San Francisco-based artist and textile designer Martha Oakes takes her original, watercolor painted patterns and transforms them into unique decor for the home. Her expanding line includes linen pillows, tablecloths, bedding and more. All items are produced in local, family-run factories in San Francisco, California.
I am an artist and textile designer based in Sonoma, California. In 2016, I decided life is too short to not do what you absolutely love, and for me, it is painting and designing interiors. So I launched Martha Oakes Designs, a textile line made from my watercolor-painted patterns. I have been painting since I was old enough to hold a brush and have always been drawn to creating abstract, yet versatile patterns that translate to other mediums. Starting a textile line just made sense to me. Much of my line is a reflection of the landscapes I lived in and encountered, whether it be a shell I found on the beach on Martha’s Vineyard where my parents live, or a eucalyptus leaf on a trail outside my house in the Marin Headlands. My love for the hands on craft and process, from the first stroke of the brush, to printing the fabric in local Bay-Area factories, to the final step of packing up an order, is what inspires me to make items that will be shared with a community that values creating interiors that tell a story.
- Martha