Kathryn Faull has always had a penchant for handmade designs. Coming from a family of architects and interior designers, she naturally had creativity in her blood. Kathryn has mastered silkscreen printing, knitting, painting, and embroidery, techniques that have allowed her to turn Maresca Textiles into the luxurious and premier textile design company it is today. All of her fabrics are designed, produced, and manufactured in the US and are made from 100% natural materials, providing consistency between fabrics and print runs. Her designs are featured in a handful of showrooms around the world including Australia, California, and New York. Introducing this week’s Maker Monday, Kathryn Faull.
This exquisite wallcovering is the Shipbo Grasscloth in Charcoal. It is inspired by the embroideries of the Shipibo tribe in the Amazon and can be custom colored to fit your home color palette.
Andrew Joseph: If you could live in any home in a movie or television series, what would it be?
Kathryn Faull: I’d want to live in the cottage the Dashwood girls are ousted to in Ang Lee’s adaptation of Sense and Sensibility. I know it was a real step down for them, but I’d live there any day.
Andrew: What’s your favorite cocktail?
Kathryn: Vodka Martini! Simple to make and get the job done. I don’t have the headspace for complicated cocktails when I get home from work, so we always have martini essentials waiting in our home bar. Sometimes I go nuts and throw a little gin in there, too, but then it’s called a Vesper.
This picturesque green Arches fabric is made from an oyster blend ground of linen and cotton. Each piece is digitally printed in Pennsylvania and can be color customized.
Andrew: What’s your design pet peeve?
Kathryn: I’m going to say it, I’m not a fan of mirrored repeats in patterned textiles or wallpaper. Laying out a good repeat is one of the most challenging parts of pattern design! So I find that mirroring defeats the whole purpose and feels a bit lazy.
Andrew: What was your first job?
Kathryn: I spent the summer after my freshman year at RISD painting the shelves in their Nature Lab. The Nature Lab is a cabinet of curiosities, each shelf filled with taxidermy animals, plants, skulls, shells, rocks—every flora or fauna you can think of. I got to take each shelf apart and inspect the objects inside as I repainted and rearranged. Smelled terrible, but got to see some really interesting things!
Expanding her designs into bedding, Kathryn Faull designed the bed skirt and pillows featured in this room. The design that you see is called the Pisa, which is an exclusive Maresca Textile.
Andrew: Are you a good cook? If so, what’s your specialty?
Kathryn: Not only am I a good cook, but I’m a good southern cook. I acquired my skills from my mother and grandmother who both grew up in the low country of South Carolina. Notable dishes are cornbread dressing for the holidays and Chicken Divan casseroles.
Andrew: Best advice you’d give your teenage self?
Kathryn: No one cares about the way you look as much as you think they do! Also, stop tweezing your eyebrows so thin!
Gently hanging along the wall is the Arches fabric, which was inspired from primitive line drawings and tribal jewelry. It was created by using a resist drawing application that allows the ground to be painted with a sponge technique.
Andrew: What would you like to be remembered for?
Kathryn: My designs are classic and timeless, and I hope the clients who are buying them now keep them in their homes for generations to come.
Andrew Joseph is a regular contributing editor for ASPIRE DESIGN AND HOME magazine. See more of his work here.
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