Designer Spotlight - Meet Debi Hron

Meet Debi Hron, a fabric designer for Henry Glass and a commercial artist extraordinaire. 

There is a quote I was reminded of when I interviewed Debi Hron for this month’s Designer Spotlight. It’s from a book by Erwin McManus called “The Artisan Soul”, and the premise of the book is that we humans are called to be creative and the general theme is to “craft your life into a work of art.”

Debi Hron has done just that. In spades. (Which to a much younger audience or someone who doesn’t play cards means… ‘in abundance’). Yes, Debi Hron is an artist. And she has crafted a life that is truly a work of art in itself. She chose her current life from a Floridian upbringing, where the sun always shines and it’s at least 75 degrees, to living in Burlington, Vermont on the shores of Lake Champlain. Yes, it snows there. Also, in spades. 

And this is a glimpse into the life she has crafted: yoga, hiking, biking, Aikido, gardening, bees, llamas and other animals cross her path, and also she works as a successful full time artist. And did I mention she has also taken a turn at being a chicken farmer? Look here at their beautiful coop!

Debi is known in her town for her brightly painted house. It is eye-catching, beautiful and definitely signals that an artist lives here.

Right down to the back door...

And if the house wasn't enough that a creative spirit is behind the doors, then the gardens certainly do. Debi has all manner of love for the outdoors, and it shows in the garden. 

Debi gathers inspiration for some of her artwork here, and everywhere she goes. There is no end to creative images along the shores of Lake Champlain...considered by many to be one of the more beautiful parts of the country. 

And now about Debi, the artist. She has a picture of her drawing with a clipboard and pencil when she was just two years old, following closely in her father's footsteps who was also a commercial artist. She really got serious about being an artist as a career when her son was four years old, and she wanted to illustrate a children's book. At that time Debi was inspired by the work of Michael Hague, an accomplished illustrator of many children's books. 

Debi's first big break was when her high school art teacher, who was working in a gallery part-time, said the gallery needed Florida paintings. She happened to have some paintings in her truck, and got her first professional break into the business. 

She did art shows, made prints, and did the artist circuit. One day she was approached by a licensing agent, and did a few years under the agent getting work and building her portfolio. After those years, and with a large body of work, she sent designs to Lang, Renaissance and Hallmark. She amazingly got offers of work from all three. 

In 1990, she did her first calendar for Lang, and has been doing a Lang calendar every year since then. She counts the calendars as the basis of her work each year, finding trends, icons and colors that fill in a whole year. 

She knew she had to learn Photoshop, but did resist it at first. It was her dad's prompting that finally made her turn the corner and get on board. Again, following in his footsteps, she learned to love Photoshop and the control of colors and layers that she now has using the program. 

Debi began designing fabric with Henry Glass in 2010. Her current Henry Glass collection is Coffee House which ships in October.  Please be sure to check it out at your local quilt shop. 

Debi Hron is truly one of the designers of Henry Glass that has crafted her life into a work of art. You can follow Debi and her life and works on her blog at: http://debihronstudio.blogspot.com/