I really enjoy designing cheerful and colorful patterns and illustrations, and motifs from nature, everyday objects and the mundane aspects of life show up in my work often. I find a lot of inspiration from vintage cookbooks and children’s picture books, old science textbooks, and contemporary and antique quilts and textile art. Color has always been a very important aspect of my work, and I’m a huge fan of the dopamine color trend. I believe that color can affect your mood; I try to surround myself with joyful happy colors as much as possible!
How about pivoting – can you share the story of a time you’ve had to pivot?
About 12 years ago I left my career as a textile designer in New York City and moved to rural Maine, after living primarily in cities in the mid-Atlantic region my entire life. This was probably the scariest thing that I have ever done! My husband and I had been considering moving to his home state at some point, and once we had our daughter it felt like the right time to make the change. As it turns out, my now teenager absolutely loves the city, and chides us for relocating often; she is definitely a city kid, just like her mama!
The transition from a city of 9 million, my career, and living close to friends and family to being a stay-at-home mom with a toddler in a town of 1500 was certainly an adventure! Leaving my job and the identity that I had built was very challenging, no matter how ready I thought I was; I had worked really hard to build my career but I was no longer enjoying designing fairly corporate fabrics within a corporate structure, and I wanted more time with my kid while she was young. Luckily, being front-and-center with nature was brand new to me, and my daughter and I got to explore the woods and lakes and learn about our new home together. Experiencing living in this new place right alongside her has been one of the biggest joys of my life.
When we finally got settled in midcoast Maine and my daughter was in preschool for a few hours a day, I began to hustle, not only to provide some income for our family, but also to figure out what I was going to do with myself professionally and creatively. I very much enjoyed taking care of my daughter, learning to garden, hiking and having playdates, but I have always been a creative and driven person, and I needed to continue nurturing that part of myself. I worked many part-time jobs and pursued lots of interests, building skills and experiences that, while I may not have understood it at the time, have been invaluable to me at this point in my creative journey. I began sewing a ton, particularly clothes and toys for my kiddo, building my website and blog, and becoming a member of the online sewing community. I worked in retail fabric stores which allowed me to learn about the different fabric manufacturers for home sewing fabric. I taught sewing classes locally, and eventually released a few sewing patterns. I also became a director of marketing for a local architecture firm, and grew my social media, web and marketing expertise. Every one of these roles or interests has helped me build the business that I have today licensing my artwork, creating soft sculptures and selling sewing patterns.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
There are so many rewarding aspects of being an artist for me! Owning my own business gives me the freedom to make my own hours and decide what I want to work on when. And I love being able to put my family first when I am able or when it’s necessary. I’m so glad that I get to choose what to make for myself, based on my own intuition, trend research, or just because it makes me smile! I spent a lot of time fixating on designing patterns that would sell, and it didn’t make me very happy. I’m trying to embrace the idea that “people buy your joy!” Lastly, I very much enjoy building a business and looking at the entire process as something that I am creating from the ground up. Stepping back and viewing my design studio as a whole really helps me have perspective on some of the more mundane tasks business owners need to complete. For example, working on the financial aspect of my business is often a chore, but when I can look at it as one small piece of this whole awesome thing I’m creating, it feels easier and more satisfying to complete!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hollymcbride.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hollymcbridestudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hollymcbridestudio
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-mcbride-1506644/
Image Credits
Holly McBride