modern flora & fauna
Bainbridge artist draws inspiration from island shores and trails
Words by Alorie Gilbert
Visiting the Bainbridge Island studio of artist Sarah Gordon, my eye is immediately drawn to vibrant and inviting colors studies in yellow ochre, pink coral and vivid blue, painted in small, neat squares and tacked to the wall. Next, I notice collections of shells, leaves, feathers and other tokens of nature from Gordon’s daily walks along island beaches and trails. In another corner is a child size table and chair, covered with art projects in various stages—the handiwork of her fiveyear-old son Felix.
As a mom, it’s that last detail—the child’s workspace—that really endears me to this enchanting home studio. Gordon is a successful textile designer with her own line of clothing and home decor at global retailer Anthropologie as well as an artist whose work has been exhibited in London and Seattle.
She’s also a mom to a teenager and a kindergartener and appreciates being able to have her sons work by her side. “Felix can spend a good hour or so here with me now doing art, and he really likes doing it,” she says.
In fact it was the birth of her second child, along with the family’s move to Bainbridge from London in 2011, that prompted Gordon to pause a demanding career in the fashion industry and hone her signature style. That style incorporates bold, modern colors and takes inspiration from antique botanical drawings, abstract art and directly from nature, especially marine life. Gordon lives a short walk from Lytle Beach on the south end of Bainbridge and visits often. Coastal motifs, including seaweed, sand dollars, sea urchins, shells and seabirds, are a common theme in her textile patterns and paintings.
Gordon, who grew up in London, worked for decades in the fast-paced fashion industry. With a degree in fashion textiles from the University of Brighton, she landed a job in New York City, where she and three partners launched their own textile studio, designing fabrics for women’s wear brands, following runway trends, and developing seasonal collections. After about 10 years in the fashion fast-lane and becoming pregnant with Felix, she was ready for a change. “I really wanted to paint and find my own style. So I just started painting and posting on Instagram,”
The urge to mine her creative depths may have come from growing up in a somewhat unconventional family. Her uncle was a painter, and her parents, who taught Tai Chi, socialized with artists, craftspeople and new-agey creatives. They also allowed her to freely roam the green belt near their North London home with her best friend. “We’d go out into the woods,” she recalls. “We were always out in nature. Even as a child, I was just really obsessed with any thing nature-based.”
Her colorful, modern interpretations of the natural world caught the attention of AMcE Creative Arts last year. The Capitol Hill gallery featured her playful paint ings of rabbits and tigers, created during COVID lockdown, in a group exhibit called Human/Animal.
That work in turn piqued the interest of Anthropologie, which led to an exclusive clothing and home decor collection under her own name this year. Their Sarah Gordon line includes women’s tops and dresses, rugs, curtains, furniture, bedding and ceramics, including a blue rabbit planter. “That rabbit was taken straight from a painting that I did for the show,” Gordon notes.
The collaboration with Anthropologie has been great exposure for Gordon, leading to more business opportunities. She’s launching her own wallpaper collection this fall and has plans to offer art retreats and workshops both here and abroad. As for other future plans? “What I really want to do is paint and sell artwork,” she says, citing a passion for modern art and interior design. “I just love modern architecture,” she adds. “It definitely influences my work.”
You can find Gordon’s artwork at the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art gift shop, Paper & Leaf’s Market Elevated, and at the August 4 Moonlight Market on Bainbridge.
Photos: Anthropologie, Steve Kessler
