After graduating from Appalachian State University with a BFA in graphic design, Emily Wool was searching for her next step.
“Towards the end of the program, I had become pretty disenchanted with what I saw as the rigid world of graphic design and wanted to explore a more expressive way of art-making,” she says. She had an a-ha moment thanks to the school’s art therapy program and, shortly after, came upon Innisfree Village, a Crozet lifesharing community with adults who have disabilities.
She became a full-time caregiver, then worked in the gardens, and eventually started the community’s art program, which focused on block-printing.
“While I was learning and teaching that, I decided to dabble on my own and began printing lots of fabric during evenings and weekends,” she says. Soon she started Emily Ruth Prints, a line of nature-inspired pieces from tea towels to Washi tape. We asked her to tell us more about her business and her work.—CH
Made in C-VILLE: It’s obvious nature plays a big role in your work. What is it about nature that lends itself so easily to art, in your opinion?
Emily Wool: Nature is absolutely everywhere, of course, so it’s easy to see why there are endless art forms dedicated to it. You could probably argue that most art is inspired by nature in one way or another, and my work is no different. Admittedly I’ve never been a very outdoorsy person, but taking pictures of plants and just slowing down to pay attention to shape and color became a soothing and deeply creative experience for me. Nature is also both ever-changing and cyclical, so we can see new colors and shapes every day as well as familiar flowers and leaves that bring up feelings of comfort and nostalgia—therefore great inspiration for art.
What would you say is your specialty?
I think I try to create work that’s approachable. And by that I mean, I hope the pieces I make both draw people closer to nature’s possibilities and feel functional. So I guess what I most like to do is join those forces—beauty and function. I think I specialize in simple prints that highlight shapes found in nature.
What’s your bestseller? What’s your personal favorite thing to make?
Tea towels are a big hit. I think because they’re easy to gift and use and you still get a piece of the artwork. I love making the weighted eye pillows because I like imagining someone using them and being soothed the same way I am by them. They’re also fun to play with with a new stamp if I don’t want to print lots of fabric since they’re a smaller surface.
How often do you come up with new prints and designs?
Oh gosh. Daily! I always want to play with new patterns. I’ve had to develop a line of the more “tried and true” patterns to have available all the time but I’m always playing with new imagery and shapes. Prints and designs that see the light of day are less frequent, but I do put new patterns out there fairly often.
