Alley Cats

Last August I was lucky to spend two weeks in Barcelona. My kids were at  camp during the day while my husband and I did work at cafes and soaked up the city. I love the colorful, surrealist vibe in Barcelona. One sweltering afternoon we visited the Joan Miro museum. I was inspired the heavy tufting and mix of colors in his textile murals–they felt fresh and playful. That night I started looking for local textile designers and found the wonderful Mariadela Araujo. To my amazement she responded to my inquiry and I was in her studio the next morning.

Stray alley cats looked me up and down as I searched for her studio in an old Barcelona industrial complex. Mariadela opened the door and shooed them away as she welcomed me. She is a Venezuelan-born artist and textile designer whose exuberant use of contrasting colors creates a feast for the eyes. We immediately had an aesthetic connection. When she said yes to collaborating on a few pieces with me I was psyched!

Piles of yarn organized by color in Mariadela’s studio. It was heavenly for me.

We decided to use the tufting technique for the back of a vintage settee similar to the image above. Tufting involves a handheld machine which shoots out tufts of yarn threads into a primary fabric that creates this fluffy rug effect.

This image shows my mood board and color theory for the project.

Above we are in our Brooklyn workshop mapping out placement and dimensions.

The final settee is shown above. The vibrant colors and touch of violet and splash of lime green are both chic and daring. I used a lilac velvet on the front of the settee which adds elegance to juxtapose the boldness of the tufted textile on the back.