I was invited to join both the MET Museum’s Textile Conservation Dept as well as Jack Lenore Larson Design Studio in the early 1980’s, Herman Miller in the mid ‘80’s as well as to help take over Rudolph Schaeffer School of Design, SF. Then in the late 90’s I was asked to chair the Surface Design Department at Syracuse University .
I saw that chairing a department could be a way to move the students’ careers forward by giving us an opportunity to interact with the business community, something that wasn’t being done at that time. It garners a respect that one wouldn’t otherwise have producing as the ‘lone ranger” (previous post - Hindsight is 20/20). But at the time the move to Syracuse with my then young children and a pending divorce seemed daunting.
As well, because I see corporate culture tied to another’s ‘set-up’ I had a reticence to work within it. I had had enough temp jobs to know that both the company and people dynamics is not an easy embrace. Instead of water cooler gossip, I am more interested in taking the lead to be in the fore of design, making and producing collections which could resonate with like-minded people.
I see our company, Groundplans doing just that. And it’s staying power seems to be rooted in a strong sense of ethics. To use an age old expression, Our Customer is King.
Mailing I sent to Herman Miller after they reached out to me from a magazine image they saw of my work
In the 80’s when Herman Miller paid me a handsome retainer fee to hold my designs. I suggested they reissue their vintage furniture - myself having fond memories of growing up with these pieces. I literally played hide and seek inside their cabinets. The head of textiles at the time was reticent to reissue. And believe it or not, in this day and age, she soon had to leave the company when she married a fellow employee because of the company’s perceived conflict of interest. (“You’ve come a long way, baby!”)
15 years since they dipped their toes into reissuing their furniture at a few locations. Since then their store has become the uber successful brand Design within Reach: https://www.dwr.com
Woman from a bygone era working her yarns. A painting displayed at a 2019 contemporary textile show at MoMA - Vuillard
Hearing there was a directorial vacancy coming up at the Cooper-Hewitt, I applied -the hubris of me! One suggestion I had put in the online application was for them to dip into their enormous collection of designs that had historical precedent to whatever their current exhibition of modern pieces related to. They took the idea and ran with it - becoming the first of many institutions to use this model.
After 50+ years of collecting textiles from around the world and having delved into the historical aspects of the arts as well as making objects to be used, my present interest is to collaborate with my daughter, Eileen Le Guillou and others - who have a fresh eye when bringing the best of different cultures to the fore with new collections.
It is our mission at Groundplans to assist the designer or layperson to avoid pitfalls they might otherwise encounter when sourcing online with a difficult-to-communicate-with manufacturer or one of the many unethical dealers acting as the middle-man - umm person. This middle-person more often than not comes to the table with little to no design experience.
If you are interested, please email us to receive our case studies.
Eileen and I have recently been expanding our online business to not only include wall and floor creations, but found object designs as well as custom designs of artists + designers products who have approached us. We are committed to continuing the tradition of inviting select individuals to our world to produce carpets, area rugs, wall art, as well as one-of-a-kind craft objects for the global market through our selling site: www.shopgroundplans.com
Our flooring commissions have maintained operations in over half a dozen countries around the globe. But because we’re a small business, we have the luxury of managing our every-day operation so the only person to come first is YOU - whether a prospective or repeat client who wants high quality, beautiful products.
Among the homes containing our Grounplans carpets and area rugs are Frank Lloyd Wright’s Hoffman House, dwellings inhabited by Rockefeller family descendants as well as Bill Gates. My hand-screened textiles are housed in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, NYC https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/people/18056651/
A carpet collection we recently helped design and manufacture for the great, great granddaughter of Elizabeth Cady Stanton. It’s been part of the centennial celebration of Woman’s Right to Vote.
