The years that followed took her to the University of Minnesota for bioprocessing engineering, a field she worked in professionally until “things got weird” during the pandemic.
With that turn, she purchased an 8-acre farm in rural St. Croix, Wisconsin where she spent a couple years raising chickens — and her two young children. She planted her dream garden from which she started sketching flowers.
Richardson always held interests both in science and the arts.
“My art teacher at Smith made me my first sketchbook, in third grade. She would scan my art onto the school programs. That was really special to me. I had an easel in my dorm room. I was always painting.”
Now a professional textile designer with clients both local and in New York, she fulfilled her wish and settled in Oakwood in 2022.
Richardson, 38, runs her textile boutique and design business, Olivia Designs, out of a Front Street studio. She bases her botanical prints on homegrown florals, designing wallpaper and fabric for curtains, pillows and upholstery.
Problem solving
“When did I decide to retire from math and science?” she asked with a laugh.
“I knew I wanted to be a stay-at-home mom. I hung up my R&D engineering hat. You learn to pivot and adapt and it’s all part of the tapestry.
“I have always been playing with the idea of making patterns. I loved Calculus 4 (and) I’m a very visual person. Calc 4 is doing math for a moving, 3-D figure. Drawing and creating patterns is problem solving in the same way I was problem solving in engineering R&D. It feels the same way in my brain.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Hit snooze
“I set an alarm to the classical Dayton station. I wake up to that guy. Love him. I snooze it 3-4 times. On a school morning it’s closer to 6:30, in the summer we have swim team every morning so more like 7:30.
“I’ll make a strong pour over coffee. Sometimes it takes two.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
“The start of interiors for me was doing it in my own home. I started in the foyer and I designed grasscloth on the side of the stairs and matching tufted cushions for the benches.”
“I have a little breakfast. I really like a plant-based yogurt with cinnamon, honey, fruit, chia and hemp. I pack up my little bag. It’s 60 pounds. My laptop, tablet, external hard drive, headphones.”
Dayton Dines by Design
“I go to Front Street. For focused creative time, I need to be in my studio with my headphones on, with something caffeinated, for hours at a time.
“I work right here,” she said, gesturing to a corner desk. Over it hangs a board with a list of clients and fabric swatches.
Nearby, a sofa and chairs are upholstered in her fabric.
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
Taking up most of the studio is a 72-inch round table that Richardson is working on for Dayton Dines by Design, a fundraiser for the DPAA. The tablescape is outfitted with her cushions, napkins and table runners of her prints.
“Jon Blunt from Luken Blunt invited me to participate. I designed all the textiles (on the table). I’m working with different patterns — the stripe, my geranium print.”
She also collaborated with a local seamstress to create a satin dress that coordinates with her geranium motif.
Building a bouquet
“I focus on my client projects and priorities, figuring out timelines and working through what needs to get done. Sometimes I need to sketch something for somebody or I need to re-scale a pattern or change a color way, or order swatches for fabric or wallpaper. If time allows, I love to go into the client’s home and assess the colors and vibes. I take a lot of pictures, and get to know them and how they use the space.
“I’ll put together a design brief with our objective and ballpark cost. I put together three designs that go together. I love a stripe — a big one and a baby one.”
Richardson started keeping sketchbooks on the farm in 2021. She grew zinnias, cosmos, and sunflowers from seed and drew them from observation.
She pulls out a stack of sketchbooks that she uses as the basis for her floral patterns.
Credit: Hannah Kasper
Credit: Hannah Kasper
“I have to sketch something I can move and see and touch to get all the perspective. It’s literally pencil on paper and then I take a picture and digitize it in Photoshop. It’s like solving a problem. I create the pattern until it feels right.”
“Then I play around with the image. I clean it up and save it to a big floral library of images. It’s like I’m building a bouquet of my drawings. I go to my happy place.”
Richardson’s textiles are American made, mostly in North Carolina. She also works with a manufacturer in New Jersey that suits her more maximalist side.
“They’re doing stuff with metallic grasscloth that looks insane. I’m a maximalist, but I am traditional. I’m an edgy traditionalist.”
Credit: Jamie Bannon
Credit: Jamie Bannon
Family time
“I work longer if time allows. I hop over to Salon Atlas and take a selfie of my outfit.”
The salon next to her studio is outfitted with her grasscloth wallpaper.
“I roll back up the hill and walk and get the kids. They immediately need a snack, so we usually go to Ashley’s Pastries. If everyone’s behaving they can have a root beer and their favorite cookie.
“We go home, I check backpacks for homework. If it’s a Tuesday or Thursday we have karate. It’s DBKarate out of a church on Hadley and Shafor. I also joined karate recently with (my son). I’m there anyway for an hour! It’s really hard. You have to do 30 push-ups and a lot of squats.
“My family favorite dinner is spaghetti. If time allows I make cookie pie, which is just a giant cookie in a pie tin. We cut it up like a pizza.
They read Aesop’s Fables every bedtime, and then she winds down.
“I love a bath. Lavender tea. Sometimes sketching before bed.”
Figuring it out
“I’m going to start creating a digital lookbook of my collection so people can shop them more easily. I’ll be working on a new collection in Summer/Fall and starting to offer reupholstered pieces. I appreciate well-made furniture and I love finding antique chairs to salvage and repurpose. The plan is to start selling little antique objects as part of the design offering.
“I do better work when I’m not constantly saying yes to everything. That’s taken time to figure out — you want to build your portfolio. I always say yes to my kids, but I don’t always have to say yes to every client’s timeframe. It’s figuring out how to manage this long-term.”
Credit: Contributed
Credit: Contributed
MORE DETAILS
What: Olivia Designs, Original Textile Boutique & Design Studio
Hours: By appointment
Where: 1001 E 2nd St., Dayton
Online: oliviadesigns.art and on Instagram @oliviadesigns.art
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