LAURA DEEMS
Laura Deems boasts a background in textile design, so her colorful abstract paintings—beloved by designers Charlotte Lucas, MA Allen and Helen Harbin Davis—tend to take on a tactile quality, embracing the linen or canvas medium as a textural component of her works. The Atlantan’s September release, a series of 12 screen printing screens, represents a new medium for Deems that harks back to her textile days. As with collections past, her latest tributes an iconic artist whose oeuvre has inspired her: in this case, 20th-century color field masters Josef and Anni Albers. lauradeems.com
PHOTO COURTESY LAURA DEEMS
MORGAN WILLIAMSON
A Birmingham native, Morgan Williamson established her “modern and functional” ceramics workshop, Handmade Studio TN, in Nashville in 2012. Her hand-formed, heirloom-quality stoneware comprises everything from spoon rests and serving bowls to butter domes, vases and place settings. Surfaces left smooth, textured like linen or imprinted with lace are beautifully glazed in versatile hues like rose, moss, gunmetal and two variations of white, occasionally with hand-brushed 22K gold details. “I want to bring thoughtfulness, beauty and intention to everyday moments,” says Williamson. handmadestudiotn.com
PHOTO BY CHRISSY IRVIN
LIBBY BAXTER
Based in Greenville, South Carolina, native Georgian Libby Baxter considers “fearless” color choices to be as important as rich textures and juxtaposing patterns. Baxter, who shares a studio with fellow artist Annie Koelle—surrounded by gardens, a greenhouse and an antiques gallery—draws particular inspiration from the famed quilts of Gee’s Bend, Alabama, but is also invested in a more modern movement: maximalism. “I see it as opportunities for boldness, decorative excess, the celebration of individuality,” expresses the fiber artist, who weaves her pieces on floor looms from varied yarns, then sews the fragments together for a patchwork effect. libbybaxter.com
PHOTO BY SYDONNE BLAKE
NEW HAT PROJECTS
Kelly Diehl and Elizabeth Williams’ Nashville-based design venture was created as a tongue-in-cheek rebuttal to things deemed “old hat.” Their firm envisions wallpaper—and its coordinating objects—in a different way, drawing upon Japanese, Art Deco, Bauhaus and Ancient Egyptian influences to render architectural, high-impact motifs. Williams, a graphic designer, and Diehl, a fine artist, have enjoyed many fruitful collaborations—between themselves as well as with many area creatives. Local printer Grand Palace Silkscreen tackled the bespoke designs that grace the now-iconic Noelle Hotel, while they teamed up with ceramicist Rebecca Blevins to make custom vessels with chain-link details. A collaboration with Chasing Paper releases in September. newhatprojects.com
