Introducing Chaparral, a collection of seven designs crafted to celebrate a place where dry summer’s earth-trodden dusty floors make way to pinky terracotta tile, and the fog-tinted shore meets a palette of greyed-out greens and washy blues.
Chaparral is a semi-arid woody shrub-filled landscape shaped by dry summers and mild, wet winters. Chaparral plants aren’t known for their conventional beauty, but their adaptability, ability to prevent erosion, and moisture-trapping waxy leaves all contributing to the uniquely Mediterranean atmosphere of dry, arid summers and mild wet winters, marked by high intensity, infrequent fires.
To grow up in Santa Barbara was a privilege. It’s a small coastal town in central California flanked by the mountains and the sea. It’s pretty idyllic, often boasting 70 degree winter days and mild summers. It’s coined the America Riviera for its Mediterranean weather, topography, views, and beauty. The summers can be foggy, but the winters are always clear and full of sun. There aren’t flies that bite, or many mosquitos. The beaches are beautiful, the mountains everpresent. The farmer’s markets run all year, and at most, you’re wearing a sweatshirt and light jacket in the winter. The sea is south, not west, so no one uses directionals- we don’t know them. It’s mountain side or ocean side. Even after 24 years in Chicago I have to really think when someone says a south facing window or north side of the street.
It’s a place of abundance and availability, where you can always be outside. Year round bounty. Won’t there always be avocados in January? Almost taking the possibility for granted, it’s so ingrained in your everyday existence. The blend of sage, rosemary, and eucalyptus is ever-present with the scent of lavender and citrus. The sun swells here all winter, so you can walk barefoot to pluck a lemon in your backyard to dress the greens you picked up at the farmer’s market that morning. Where hardened’s earth dry summers make way to wet verdant winters cool with sea spray.
In this collection you’ll recognize the older patterns Amapola and Flora Vista. Reintroducing these as part of Chaparral was important in my process - stepping into my worth and identity of Artist means owning the past and what I’ve done so far. It’s hard to admit I have imposter syndrome after 20 years, but I’ve put on the back burner what I want to express, and creating these seven designs has been incredibly cathartic - they truly represent what’s inside, and what I want to express and share. They’re me.
Each design is named after a street in Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara’s indigenous population was the Chumash, who lived here almost 6000 years ago; stolen by Spanish soldiers in the 1800s who built many of the adobe structures still standing; naming each of its streets.
Let’s take a look!
Tierra Cielo (earth heaven, earth sky): Tile painted with hand made watercolors from the earth, this is a celebration of the terracotta tiles that line the sidewalks and roofs. It's everywhere you look, above and below, grounding and protecting.
Amapola (poppy): Marking the duality of home, that poppies can dot the California hills with their fanciful papery petals, but they can also grow in a midwest summer. Same but different.
Las Canoas (the canoes): the layers of earth, rock, and land that meet the water on a special hike, where Mission Creek makes a path down the canyon to the sea, the rock forming pools of water that gift you a place to reflect and rest. Las Canoas is the original Chumash name for this canyon.
De la Vina (of the vine): this surrealist pattern is meant to represent and celebrate the abundance of everything growing together all at once. On this vine, everything grows: lemons, avocados, poppies, pomegranate, eucalyptus, and agapanthus.
Miramar (look at the sea, sea view): a small beach in Santa Barbara, this was drawn for a special client, and marks the paths that water leave behind on the sand.
Mirasol, (sunflower, view of the sun): the celebration of the chaparral flowers that grow in just 2% of earth’s terrain. In it you’ll see: artemisia, bush poppy, cliff aster, coastal lotus, early onion, monkey flower, wooly fishooks, and yarrow.
Flora Vista (view of flowers): the street I grew up on and a celebration of Home. This pattern is now available in color, and includes hand drawn flowers found in El Salvador and Santa Barbara, including: Gardenia, Aloe, Yucca, Jasmine, Acacia, and Hibiscus. We continue to fund our El Salvadoran water project with the sales of this product and sent $450 last week so that one of the children of this village (now 20) could attend a vocational school to get a job to fund her dream of a university education in architecture.
*We are introducing Chaparral on wallpaper and our semi-custom invitation line. I can truly say I’m an expert in paper and felt offering these designs on paper was a great first start. (linen to come!) The wallpaper is a super heavy weight matte offering printed in the midwest. The color matching is beyond, so rich and saturated. Head over to the site to see the full collection of invitations and save the dates, wallpapers in room, and all the additional colorways.
Although I have made a new home in a different climate, it’s when I’m in the landscape of my childhood that I feel most content. It’s infused into my wellbeing, my soul, and is the core of my identity, informing my activities, the way I cook and eat and dress, how I experience the air and earth around me. How I exercise and spend my social time. Everything you do here is marked by the experience of being outdoors, the air forgiving. Outside is a given, taken for granted, your birthright. This landscape is part of me; something I’ll always treasure and respect, this particular place that feels like home. The elements of earth, sky, water, and the threat of fire, imbued into everyday living.
These four pillars, when all present, support and build on each other to form the foundation of all I create; one I carry with me, informing both my artistic expression and the home I build now.
Our inaugural home collection, from my home to yours: Chaparral.
Thanks for reading! If you could, please share with someone you know who’s in the market for new wallpaper, invitations, or save the dates!
Congratulations, this is a really beautiful collection!
Love this ❤️