Patricia Bravo
An Art Gallery of Modern Designs Drawn from Old World Patterns
By: Lisa Swenson Ruble
“I love the stories of my ancestors,” says Florida-based entrepreneur, Patricia Bravo. Her fabric designs draw from her childhood in Argentina and the rich family heritage of her forbears from Italy and Spain. She credits her passion for the past and its influence on her work, in part, to the stories of her grandmother, who loved to visit Alhambra, Grenada, sharing vivid tales of how the Arabs conquered that part of the world.
A self-proclaimed history buff, Patricia has read more than three hundred biographies of kings, queens and revolutionaries. “So many time periods attract me,” she says, “and I love translating them into a more modern look when I design fabric.” With a style she describes as “contemporary elegant,” this prolific designer weaves together her own culturally rich background, love of history, and creative instinct into fabric designs. “It’s my favorite form of self-expression,” she says.
Argentine Ruffles to American Quilts
As a young girl, Patricia’s mother encouraged her to be creative. At age nine, with her mother’s help, she began adding ruffles to her skirts and dresses. She fell in love with sewing machines and fabric at 13, and started sewing her own clothes with the help of two years of coursework. Her childhood love of ruffles came full circle when she added “yards and yards of them” to her wedding dress. “The tradition in my father’s family was to give a wedding dress from generation to generation. I used the lower part of my aunt’s wedding dress and constructed the top with lots of ruffles.”
Years later, when her husband Walter’s work brought them to the United States, she wandered into a Joann Fabrics looking for craft and fabric supplies. Compared to the stores in Argentina, “it was heaven—like being in a candy store.” Her “aha!” moment, and entry into the quilting world, arrived one day when she watched a woman rearranging a stack of fabric bolts, and asked what she was doing. The reply? “Auditioning fabrics for a quilt.” Patricia asked what a quilt was, and seeing samples hanging from the ceiling, was transfixed. “I started to see the magic of triangles and squares and was completely hooked!” she says.
After starting with traditional designs, she began to explore art quilting, especially landscape quilts. “In 1993 there weren’t fabrics available for rocks, foliage, and trees, and I was frustrated every time I went to the fabric store,” she remembers. Never one to back down from a challenge, she decided to paint her own fabrics, creating what she needed. “Every time I painted, I wanted to paint more. I’d use five different colors in a fat quarter and the combinations were amazing!”
Patricia shared these fabrics with her new quilting friends, who encouraged her to sell them at quilt shows. Her original painted fabrics, and newer designs, which included hand stamping, sold out quickly and constantly. “I started getting requests for larger pieces,” she says, “but it’s hard to paint yardage because the fabric needs to stretch out over plastic while it dries.” Painting classes helped her develop a sense of color and design and feedback from customers let her know what would sell. As more requests for yardage poured in, Patricia told Walter, “People are asking me to do this,” and they decided to go for it!
A Gallery of Beauty
Patricia’s son Alex suggested her company’s name. One day, back when she was still painting fabric, Alex saw the fat quarters lying on the ground, drying. “He said they could be in an art gallery because the colors were so beautiful,” Patricia says. When I started my company, I asked his opinion on a name. He said, ‘Mom, Art Gallery.’ And Art Gallery Fabrics was born.”
As the Bravos’ company has grown, Patricia has evolved as a designer. “When I design, I enter a state of catharsis. I talk less to my husband and son and become more introspective.” When she finishes a collection, “it’s like I explode and return to normal life. It’s a process that I enjoy each time.”
One of Patricia’s newest collections, Revive, draws inspiration from the textiles used in the spas of several older European hotels. She “fell in love” with the blues and purples and “warmed them up with browns, beiges, toffee and light aqua.” Even the quilt Patricia designed with this collection (Refreshing Spa Bubbles), embraces this luxurious theme. She describes the design as an interpretation of how a woman feels at a spa: a peaceful place full of welcoming curves. “I’m a very sensitive person and I work on emotion that I want to reflect in my work.”
To find out more:
Patricia Bravo Visit www.artgalleryquilts.comTags: Spotlight on Designer
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